"Reamde", by Neal Stephenson
So, I just finished reading all 1,004 pages of "Reamde" by Neal Stephenson.
SPOILERS AHEAD. This got a little ranty.
I wonder how many people will try "tasking" someone, just to see if it works. Hint: It does, but if you're ham-handed about it, it's the quickest path to resentment.
Oh, the guns. Did I mention guns? There were a *lot* of guns in this book. Also, guns. There's nothing particularly wrong with it, especially because they are actually used for what I consider their primary purpose, and they're considered Just Another Tool in a book with a relatively high body count.
The middle 400 pages of the book were like a 5 year old playing with toy cars and planes going "and then THEY went over THERE! *car noises* And.... and then THOSE OTHER PEOPLE went... over THERE! *plane noises*" Four. Hundred. Pages.
I get the whole "single action, multiple characters view it differently" thing... I just wished he marked them with something like "Yeah, I'm about to churn out the 2-3 other POV reaction shots, skip ahead 28 pages."
The word "adit" has been relentlessly added to my vocabulary.
He has gone from "physically incapable of writing an ending" to "knocking one out before dinner and pasting it on the end, after his publisher reminds him that it might be a good idea."
I'm guessing that this was his attempt at a crossover novel to get out of the science/speculative fiction genre. He's making a lot of assumptions about attention spans.
With "Reamde", Stephenson has dropped off of my "buy sight unseen" list.
SPOILERS AHEAD. This got a little ranty.
I wonder how many people will try "tasking" someone, just to see if it works. Hint: It does, but if you're ham-handed about it, it's the quickest path to resentment.
Oh, the guns. Did I mention guns? There were a *lot* of guns in this book. Also, guns. There's nothing particularly wrong with it, especially because they are actually used for what I consider their primary purpose, and they're considered Just Another Tool in a book with a relatively high body count.
The middle 400 pages of the book were like a 5 year old playing with toy cars and planes going "and then THEY went over THERE! *car noises* And.... and then THOSE OTHER PEOPLE went... over THERE! *plane noises*" Four. Hundred. Pages.
I get the whole "single action, multiple characters view it differently" thing... I just wished he marked them with something like "Yeah, I'm about to churn out the 2-3 other POV reaction shots, skip ahead 28 pages."
The word "adit" has been relentlessly added to my vocabulary.
He has gone from "physically incapable of writing an ending" to "knocking one out before dinner and pasting it on the end, after his publisher reminds him that it might be a good idea."
I'm guessing that this was his attempt at a crossover novel to get out of the science/speculative fiction genre. He's making a lot of assumptions about attention spans.
With "Reamde", Stephenson has dropped off of my "buy sight unseen" list.