The Diamond Age by Neil Stephenson

[King Bob]

I thought this book was very good, but not without its failings. I'm not going to summarize the plot because I imagine all of you who wanted to read it already have.

On the plus side, his future society was well thought out, and the use of folklore was clever and well done, particularly earlier in the book. The story moved along nicely for the most part. And the idea of a "magic" book resonates with anyone who was a big reader in childhood. And his idea of "phyles" was a thoughtful extension of William Gibson's corporations/zaibatsus.

BUT-
I thought he got carried away with his descriptions of technology. I found myself skimming over needlessly long passages that could easily have been edited out. Fortunately most of this occurs early on, so it isn't a constant problem.

And It seemed like he deliberately stopped the book short so he could come back later with a sequel. It seems like he's building up to some big social change / technological breakthrough which just doesn't happen. Numerous threads of the story are just left hanging. Certainly he does give one conclusion, but even that seems a bit weak.

Also some side plots just don't really go anywhere. I think you could edit out 50-100 pages, maybe more, with no real loss.

[Dr. Ivor Yeti]

This was my second favorite NS book, after Snowcrash. Good read, but he almost always needs a stronger editor. Cryptonomicon could have been chopped down to a novella.

-ZY

[Greg_phpbb3_import1]

Wait until you get to the Baroque cycle. Talk about run on sentences that don't stop but just keep on going until you have lost the thread completely oh my god it's annoying but what are you to do?

[El Dingo]

"Cryptonomicon" is my favorite NS book. I love the fact that it was incredibly long as I was hooked on the story.

"The Diamond Age" is my second fave.

I made it through half of the first Baroque book and gave up. Too many words.

[Dr. Ivor Yeti]

I am about half-way through the first Baroque book. I am saving it for airplane reading so that I have no choice but to read it.

[King Bob]

I'm going to have to skip that one. I'd just be irritated. And I find myself more and more unwilling to get started in any series of books.

[Greg_phpbb3_import1]

Could be good. Could be a travesty. But it's hollywood. What could go wrong?

Diamond Age, based on Neal Stephenson's best-selling novel The Diamond Age: Or a Young Lady's Illustrated Primer, is a six-hour miniseries from George Clooney and fellow executive producer Grant Heslov of Smokehouse Productions.

When a prominent member of society concludes that the futuristic civilization in which he lives is stifling creativity, he commissions an interactive book for his daughter that serves as a guide through a surreal alternate world. Stephenson will adapt his novel for the miniseries, the first time the Hugo and Nebula award winner has written for TV.

[lady_cranefly]

Neil Stephenson: overlong, endings suck.

But I like his stuff.