Science Fiction Novel Poll - Group G

[stePH]

I'm curious -- have you folks read Cryptonomicon?

I have, as well as all of Stephenson's books preceding it.

I know a lot of people begin and then discard it because it's too long or something. I almost gave up on reading it myself. It takes a while to get going but when it does -- BOOM!

That is basically Stephenson in a nutshell — Long, sometimes ponderous, exposition leading up frenetic action of worldly proportions.

And then they just end, rather than conclude.

Don't get me wrong, I loved Anathem, and I really enjoyed five of the six books of the Baroque cycle.

I thought there were three books of the Baroque Cycle ... Quicksilver, The Confusion, and System of the World.

[Heradel]

Don't get me wrong, I loved Anathem, and I really enjoyed five of the six books of the Baroque cycle.

I thought there were three books of the Baroque Cycle ... Quicksilver, The Confusion, and System of the World.

That's how they were initially published (thus the fact they're labeled volumes 1,2, and 3), but if memory serves each of those three was later split in twain to make them more bug-class weapons rather than rat-class. In terms of the actual number of subdivided books I think it was eight. Which would have been the more accurate way to refer to them (seven out of eight), but I was thinking of the second volume which is only two books instead of the three books on in the other two volumes.

[eytanz]

I've read most of Stephenson's work (still haven't gotten to Anathem, and I never could get past the first few pages of The Big U). I agree with the following:

That is basically Stephenson in a nutshell — Long, sometimes ponderous, exposition leading up frenetic action of worldly proportions.

And then they just end, rather than conclude.

The exception (among the books I've read) being the Baroque Cycle - the ending is hardly the best part of the novels, but it is a proper ending, not just the "oh no! I've run out of book! And they all lived happily ever after!" feeling that I got from the others.

[Heradel]

I've read most of Stephenson's work (still haven't gotten to Anathem, and I never could get past the first few pages of The Big U). I agree with the following:

That is basically Stephenson in a nutshell — Long, sometimes ponderous, exposition leading up frenetic action of worldly proportions.

And then they just end, rather than conclude.

The exception (among the books I've read) being the Baroque Cycle - the ending is hardly the best part of the novels, but it is a proper ending, not just the "oh no! I've run out of book! And they all lived happily ever after!" feeling that I got from the others.

Anathem had a fairly proper ending as endings go, though obviously not going into the particulars here.

I did really like the Baroque cycle's ending. That said, when one is over 2,000 pages into a book (and I really do think that with Stephenson if he was allowed to print it in one man-killer sized go he would have) one is really quite captive to there being a good ending because otherwise you've wasted a good few days of your life otherwise.

I get the sense that Stephenson doesn't do well at ending things below the 900 page point.

[DKT]

I'm curious -- have you folks read Cryptonomicon? I know a lot of people begin and then discard it because it's too long or something. I almost gave up on reading it myself. It takes a while to get going but when it does -- BOOM!

No. Honestly, I've heard good things about it, but right now that size of a book is hard to fit into my reading life. And some of the stuff I have read by him I haven't been in love with as much as everyone else seems to be...

Agreed.  I could read three or four books in the time it would take to read Crypto, ans with a job, wife, toddler, baby, I have little reading time.  Also, I read Snow Crash, and wasn't actually all that impressed. 

Hey, wait. Were we seperated at birth or something? Or living each other's lives in parallel realities?

[stePH]

OMFG who's the other vote for Cyteen?  Leckie, is it you?