Comments | kalidascopeeyes: A Diamond Age

kalidascopeeyes

A Diamond Age

Oct 14, 2007 11:19

About a week ago i spent a night up late finishing Neal Stevenson's Diamond AgeThe book it's self was really good, interesting and fanciful while still being gritty and realistic. It sought to create a world for the characters to walk about in. A rich world, full of culture and textures. The People in the story grow before your eyes, physically and ( Read more... )

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Comments 5

hrast October 14 2007, 22:33:19 UTC

I believe the order of the books is Snow Crash, Diamond Age, Cryptonomicon, and then the three books of the Baroque Cycle.

I'd read Cryptonomicon first, so I wan't so surprised by the jarring end. Unfortuantely, I've always thought he got better as he wrote more, so I don't think you'll be happy with Snow Crash either. However, its a less fully developed world, so its not quite as jarring when it ends.

I've often described his novels as his editor saying "Neal, this is great, but it can't be seven hundred pages long, can you just tie it up quickly?"

That being said, I have no idea whether he fixed that in the Baroque Cycle as I am completely unable to get through the first thirty pages of Quicksilver.

sheilagh October 15 2007, 02:41:02 UTC

Find him at a convention. Tell me, and I'll go with. I totally agree on the "Ok, AND?" feeling.

adayinthelife October 15 2007, 03:43:25 UTC

you really really need to read snow crash. the end does kind of...um...end abruptly, but it is so worth it.

phargle October 15 2007, 03:46:20 UTC

Snowcrash felt like a finished story to me - and it's also one of the best scifi books I've ever read. It's cyberpunk through and through, and also interests the historian in me.

cullum October 15 2007, 21:45:29 UTC

Snow Crash had the same problem; it very much seemed like he got to within 20 pages of his page limit and thought "damn, gotta wrap it up." I don't recall Cryptonomicon having the same issue, or at least not nearly as bad; I have to agree that he got better about it as he went on. Quicksilver was abrupt in a "WTF just happened?" kind of way; actually, The Confusion was, too, but since they are parts 1 and 2 of a trilogy, I can forgive that. A lot of the Baroque Cycle seems to take place off-screen.

I don't remember if Zodiac had the same problem; however, that's probably because I didn't like Zodiac enough to really remember it.

Also, check out "In the Beginning... Was the Command Prompt." It's non-fiction; I think I found it in the computer section.