Jun 23, 2017 snow crash author neal stephenson talks to the hive about the differences between augmented and virtual reality, how to create a convincing metaverse, and why social media is driving us insane. Sep 15, 2011 among all the books tied to the recent 10year anniversary of 911, neal stephensons massive and massively entertaining new thriller, reamde, may turn out to offer have the best take on. About the author neal stephenson is the author of eight novels, including the cult successes snowcrash and cryptonomicon. Now this sort of event seems commonplace, but it was remarkable at the time and it brought him a lot of attention. The big u by neal stephenson meet your next favorite book. Bad guys have figured out a way to hack his new shooter splatfest with a virus that took advantage of a buffer overflow bug in. Ive just finished reamde, neil stephensons latest tome. In 1972, richard forthrast, the black sheep of an iowa farming clan, fled to the mountains of british columbia to avoid the draft. At base, reamde is an entertainment, an enormous, giddily complex one. The story, set in the present day, centers on the plight of a hostage and the ensuing efforts of family and new acquaintances, many of them associated with a fictional mmorpg, to rescue her as her various captors drag her about the globe. Reamde by neal stephenson meet your next favorite book. Cryptonomicon is a 1999 novel by american author neal stephenson, set in two different time periods.
Nov 18, 2016 i for one want recommendations for more books like ready player one by ernest cline. Im also one of several coauthors of the mongoliad, an epic historical fantasy which we published. And now the news 2008 by neal stephenson out of a writers imagination came an interactive world 2011 by john schwartz feature interview. A polymath with a wide range of interests, he specializes in the big idea, and. His descriptions of philippine culture, filipinos and expats in the country, and the actual physical surroundings are spoton, leading me to believe he spent quite a bit of time in the philippines in general an. The novel follows the lives of richard forthrast and his niece, zula forthrast, who is a refugee from eritrea.
Seveneves david mitchell, author of cloud atlas and the forthcoming slade house, recently interviewed neal stephenson about seveneves, stephensons breathtaking new book about the survival of the human race, which amazon picked as one of the best books of the month. After just 300 pages, stephenson grows tired of american walmarts. The plot of seveneves gets going when the moon blows up without warning and for no apparent reason. Its a great straightup thriller and i enjoyed it quite a bit, but if you read that first he might seem like just another author albeit a good one. This is what happens when you lock neal stephenson, greg bear, and a host of other writers in a room. Neal stephenson s reamde by jared lorince, unless otherwise expressly stated, is licensed under a creative commons attributionsharealike 3. He is currently collaborating with greg bear and others on an online fiction project called the mongoliad. People figure out that in two years, chunks of the moon will rain down on earth in a cataclysmic meteor shower, wiping out every living thing and leaving the.
Neal stephenson is the author of the threevolume historical epic the baroque cycle quicksilver, the confusion, and the system of the world and the novels cryptonomicon, the diamond age, snow crash, and zodiac. Ive personally been a fan of stephenson for some time, and was excited when i learned about his latest book and got a. The book is a collaboration between neal stephenson and his uncle, which wasnt well known when first published. Neal stephensons novel of computer viruses and welsh terrorists.
I have been using a treadmill desk for a few years, but in midjanuary of 2014 i began keeping. The geeks guide to the galaxy is a science fictionfantasy talk show podcast. I grew up in an environment that seemed utterly normal at the time and that. The personal website of author neal stephenson, unless its been hacked. Cryptonomicon, the diamond age, zodiac and the iconic snow crash, named one of time magazines top one hundred alltime best englishlanguage novels. My new novel, fall, or dodge in hell, goes on sale in june 2019 in the usa.
Since 1984, stephenson has lived mostly in the pacific northwest and currently resides in seattle with his family. While his new novel reamde takes place in the present day instead of the future, it follows the same trends, making it a spiritual. Having read a lot of the former, i think i can identify some passages, but overall it written 25 years ago, this political thriller also predicted some of the future pretty well. Us science fiction writer neal stephenson is perhaps best known for his outstanding novel cryptonomicon, an epic science fiction tale that switches between allied codebreakers working at bletchley park during the second world war, and one of the code breakers descendants employing cryptologic and computer technology to build a data haven. All of stephensons novels published since the late 1990s have been. Reamde is the most accessible book hes done, imo, but its also one of the less neal stephensony books hes written. Neal stephenson is the author of such books as snow crash, the diamond age, the cryptonomicon, the baroque cycle, and anathem. But for the first 600 pages or so, what he mainly seems interested in. Since ive advocated for the use of treadmill desks in some remarks and evangelized it to people i know, i thought it behooved me to publish some data and some reflections on it, born of experience.
At 1,044 pages, you could easily batter someone to death with stephensons novel. Topics covered range from online activities including gold farming and social. Neal stephenson is the author of eight novels, including the cult successes snowcrash and. His novels have been categorized as science fiction, historical fiction, cyberpunk, postcyberpunk, and baroque. Reamde may be stephenson s most straightforward and accessible work to date. Neal stephenson legendary author of speculative fiction on elon musk and geek culture, the nsa revelations of edward snowden, how negative cultural narratives are killing big science and the upbringing that made him the writer he is. If you have even the slightest interest in virtual worlds, its sure to be a great read. A skilled hunting guide, he eventually amassed a fortune by smuggling marijuana across the border between canada and idaho. This page is managed by his publisher, william morrow. With reamde, its clear that neal stephenson has embraced his.
Download it once and read it on your kindle device, pc, phones or tablets. Neal stephenson explains silicon valleys latest obsession. Neal stephenson returns with one doorstop of a tome weighing in at over a thousand pages, with reamde, which some computer geeks may have guessed is in fact a misspelling of readme. It also continues the welcome trope of being centred around geeky heroes. Two decades ago, neal stephenson became a geek literature icon, thanks in large part to his 1992 novel snow crash. Richard forthrast is a middleaged videogame tycoon with a problem on his hands. The moon blew up without warning and for no apparent reason.
Find all the books, read about the author, and more. Reamde is speculative fiction author neal stephensons latest novel. May 07, 2014 neal stephenson legendary author of speculative fiction on elon musk and geek culture, the nsa revelations of edward snowden, how negative cultural narratives are killing big science and the upbringing that made him the writer he is. The remarkable neal stephenson interview damien walter. Reamde may be stephensons most straightforward and accessible work to date. This isnt a spoilerits the first sentence of the book.
Among all the books tied to the recent 10year anniversary of 911, neal stephensons massive and massively entertaining new thriller, reamde, may turn out to offer have the best take on. Neal stephenson is the new york times bestselling author of reamde, anathem, cryptonomicon, and other novels. In the spirit of trying new things, i selected reamde more or less at random and brought it home from the library. May 31, 2015 stephenson does eventually get around to some of those ideas, especially in later sections of the book. That book fused nearfuture societal extrapolation, cyberpunk online interactions, and geeky infodumps with a conventional thriller. Similar read works were reamde and snow crash by neal stephenson, halting stateby charles stross, otherland by. Hc signs global deal for neal stephenson the bookseller. Stephenson s first novel, the big u, published in 1984, was a satirical take on life at american megaversity, a vast, bland, and alienating research university beset by chaotic riots. His previous work has dealt with virtual reality, cryptography, baroqueera europe, and more, but reamde represents his first explicit foray into video games as a literary topic. A brilliant and compelling thriller cast in the mould of his cult classic cryptonomicon, reamde promises to be neal stephensons most successful and commercial novel to date. Brown neal stephenson was born october 31, 1959, in fort meade md, and spent his early years in iowa.
Back to the big u, that is, a hilarious sendup of american college life starring after years out of print, the big u is required reading for. There are infodumps about the setting of wind shield wipers on cars in seattle, bears roaming the rockies, and walmart. The sheer size and weight of the book were a bit offputting. Now for his next move, hes making a foray into scifi. Although he is primarily known as a science fiction writer, his books cover a wide range of subjects, including currency, cryptography, philosophy and the history of science among others. Neal is a true original a singular talent whose work has. Neal stephenson 2012 by the geeks guide to the galaxy. Reamde is an entertainment, an enormous, giddily complex one. I wrote a number of books including snow crash, the diamond age, cryptonomicon, the baroque cycle, anathem, and most recently reamde pronounced reemdee which came out in trade paperback a couple of weeks ago. Neal stephenson discusses why his novels havent been made. Jan 23, 2015 hc signs global deal for neal stephenson published january 23, 2015 by lisa campbell. Nov 29, 2012 and whether or not gold mining in particular attracts your attention, give reamde a look. David barr kirtley, who is the author of thirty short stories, which have appeared in magazines such as realms of fantasy, weird tales, and lightspeed, in books such as armored, the living dead, other worlds than these, and fantasy. May 15, 2012 discover book depositorys huge selection of neal stephenson books online.
I for one want recommendations for more books like ready player one by ernest cline. Has neal stephenson been to the philippines, and what did. Neal town stephenson born october 31, 1959 is an american writer known for his works of speculative fiction his novels have been categorized as science fiction, historical fiction, cyberpunk, postcyberpunk, and baroque stephensons work explores subjects such as mathematics, cryptography, linguistics, philosophy, currency, and the history of science. Neal stephenson, in addition to being an author, has worked as an advisor for blue origin and as the chief futurist of magic leap among other things. Snow crash author neal stephenson talks to the hive about the differences between augmented and virtual reality, how to create a convincing metaverse, and why social media is driving us insane. In 197879, he was a research assistant at the us department of energys ames laboratory in ames ia, in 1980 he worked for the corporation for a cleaner commonwealth in boston, and he graduated from boston university with a b. I guess in order to indulge in a bit of worldbuilding one must destroy the world first. Neal town stephenson born october 31, 1959 is an american writer known for his works of speculative fiction. Reamde by neal stephenson snuff by terry pratchett ready player one by.
It continues his tradition of book titles which look like words from the dictionary, but arent, like cryptonomicon and anathem. But for the first 600 pages or so, what he mainly seems interested in are the most literal. These may not be thrilling subjects, but reamde is a infodump fueled thriller. And his latest novel, reamde, is about a moneymaking scam in an online roleplaying game that spins wildly out of control. Neal stephensons reamde is a thriller set in contemporary america. Theres no telling what stephenson might be planning for his next novel, but nows the time to dive into a firstrate intellectual thriller without fear of being overwhelmed by its virtuosity. His next novel, zodiac 1988, was a thriller following the exploits of a radical environmentalist protagonist in his struggle against corporate polluters. Stephenson does eventually get around to some of those ideas, especially in later sections of the book. Neither novel attracted much critical attention on first. Hc signs global deal for neal stephenson published january 23, 2015 by lisa campbell. Stephenson s work explores subjects such as mathematics, cryptography, linguistics, philosophy, currency, and the history. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading reamde. Wells, of imaging a future in which troglodytes live just outside the titanium walls of civilization, and though the setup is an old one, he brings a fresh vision based on the latest science to the task. Neal stephenson is the author of reamde, anathem, and the threevolume historical epic the baroque cycle quicksilver, the confusion, and the system of the world, as well as cryptonomicon, the diamond age, snow crash, and zodiac.
Neal stephenson audio books, best sellers, author bio. Aug 15, 2012 a brilliant and compelling thriller cast in the mould of his cult classic cryptonomicon, reamde promises to be neal stephenson s most successful and commercial novel to date. One group of characters are world war iiera allied codebreakers and tacticaldeception operatives affiliated with the government code and cypher school at bletchley park uk, and disillusioned axis military and intelligence figures. Howard is reuniting with apollo screenwriter william broyles jr. While his new novel reamde takes place in the present day instead of the future, it follows the same trends, making it a spiritual sequel of sorts. Discover book depositorys huge selection of neal stephenson books online. Jan 14, 2017 neal stephenson, in addition to being an author, has worked as an advisor for blue origin and as the chief futurist of magic leap among other things. May 21, 2015 neal stephenson is the author of reamde, anathem. Neal stephenson is the bestselling author of the novels reamde, anathem, the system of the world, the confusion, quicksilver, cryptonomicon, the diamond age, snow crash, and zodiac, and the groundbreaking nonfiction work in the beginning.
Stephenson takes a growing subgenre that is right up his alley. Oktober 1959 in fort meade, maryland, usa ist ein in seattle. Neal stephenson is the bestselling author of the novels reamde, anathem, the system. May 27, 2016 us science fiction writer neal stephenson is perhaps best known for his outstanding novel cryptonomicon, an epic science fiction tale that switches between allied codebreakers working at bletchley park during the second world war, and one of the code breakers descendants employing cryptologic and computer technology to build a data haven in the near future. Reamde is a technothriller novel by neal stephenson, published in 2011.