The Sword and Laser discussion

I've read almost everything Stephenson has written, and it amazes me how differently the books can feel from one another. Quicksilver was a tedious intellectual chore, Anathem was easy to read but had a lingering pace, Snow Crash had quick language and a lot of action. Is Reamde the easiest read, do you think?( I've only read the Kindle preview until my turn comes at the library.)

I found the first 20% or so to be very easy to read but I seem to have gotten bogged down at around 30% with the introduction of new characters just as some real action started. It really threw me out of the scene for a bit.

I finished it about a week ago. I would agree that it's probably the easiest read of Stephenson's books.

i didn't read Reamde yet so far I found Snow Crash the most accessible, more than Anathem.
I started Cryptonomicon, The Diamond Age and Quicksilver and couldn't get absorbed, I do want to read them but they require more patience.

Snow Crash and/or Cryptonomicon would be my choices for most accessible. I got bogged down while reading Quicksilver. I'm about half way through The Confusion and it is a little better. Hope it finishes strong in System Of The World.

I'd say it's pretty close to Cryptonomicon. I know little of cryptology and MMOs, so both books deal with subjects I'm only passingly familiar with. I think the contemporary characters help their accessibility.

There is hardly any "cyber" about this book at all -- which surprised me. For some reason I got it in my head that this book was Snow Crash for the MMO-era, and instead it's a straight-ahead action thriller with some MMO stuff sprinkled in as background.

I'm a page 160 or so and for all the action it feels like it is moving sluggishly.

Jenny wrote: "I'm a page 160 or so and for all the action it feels like it is moving sluggishly."

I had the same feeling. I'm around 330 or so pages in and looks like things are picking up a bit. I hope the trend continues.

I haven't read Reamde yet, but if I were recommending Neal Stephenson to a friend, I'd suggest they start with Snow Crash and then read The Diamond Age: Or, a Young Lady's Illustrated Primer if they enjoyed that.

Absolutely the most accessible. (view spoiler)[The story lines are cohesive, and they all play in the same time, and the story is pulled along by the action that starts to unfold at about a quarter through the book, and then just goes on until the end. There are no invented words.

But what I really missed is something that Stephenson does in most? all? his other books: a chapter begins, and two people are talking, but there is no context who these people are, and what they're talking about, because they started their conversation seven minutes before the reader was added to the scene, and they're members of an order that lives in a timeless cloister or physicists from the 18th century, but you have to figure that out yourself. REAMDE has quite a straight style, matching its quite straight story. (hide spoiler)]

I think Zodiac is his most accessible book. It almost doesn't read like Stephenson but a more main stream author of pop literature. Good story and a enjoyable main character but not very complex or something that needs puzzled out.

Arroyo0 wrote: "i didn't read Reamde yet so far I found Snow Crash the most accessible, more than Anathem.
I started Cryptonomicon, The Diamond Age and Quicksilver and couldn't get absorbed, I do want to read the..."

Follow up: I'm 65% into the book, Reamde is the the most accessible Stephenson I read so far.