space monks.
anathem by neal stephenson.
i can't really do this justice in summary. i mean-- you never can. i'm fond of trying to give a rundown of the baroque cycle but even saying "it is about the feud between newton & liebnitz over calculus, with alchemy & pirates" leaves out spring-powered jade dildo hands or the invention of national debt, or the removal of the kidney stone...just so much. it is the same way here; i could be pithy. "it is about monks who, instead of god, are really into math & theoretical science." although there is a little more mystery here; what will crack the egg? what will stir up the wasp's nest? so let me be coy. i'll just say that really, the set-up was the thing for me. jenny got sick of hearing me march in to talk about the book-- well realized world building here. & slow, so you can chew on it. i found this to be a big success; i'm a neal stephenson fan, though. he's yet to let me down. now i just need to get james to burn the chant cd that came with the galley copy he snagged.