Termination Shock
Ratings84
Average rating3.8
Reads like Neal Stephenson read his older books and decided to write a parody of that type of fiction. Or a rip-off. Or an homage? It wanders between all three but what it definitely is not is original in any way. The premise is somewhat interesting but the moment to moment text may have been written by an neural network based on his previous works.
This book is like 90% walls of text and no dialog. Great topic. Bad execution
I've read many of Neal Stephenson's books; some of them were hard work. He has a penchant for dense, sometimes impenetrable details, (Seveneves: orbital dynamics) that can bore the arse off you.
I was hesitant to read this book, but I really enjoyed it!
Yes, there is detail, but it fitted the plot. I enjoyed the wide mix of characters and their various interactions. OK, some of it was a bit convoluted, but it was good fun. Could there be a part 2?
A tough one to judge. Even bad Stephenson's tend to be “good” At the outset I was hoping for the pace of Reamde but with the science of Seveneves but I got neither. Both are good but neither excel so the plot is very interesting but I think I hoped to learn more on the consequences (Short medium and long like Seveneves) of the Sulphur gun but apart from introducing the concept the main bulk of the story tends to be character driven, but without the Reamde success. I know NS does not do sequels but this ones really does seem incomplete without one.
Not what I was expecting based on the synopsis. Probably because what the author presents is not as traumatic and flamboyant as seen in the movies for near future scenarios.
Also, not much really happened in the 40% that I read before returning the loaner. Some mystery person roaming around India and some folks getting together in Texas to explore global warming solutions. Also a bit of how the author presents the impact of global warming on human interactions and lifestyle as well as the impact to the local and European environments.
Meh, not a strong recommendation from me. Kind of boring and it doesn't feel like a coherent story to me. The main characters' story lines just feel thrown together.
The speculative climate science of it all was an interesting thought experiment, but I had a really hard time with the characters. Took me forever to read because it was propelling me forward. Found one of the storylines (Laks) far more interesting than the others, but this was relegated to short chapters interspersed throughout. Also did not care for what I would call the "dirty old man" humor and tone that kept popping up.
Much more realistic than The Ministry for the FutureI think this was my 8th Stephenson book. It's not the first one I'd recommend but I really liked the characters and story.
I did not know anything about it in advance and was pleased to discover that it's about climate and solar geoengineering. I have been consuming a lot of non-fiction and fiction climate media lately and this was one of the best. It felt the most grounded in reality: self-interest driving action more than anything else.
Just could not get into this one, which is crazy since Neal Stephenson's stuff is almost always my favorite literature to read. Characters - blah. Situation - blah. Concepts - blah.
Can't win them all, I guess.