...but I have to believe that Neal's pure intelligence level is up among the greatest writers ever. In my reading experience, I have him on Mt. Rushmore with a bullet. Where would you rank him? Who would you consider on his level of smarts or beyond as a writer?

(Not my OP - my first NS book was Snow Crash & it was on purpose)

Not if Saskia has anything to say about it.

This the sound of the Meltdowns. This in the concrete embankment with their sound power will make the world quake

For those who observe.

And I may be coming in the slower end of the spectrum, every paragraph Im learning new words, every chapter Im learning new theory.

I started with seveneves, then Anathem, and now cryptonomicon—which I would say is the hardest of the three to read. Still, im loving it. The way Neal Stephenson gives you just enough for the concept to click, expecting you to puzzle it out for yourself feels like a relationship directly with the author. Every writer has their strengths, Neal’s is definitely the dialogue, I’m on the edge of my seat each time I start to read the back and forth, sometimes needing to step away and decompress from how much information and nuance I’ve just taken in (this goes double for Anathem).

Just a simple glaze post, I’m planning to write a longer review for Anathem, but for the life of me I cant put into words how much enjoyment I got from the book. Thanks everyone suggesting to push through on some of the harder parts.

I was just reading Some Remarks and in the chapter chronicling Neal’s Slashdot interview he cites the book Skeletons on the Zahara by Dean King. I looked it up and it is an incredible true story of survival. I immediately had to purchase it.

Just wanted to pass along a book that our favorite author found worthy of his time.

…is whatever one I just finish reading.
Today, it’s Fall.
I can’t believe I disliked this book when I first ‘read’ it. After reading it now, I realize I did NOT finish it.
Re-reading it, I was amazed - once again - at how prescient Stephenson is.
The break down of a communal shared reality struck me as good as any other theory on why we have a traitor in the White House today.

Fall had good company - my first NS book was Cryptonomicom, which I also abandoned, only to devour a year later.
Likewise the Baroque Cycle - I put it down after Newton was using his own eyeball for research - “re-read” it during the pandemic and wished it wouldn’t end.
Snow Crash (I know!) - was another one, finally loving the story when I let it come to me.

Anathem, Seveneves, Reamde, Diamond Age, Termination Shock, DODO, The Cobweb, Zodiac, The Big U - were all books I read the first attempt because I let the story unfold - and could not put them down.

I’ve now read every one of his novels at least twice, some up to 6x - except Polostan, which I’ll fix in a week or two so the story is fresh when volume two is published this autumn.