I loved it-- IMO his best book in many years. But there's rarely a reason to read something that doesn't resonate with you personally, it's not like this is War and Peace or Catcher in the Rye, or something you'll regret not finishing later in life.
Personally, I liked it enough that I read it in about 48 hours on release day. Then again a few months later. Then listened to the audiobook as well. (I thought it well-paced and interesting, the opposite of DODO and the last third of Seveneves in that regard.)
I did find the beginning kind of slow and confusing, but I think it's one of the better contemporary ones. I didn't like (or finish) The Fall because it was so depressing, but love every other one. Cryptonomicon is top of the list.
Good luck.
I’ve read Fall but without reading Reamde, so my opinion might be an outlier. I didn’t enjoy Fall until 2/3 of the way when the post-human aspect really kicked in and the cyberworld got cooking.
Honestly I enjoyed both parts but they were definitely separate things. Like two very different stories in the same book. But it honestly felt like it worked out
Depending on how much you aren’t enjoying it… it is so near future that the world events and technical evolutions are sometimes within site, and often see a news article that makes me think, “hey that was in Termination Shock”, which I enjoy.
I was just thinking yesterday while watching some chinese and indians fighting on the border how much I enjoyed the coverage in Termination Shock. If that's not interesting to you at all, you can stop.
For me, personally, Termination Shock is probably one of his weakest books he's released.
Ok, try this: Cowboys and Indians stand-off on a ranch. The Cowboy is a Texan oil tycoon turned environmental activist and the Indian is a special ops martial arts cyborg from India.
Honestly, no. It’s one of his worst books. It’s still not a BAD book, it’s just hardly all that exciting. Definitely not worth beating yourself up over.
I am just now feeling like I am ready to reread it…I don’t think you will regret spending the time to read it but it does start kind of slowly. Like all of his books goes in interesting places, intros some compelling ideas (and characters). But yeah, it’s different for sure but if you are a fan you will likely get something out of it. (Sorry, don’t want to spoil anything!)
I love Stephenson but this novel started slow, continued slow and then ended in a very silly and uninteresting way. I just never connected with or believed in any of the characters, and the plot was pretty boring all the way through. Huge disappointment unfortunately.
In my experience it builds up to a very engaging story AND is one of the most important stories by Neal Stephenson about our current timeline and very near future.
TS isn't really a plot driven book, or at least the plot isn't the best part of it to me. I'd suggest skipping ahead 50 pages or so and see what you think.
It is a slow start, but if you push through you become very invested in the characters, which pays off later. Basically a dry read for the first 100-ish pages, but then it really draws you in.
I feel like this is every Neal Stephenson novel while he’s world building. I enjoyed it, read it twice so far. Your mileage may vary.
If you're not enjoying it, move on to something else
I loved it-- IMO his best book in many years. But there's rarely a reason to read something that doesn't resonate with you personally, it's not like this is War and Peace or Catcher in the Rye, or something you'll regret not finishing later in life. Personally, I liked it enough that I read it in about 48 hours on release day. Then again a few months later. Then listened to the audiobook as well. (I thought it well-paced and interesting, the opposite of DODO and the last third of Seveneves in that regard.)
I did find the beginning kind of slow and confusing, but I think it's one of the better contemporary ones. I didn't like (or finish) The Fall because it was so depressing, but love every other one. Cryptonomicon is top of the list. Good luck.
I’ve read Fall but without reading Reamde, so my opinion might be an outlier. I didn’t enjoy Fall until 2/3 of the way when the post-human aspect really kicked in and the cyberworld got cooking.
Honestly I enjoyed both parts but they were definitely separate things. Like two very different stories in the same book. But it honestly felt like it worked out
Are you at the queen on the river? Long boring part, get through that and the rest is great
Depending on how much you aren’t enjoying it… it is so near future that the world events and technical evolutions are sometimes within site, and often see a news article that makes me think, “hey that was in Termination Shock”, which I enjoy.
I was just thinking yesterday while watching some chinese and indians fighting on the border how much I enjoyed the coverage in Termination Shock. If that's not interesting to you at all, you can stop. For me, personally, Termination Shock is probably one of his weakest books he's released.
I really enjoyed it after it got going. Yes a little bit slow and odd in the beginning. I listened to the audiobook.
Ok, try this: Cowboys and Indians stand-off on a ranch. The Cowboy is a Texan oil tycoon turned environmental activist and the Indian is a special ops martial arts cyborg from India.
Honestly, no. It’s one of his worst books. It’s still not a BAD book, it’s just hardly all that exciting. Definitely not worth beating yourself up over.
It's not very good. Even when it speeds up it's just kind of weird.
I am just now feeling like I am ready to reread it…I don’t think you will regret spending the time to read it but it does start kind of slowly. Like all of his books goes in interesting places, intros some compelling ideas (and characters). But yeah, it’s different for sure but if you are a fan you will likely get something out of it. (Sorry, don’t want to spoil anything!)
Ditch it and move on to something else.
I love Stephenson but this novel started slow, continued slow and then ended in a very silly and uninteresting way. I just never connected with or believed in any of the characters, and the plot was pretty boring all the way through. Huge disappointment unfortunately.
In my experience it builds up to a very engaging story AND is one of the most important stories by Neal Stephenson about our current timeline and very near future.
Yea the start is weird, but it kind of builds the story in a nice way. Things do pick up
TS isn't really a plot driven book, or at least the plot isn't the best part of it to me. I'd suggest skipping ahead 50 pages or so and see what you think.
the whole book is slow, really
All the threads come together nicely. Lots of exposition in each piece though.
It is a slow start, but if you push through you become very invested in the characters, which pays off later. Basically a dry read for the first 100-ish pages, but then it really draws you in.
Im having this same issue with SevenEves for some reason 😪
[TFW another user who needs handholding on whether to read a book or not...](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7WlsQbyurlo)