Another batch of Anathem Reviews
September 29th, 2008
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Tombstone Anathem Review
September 29th, 2008
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).
More Anathem Reviews
September 15th, 2008
Salon review of Anathem
September 11th, 2008
Couple more reviews for Anathem
September 8th, 2008
Complete-Review and the LA Times their reviews posted. And finally it is the 8th only one more day of reading reviews before you can actually go out and read the book.
io9 review of Anathem
September 5th, 2008
io9 has a review of Anathem up with a pretty good, substantive look at the book we ALL want to read.
One More Anathem Review
August 18th, 2008
Torque Control has a review up, it gives a good impression of how the read was without giving too much away. Tick,Tick, Tick you can almost hear Sept 9th coming closer and closer.
Another review with a promise of another review
August 6th, 2008
Over at Valleywag their very special corespondent Paul Boutin, has a non-spolier version of his first impressions from the book, with promise of a full review on the release date. It is comforting to know that other worlds’ share our collective obsession with distraction and misdirection… I bet you probably could classify this as only adding to that problem…ahh nevermind that point I was about to make.
A slightly longer review
July 30th, 2008
Well now things seem to popping up today (these are the fast readers!) Matt @ More Light! More Light! has a very well written review of Anathem. AND the usual review caveats apply! If you do not want to know stop now.
OK if you are still interested click here! I have to admit that this certainly more thoughtful and through than anything that I have read yet. Happy clicking oh and happy waiting until you actually can read this awesome book.
Publishers Weekly Reivew of Anathem
July 30th, 2008
Publishers Weekly has a review of Anathem posted, only about a paragraph but a Review none the less.