The Baroque Cycle was cool but I wish we could at least get a look at the notes for the future 1/3 cut from Cryptonomicon. I loved that book.
I hope there’s a book tour.
Stephenson is a very laconic guy. Not socially awkward or taciturn, but really reserved.
But his readings are amazing. Kind of a dry voice, but with good timing. He read a bit of Anathem in which the scholar narrator and some “outside people” describe legal customs, one of which involved judges being toted around in purple boxes. It came across as side-splittingly funny.
1056 pages! (again!)
He just doesn’t write short books any more, does he?
I quite liked REAMDE, but I did start to flag towards the end. Same with Cryptonomicon.Really more of a fan of Snow Crash and The Diamond Age.
I love Neal Stephenson, and have read most of his books, but boy oh boy, does he need to hire an editor.
And learn to write an ending.
That’s great, but what’s this one about? It would be nice if he would finally complete the Cryptonomicon “trilogy.”
Double Hooray! I’m holed up in a sailboat in a gale in a little harbor in Denmark reading The Baroque Chronicles for I guess the third time. It’s delicious.
I’m going to need help pronouncing the title. But it’s a sure bet I’ll be reading it the first week it’s out.
There’s more info, plus a synopsis, available here: http://70sscifiart.tumblr.com/post/94546097066/neal-stephenson-has-a-new-book-out-next-year-the
Also interesting: the title is a palindrome. Typical Stephenson.
I found this blurb here:
Noah’s Ark . . . 30,000 years after the flood.
From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Anatham, Reamde, and Cryptonomicon comes an exciting new science fiction epic that tells of global disaster, the near-extinction of all life on Earth, and the seven valiant survivors who battle against all odds to save the human race.
" riverrun, past Eve and Adam’s, from swerve of shore to bend of bay, brings us by a commodius vicus of recirculation back to Howth Castle and Environs."
[edited for concision]
“A way a lone a last a loved a long the”
He writes what he wants to write (even if it’s not what I want). There aren’t many speculative fiction authors who forgo the safety of the well-established (hey, Orson Scott Card, I’m looking at you) and try something new in every book.
Except it was never going to be a trilogy.
I saw Stephenson speak at MIT a year or two ago. He was great, but I worship the guy so take my opinion with a grain of salt. What I did notice about Stephenson is that he appears to be a slow, deep thinker. There was stuff that he had clearly thought about and if you asked a question on it, you would get a great thoughtful response from someone who had REALLY thought long and hard on the topic. Try and surprise him with a left field question though? He would just pause, thinking for a bit, and then after a while respond with something like, “I have not thought about it enough.” I actually really respect that. It is great to be thoughtful and mentally agile, but there is also something wonderful about being the sort of person who delves deeply into something, really understands it, and knows when they don’t know something.
I personally can’t wait for his next novel. Stephenson is always a complete surprise. The distance between his books is vast, but they have an underlying layer of deep thought. He isn’t for everyone. He isn’t a pop writer by any stretch and can be too nerdy tangential for some people. I personally worship the guy’s writing though. If absolutely nothing else, he has a unique voice.
Consider me fuckin’ excited. If I could only buy only one novel next year, I wouldn’t think twice and makes it whatever Stephenson produces, sight unseen.
What is the Cryptonomicon Trilogy? Cryptonomicon doesn’t have a sequel, and Baroque Cycle is its own – albeit related – trilogy.
There’s a new William Gibson novel coming out in October as well, we live in good times my friends.
Neal is great value for money. If I start to re-read Anathem now I might be finished in time for the new book.
$26 for the Kindle, $24 for the hardcover.
I guess I’ll end up pirating this one like I did REAMDE.
Never posted this before: SQUEE! And a new Gibson on the way; if only Iain Banks was alive.
