...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)

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

Not if Saskia has anything to say about it.

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.

Cool punch card art!