On the first page of neal stephensons new 880page novel. Of his novels, this has easily the most structurally solid ending. This is an interview with author neal stephenson for fast forward. In many ways, these two parts feel like completely different books, one of which is significantly better than the other. Topics covered range from online activities including gold farming and social. While i confess im one of those who never made it all the way through his entire baroque cycle i couldnt fail but be impressed by his ambition and reach in those and others of his books. At base, reamde is an entertainment, an enormous, giddily complex one. In an interview, paul di filippo called reamde the most gripping and funny and. Fall includes characters from your 2011 techno thriller reamde, but it. Neal stephenson is the author of the threevolume historical epic the baroque cycle quicksilver, the confusion and the system of the world as well as the novels cryptonomicon, the diamond age winner of a hugo award, snow crash, zodiac, anathem and reamde. Neal stephenson is the author of such books as snow crash, the diamond age, the cryptonomicon, the baroque cycle, and anathem. Im writing a sciencefiction book about uploading a guys brain. The novel has everything that a cyber thriller needs. Neal stephenson talks about video games, the metaverse, and.
Now this sort of event seems commonplace, but it was remarkable at the time and it brought him a lot of attention. Neal stephensons reamde is over a thousand pages long. The last year or so, since i finished reamde, ive been working on some. Of course, its still a stephenson book, and characteristically epic. Reamde may be stephensons most straightforward and accessible work to date. Its a thriller, fastpaced and exciting, and its as much fun to read as anything hes written. Neal stephenson is the author of some of the most prescient and beloved science fiction of the last 30 years, including snow crash, the diamond age, cryptonomicon, and seveneves. Your last novel, reamde, and this one, feel like the most movieadaptable books youve. Neal stephenson photo by kelly oconnor on the first page of neal stephensons new 880page novel, seveneves, the moon blows up. The first line in any story about neal stephenson will reference his massive. In cryptonomicon, he tackled code breaking and data privacy.
In reamde, neal stephenson puts aside big ideas and philosophical discourses in favor of action, adventure, and lots of shooting. But neal stephenson also has his other styles of writing because he can also cater to those who are looking for a nonfiction books that they can read. Neal stephenson 1959 is an american author, futurist and game designer most well known for his works of speculative fiction. In his youth, richard dodge forthrast founded corporation 9592, a gaming company that made him a. The birth name of the man of letters is neal town stephenson. 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. Neal stephenson is an american penman who doubles up as a game designer. Snow crash the diamond age seveneves cryptonomicon the baroque cycle zodiac reamde the interface. 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 outlook to.
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. Executive summary with reamde, the author of snow crash and cryptonomicon, neal stephenson, delivers a high octane, straightup cyber thriller along the same lines as mark russinovichs zero day and trojan horse and tom clancys threat vector, but stephenson does it with more skill and elevates the genre in the process. Neal stephenson is one of the great authors of contemporary scifinot. If you are a stephenson fan who believes snow crash and cryptonomicon 1999 are his greatest novels, reamde will come as very good news, for in many ways it can be read as a.
He gained further notoriety in 1999 with the publication of cryptonomicon which would later go on to earn the prometheus hall of fame award in. Neal stephenson explains his vision of the digital. If you are a stephenson fan who believes snow crash and cryptonomicon 1999 are his greatest novels, reamde will come as very good news, for in many ways it can be read as a thematic revisitation of those excellent precursors. It tells the story of the planet arbre through the eyes of erasmus as he and his planet face a time of uncertainty and decisions. Neal stephenson is the author of such books as snow crash, the diamond age. Neal stephenson books, ebooks, audiobooks, biography. Dickthat unfolds in the near future, in parallel worlds. Neal stephenson is an american author primarily of speculative fiction, but also of other subgenres of science fiction, historical fiction, cyberpunk and several other genres. Fantastic sunday times like stephensons most critically acclaimed novel, cryptonomicon, reamde combines meticulous observation of the stranger socioeconomic effects wrought by technology with rousing fusillade adventure.
Reamde is a technothriller novel by neal stephenson, published in 2011. As his new novel reamde proves, neal stephenson has both. At first, it seems as if, despite that fact, life on earth can. And his latest novel, reamde, is about a moneymaking scam in an online roleplaying game that spins wildly out of control.
Smuggling backpack loads of highgrade marijuana across the border into northern idaho, he quickly amassed an enormous and illegal fortune. Neal stephenson is best known for his writing style which covers a fictional universe that ordinary people finds really odd. In the following interview with stephenson, some of the details of that. Reamde is a throwback to the earliest neal stephenson, the stuff he wrote under the pseudonym stephen bury. The community erasmus belongs to values ideas especially philosophical and metaphysical ideas. That book fused nearfuture societal extrapolation, cyberpunk online interactions, and geeky infodumps with a conventional thriller. 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. Stephenson, who is a quinquagenarian, was born on october 1959 and his place of birth is fort meade upon maryland, in the us. With plenty of time and money to burn, he became addicted to an online. Neal stephenson is known for writing big books about big ideas. Neal stephenson is the bestselling author of the novels reamde, anathem, the system of the world. Four decades ago, richard forthrast, the black sheep of an iowa family, fled to a wild and lonely mountainous corner of british columbia to avoid the draft.
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. Washington post book world nobody else writes like stephenson press association england on reamde neal stephenson has guts, a killer story, and. Two decades ago, neal stephenson became a geek literature icon, thanks in large part to his 1992 novel snow crash. And his latest novel, reamde, is about a moneymaking scam in an online. Fall includes characters from your 2011 techno thriller reamde. On the other hand, reamde is awfully exciting, and perhaps for the manically productive stephenson, it amounts to a lark, a palate cleanser, the form. The personal website of author neal stephenson, unless its been hacked. Reamde author neal stephenson by special to the denver post and robin vidimos published. Author neal stephenson patch checks in with the author of reamde, cryptonomicon and the diamond age in advance of his visit to oak park. In the same way that i avoid movies over minutes especially if theyre historical costume drama, egads my selfdiagnosed add usually keeps me away from books over, say, 500 pages. How much research do you do before you start writing a book.
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. If the reasons you love stephenson have to do with his love for big things, for example, manyworlds interpretation of quantum mechanic. Download for offline reading, highlight, bookmark or take notes while you read reamde. Neal stephenson is still best known for science fiction novels like snow crash. He was first published in 1984, but it was not until the publication of his third book snow crash that he became widely known. Neal stephenson the interview technology the guardian. 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. A free excerpt from seveneves by neal stephenson ebook written by neal stephenson. Reamde by neal stephenson meet your next favorite book. He is currently collaborating with greg bear and others on an online fiction project called the mongoliad.
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