Fall; or, Dodge In Hell

I was really looking forward to this. So much so I re-read [b:Reamde 10552338 Reamde Neal Stephenson https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1305993115i/10552338.SY75.jpg 15458989] (and enjoyed it almost more than the first read) I had also seen enough to know not to expect a true sequel and it truly wasn't. Like [b:Seveneves 22816087 Seveneves Neal Stephenson https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1449142000i/22816087.SY75.jpg 42299347] it is a book of three parts and i loved parts 1 and 2 with the discussion of the concepts, ethics, practical implications of a “digital afterlife.” Other books I have read recently like [b:Head On 35018901 Head On (Lock In, #2) John Scalzi https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1497994548i/35018901.SY75.jpg 45415409], or [b:We Are Legion 32109569 We Are Legion (Bobiverse, #1) Dennis E. Taylor https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1474344826i/32109569.SY75.jpg 52752877], take the concept post facto, and run with it, but Stephenson, to his credit, sweats the details. I would have loved to be thrown a bone to know what Marlon was up to of if Yuxia and Seamus were still together, but that's OK. However when Enoch Root pops up I got excited. He was the perfect timeless character to enter this time shifting world, and as we were progressing through part 2 I thought Neal was going to join this world with [b:Snow Crash 40651883 Snow Crash Neal Stephenson https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1530057753i/40651883.SX50.jpg 493634] world of the Metaverse. I would have sqeeeed with delight. But No. The third part was a rather mundane “Fantasy Quest” that fell flat. Now Stephenson knows how to write a certain kind of Fantasy - [b:Anathem 2845024 Anathem Neal Stephenson https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1488349209i/2845024.SX50.jpg 6163095] is such a rich tapestry, but the “merry band on a quest” seemed thin, especially as we did not really have the time (except for Prim) to get to know the band. Maybe my main frustration is the fact that of all the books that are dying for a sequel (Seveneves and Anathem first among others) Reamde was not the one.

In typical Stephenson fashion, this book is overly long. But instead of enjoyable digressions into scientific or philosophical topics, this contains long recapitulations of ancient mythologies in a stilted tone and jarringly incongruent language.

It's fine, but far from my favorite Stephenson novel.

I made it to about the 20% mark and then started jumping chapters. No where did I run across the “Fall” mentioned in the title, or “Hell”, and Dodge had completely disappeared from the story, except in past tense. He's like a “red herring” with the actual story being everyone else, and the generations and technology that comes after.

What I did like was the exploration of the technology of the time, that today seems to be the beginning of, not yet at the level of, the book.

Executive Summary: This book starts out quite strong, but as it goes on it becomes essentially two interconnected stories and I liked one of those stories a lot more than the other. 3.5 stars.Audiobook: Malcolm Hillgartner did a solid job with the narration. I checked and he's the same narrator as [b:Reamde 10552338 Reamde Neal Stephenson https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1305993115s/10552338.jpg 15458989] so I appreciate the continuity. He does some voices, but nothing that really blew me away. Audio is a good option, but not really a must listen.Full ReviewNeal Stephenson has been one of my favorite authors since I first picked up [b:Snow Crash 40651883 Snow Crash Neal Stephenson https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1530057753s/40651883.jpg 493634] in college. I've enjoyed just about every one of his books. He has a writing style that tends to meander at times, and is prone to tangents. I always seem to find this just as entertaining as the main plot. This book didn't seem to have any major tangents, but it did follow his other typical pattern of telling multiple connected stories in one book.This book is a loose sequel to [b:Reamde 10552338 Reamde Neal Stephenson https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1305993115s/10552338.jpg 15458989] and shares characters and history with [b:Cryptonomicon 816 Cryptonomicon Neal Stephenson https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1327931476s/816.jpg 1166797]. If you haven't read those books, you can probably read this stand alone, but of the two Reamde would be the better one to have read as some the characters at the center of the plot for this book were also at the center of that.I enjoyed Reamde and the start of this book as it feels much the same. However by the end of the book more time is spent inside the simulation and less out in the real world. Things feel far more like a fantasy book rather than sci-fi. Now I love a good fantasy story, and that makes up the majority of the books I read, but I found this one to be far less enjoyable than the sci-fi story that preceded it.Overall I found this book good, but not great. I'll happily pick up his next book and more than likely enjoy it. If you've enjoyed most of his past works, you'll probably enjoy this. If you haven't ready any of his work, there are better books to start with.

Giving up on this one at page 255. I've loved his other novels, though it's been quite some time since I read one, so not sure if this was me or the book. But judging from the other reviews, I'd say it's the book. The premise is interesting, but this needed a heavy edit and I lost interest and the will to slog through overly detailed asides when my reading list is already miles long. Also, Neal, you need to forevermore stop referring to human women as “females.”

I enjoyed this one much more than Reamde, and it was so much fun to visit some old friends again with some of the characters from Cryptonomicon. That the two worlds are connected was something that I hoped for when I read Reamde, but that I couldn't pick up on.

I loved the fate that they gave Enoch. I loved the world that they built together. But the time spent in Bit-World with Adam and Eve grew a bit long for my tastes. It's brilliant bit of world-building, but at times seems like it's more focused on the world building than on the characters themselves. The language seemed to mimic an almost biblical rhythm, which was completely appropriate for the circumstances, but had the effect of removing me from really wanting to be involved.

I was more interested in the modern world of earth, with the strange religions and the information stream editors than I was in the bit-world that they had created.

The first 300 pages were fantastic. Then the story delved further into bitworld and became less interesting to me. Many reviews said that the last part of the book was almost entirely a fantasy novel within bitworld, so I gave up at around page 500 and will not be finishing the book.

This is disappointing, because the first 3rd was so very good.

I was nervous going in. Stephenson doesn't write small, tidy books - but from the start I was happy to amble along with his big, writerly brain. I loved this near future world where the entire town of Moab is obliterated by nuclear detonation - except not really. The natural progression of fake news and internet hoaxes, this staged event predicates the dismantling of the internet. We move from there into a drastically changed country divided between the Moab truthers living in fundamental “Ameristan” where the crucifixion is the conspiracy and the law of the land is a strict interpretation of Old Testament values punishable by stoning. (though in this case automatic weapons are favoured as machines that can facilitate stoning faster and harder) Meanwhile the coastal elites employ editors to cull digital feeds and mediate information bubbles. I could happily swim around in this world for pages!

But that's just meatspace. The real action in a Stephenson novel is going to be in Bitworld. It's the Creation myth in Cyberspace and I'm on board for imaging a post meatspace world where we will find ourselves uploaded in death. But I find myself losing interest as the page count mounts. Stephenson invokes a clunky voice like some way too into it Dungeon Master and suddenly I find myself in a fantasy, sci-fi novel. There's too much Lord of the Rings in my Neuromancer. It's Christian myth, the Grail quest, and Paradise Lost with epic villains and a Pantheon of heroes and it should be awesome. But I'm not invested. In Bitworld I'm just a NPC, a servile peasant at the whim of the wealthy and their strange machinations. This post-human heaven is still the realm of the 1%'ers and I'm still caught in the middle - my life not much different regardless of who takes power. A bit grim really and maybe too on the nose for my liking.

Neal Stephenson is one of my favorite authors. This is far from his best work. This book was so boring and haphazard it was hard to finish. If you like character driven stories this is not for you because it changes characters too often. If you like plot this is not for you because the plot meanders, jumps, and is ultimately inconsequential. If you like setting the first 1/3 is good; you may even like the latter 2/3 if you care about the obtuse and vague “good” versus “evil” story. As for theme, I am sure there is something there but the main theme I got from it was boring.

This is the most negative review I've ever written. That is not to say this is the worse book I've ever read but considering how much I love books like Snow Crash, Diamond Age, and Anthem, this book was a massive disappointment.