Here is an interview with Mr. Stephenson about Anathem.

Here in an interview with the Telegraph UK, Mr. Stephenson discusses the finer points of Edwardian Martial Arts systems that use bicycles, also they do discuss Anathem too.

io9.com,  here they vote for Orolo, lava and all that.  But I have to agree with the comments what about Fraa Jad!  Seriously that guy died like a thousand times over and altered space and time (or the narrative that our heroes found themselves in at the end of the story…CDS aside the dude died at least once give him that even if he does manage to keep his conscience alive in an alternate narrative) to save the day how is that not the winner!  How could you vote any other way?

Here is one more Q&A with Mr. Stephenson from Westword.

Locus On-line

Erika of Redshirt Knitting

Bookhling on Propagation of Learning

Well so Friday night after a week of reading I finished Anathem.  I felt like I needed a little time to digest and really think about what it was that made this book, for me, so hard to put down.  The answer I came up with was technical content, and the fact that the story was so compelling.  Neal Stephenson is really putting the Science in Science Fiction.

Normally I have to say that technical aspects can bog down a story but I can safely say that Mr. Stephenson has a much talked about talent of taking a very complex topic and has the ability to explain it in terms and vocabulary that are quickly grasped.  That skill has served him well in this story, as he built on these various ideas and theory until reaching his final goal, it was very satisfying to follow this progression.  There is already a large part of this book that appeals to me on a geeky personal level.  Now the story was also very good and complete. But the ending and more correctly the falling action was great.  And in the effort to not spoil anything WOW, very satisfying, in that you do get to see that most of your questions are answered.  It makes all the theory in the beginning very worthwhile.

Overall for an 890-page book, it really does not feel like a ton of reading the groundwork laid in the first few parts was interesting in a very Stephenson way.  And once the action starts it is really hard to stop as you are continually asking where the next turn is. I found that even with the large amounts of philosophy, physics and mathematics it felt to me to have a much easier read than the Baroque Cycle (that one was tough for me I have to admit).

Goodreads has an interview with Mr. Stephenson that is a good read in particular question 6.

Jorm has a review of the new book along with some discussion on the philosophic underpinnings which I found interesting.

And for my own take on it a few hundred words in…I have to say that I like it.  But much easier to jump into than  Quicksliver.  The vocabulary is not as daunting as it was made out to be either, the addition of the definitions adds clarity but I don’t find myself having to flip around because of a new word.  And even at its large size it seems to be a fairly quick reading book.

Plus don’t forget to head to your nearest Neil appearance sure to be a good time.

Lena has a blog entry on seeing Neal and getting her copy of Snow Crash autographed (with a PIC!)

Over at Unshelved there is a contest a for a copy of Anathem.  Only with a very cool twist you have to come up with coolest haiku about Neal Stephenson and his work!