Oh yeah you are just at character establishment. The middle 100 pages are fantastic.
Lots of interesting discussion about Stephenson’s oeuvre on this post. I like everything I’ve read of his (which is only about half of his stuff) but have a special affection for the early, energetic Zodiac, which hasn’t been mentioned yet. Those who don’t relish his “doorstop” works might find this different and highly enjoyable.
ETA: Cory put a Zodiac in this short story too 
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I’m blissfully unaware of his politics.
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Neal Stephenson is among my favorite authors and I have a shelf heavy with the hardcover editions of his other long books. I pre-ordered “Fall; or, Dodge in Hell: A Novel” back in January and I’m counting the days until June 4th, when it’s promised to arrive.
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If he’s anything like William Gibson, I recommend not holding your breath.
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It’s worth noting that the protagonist of Fall (Dodge) is the protagonist of Reamde.
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They are quite strange books it has to be said. If I remember correctly in the first instalment there are long descriptive passages concerning the interior design- and house remodelling skills of the (anti?)-heroine of the series.
Anyway: I’ve read them, and I don’t regret the time spent doing so, but it frustrates me somewhat when I see how great they could have been. And while I’m here I’ll mention that there are two additional books set in the Commonwealth universe, within the Void itself. Again something of a curate’s egg, but worth the admission fee for various set pieces such as the description of a Prime invasion of a world with 1950s Earth tech.
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Even when it’s not in a literal, holodeck style fantasy novel inside a sci-fi novel, the are countless sci-fi novels that have a fantasy story inside them. Whether it’s the planet Worthing in the Worthing Saga, with inns and tinkers and blacksmiths, or it’s the planet Gethen in The Left Hand of Darkness, with inns and mad kings and royal cousins, or The Fifth Season with inns and magic earthquake powers. (Ok, for some reason I find inns to be definitional of fantasy novels.)
I feel like the desire to write fantasy is pretty strong in sci-fi writers, and they’ll make some excuse if they need to.
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You’ve not read the Greg Mandel books then? They, uh, kinda shine through in those.
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Oh, I have. I never assume any fiction author’s characters’ politics, whether they be protagonists, antagonists or otherwise, reflect their own (though it’s quite possible they do).
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Zelazny crossed over that way.
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I did not dislike any of it, in fact Shaftoe has been my gamer tag since I read Cryptonomicon I just tired of the story after they return to France on the behest of the slave masters. But Barbary pirates singing Hava Nagila was fun.
My overall impression of his work is that he can be self indulgent. Hiro Protagonist? Nothing wrong with that and he does not do it in a precious Wes Anderson sort of way. I do need to read Anatham though
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I try not to fanboi anything, even writers I like as much as Stephenson, but I’ve re-read Anathem a dozen times, and I’m at the point where I want to go on the internet and do the thing where I lecture people about how you people only think you like this, you don’t appreciate this on the incredibly deep level that I do. I know I shouldn’t, but that’s the impulse.
It’s because it’s basically my grad school curriculum, fictionalized and released right after I got my degree, when it was fresh in my mind. Plus the medieval monks also get to do cool space battles!
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I’m glad you liked it. I found it to be a bit of a slog, like the majority of Stephenson’s work. I may not be smart enough to fully appreciate many of his books. I feel like it’s been all downhill since Diamond Age.
Oh, I’m fine with people not liking it. It’s just people who think they like it in as deep and profound a way as me who get my (antisocial, gate-keeping) nerd-rage going. 
Having read Tolkien to both my kids (separately!) recently - I would say the narrative chugs along pretty nicely - all things being equal.
You could say all the songs (that don’t rhyme) are ‘filler’, and even some of side adventures (like Tom Bombadil) could be cut. But I asked my 10 yr old what his favorite part of earlier LOTR was -and he said goddam Bombadil!
To me - the narrative needs to progress, and the diversions only long enough to world build but not confuse or derail the story. Stephenson started going off track in sections of Cryptonomicon, was lauded for it, and thus enabled to bore his readers since then (sorry to be harsh - but there is so much awesomeness in his writing that gets dragged down at times).
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I really liked the first 4/5ths of it. I loved making sense of the vocabulary, and the mystery that the monks were solving, and when they left the monastery.
Then they went into space and it all descended into silliness for me. But it’s possible I didn’t get it on a deep enough level.
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What struck me about Anathem is the absence of obscenity.
Snow Crash and Cryptonomicon are chock-full of f*cks, sh*ts, and so on, and I figured it was Stephenson’s idiom, time out of mind.
On reflection, I think that Anathem is obscenity-free because it’s a Young Adult novel (for exceptionally bright young adults, of course), and Stephenson decided to curb the obscenity for the occasion.
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The question of Bombadil’s true nature and identity is red meat to a certain (nerdier) section of the Tolkien community, of course…
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