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May 20, 2008
Jamie Collins
rated it
really liked it
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review of another edition
Shelves:
science-fiction,
historical-fiction
Not as riveting as Cryptonomicon but still a very good read, during which I covered my bookmark with notes of things to go look up later.
This volume is split into three books, each the size of a decent 300-page novel. The characters appear to be the ancestors of those in Cryptonomicon; i.e. Waterhouses and Shaftoes.
I really loved book one, which is set in 17th century England and follows the exploits of Daniel Waterhouse, an associate of Isaac Newton and other famous Natural Philosophers of the ...more
This volume is split into three books, each the size of a decent 300-page novel. The characters appear to be the ancestors of those in Cryptonomicon; i.e. Waterhouses and Shaftoes.
I really loved book one, which is set in 17th century England and follows the exploits of Daniel Waterhouse, an associate of Isaac Newton and other famous Natural Philosophers of the ...more
I wanted to like this a lot more than I did. I contemplated giving it two stars. I really liked Anathem and anxiously anticipated the start of this series. I won't, however, be continuing it. Although it's full of interesting ideas and characters, it's also full of a lot of other (less interesting) stuff. Other reviews I read about it that said Stephenson needed a good editor were absolutely accurate. It is so bloated that the narratives barely link and so connections (as well as attachments) ar
...more
i'm sorry, but i give up. this was just too damn dull. characters and sentences that meandered all over the place and never went anywhere interesting...i hit my limit almost 100 pages into section 2, which was still almost halfway through this tome. i am *so* selling this the next time i go to powell's.
that said, i do plan to read snow crash someday. the excerpt looks very different, stylistically, and i can tell stephenson is smart as a whip... ...more
that said, i do plan to read snow crash someday. the excerpt looks very different, stylistically, and i can tell stephenson is smart as a whip... ...more
I'd had it in the back of my mind to jump into this large trilogy sooner or later. It's pretty much what I expected - lots of adventure and detail and history and I enjoyed it quite a bit - enough to continue at least...
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Was not working for me.
Aug 22, 2007
Meg
marked it as to-read
Aug 31, 2007
Tom
marked it as to-read
Jul 31, 2009
Erin
marked it as to-read
Jan 15, 2021
Kelly
marked it as to-read
