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4.03 AVERAGE
4.03 AVERAGE
This was an interesting but somewhat hard to read book, contrasts eastern and western thought and then mixes in matter compilers, nanotechnology, socioeconomic groups, hive mind, confucians and victorians with a retelling of the boxer rebellion. I think I liked snow crash better, but this was also quite good, the heroine Nell was awesome and the science fiction was cool, definitely worth a read.
I gave up. Been trying to finidh this book for 1yr+. There are some moments of real brilliamce in the book and the premise is incredible, but there are some many interwoven threads and tangents going on. I hate not finidhing books and I may come back to it at some point.
The first half is terrific, paints a compelling picture of a future with perfected nanotechnology. The characters are mostly interesting, especially the heroine Nell. But it gets too surreal in the second half, focusing too much on what's "beyond" the nanotech reality. It could have been great, but just wasn't.
Wow, so many crazy and cool ideas in this book. I loved the blend of nanotech sci-fi with a parallel fantasy story. My only real criticism is that I wanted it to be even bigger in scope to match the power of the technology. I think this is only my second Neal Stephenson novel, but now I definitely need to read more of his work.
It took me three months to read this book and I want the time back. I feel like Stephenson took more time to point out all the cool Sci-Fi tech ideas he had rather than actually craft a story about his characters. The characters didn't seem to make any actual decisions through out the entire novel. They were just swept along by Stephenson's bloated detail of things that had literally zero bearing on an almost non-existent plot. One of the main characters, Judge Fang, just simply vanishes from the rest of the book at the half way point. While another character, Miranda, has a similar disappearing act only to show up on the second to last page of the book (no clear explanation as to how she got there) so that she could be saved from a threat that was never a problem before the last chapter. The book would have been better if listed not as a novel, but as speculative essay on a possible future titled My Cool Sci-Fi Ideas, by Neil Stephenson.
There is a line less than 20 pages from the end of the book that I thought summed up the entire pointless enterprise. "...all of Nell's intellect, her vast knowledge and skills, accumulated over a lifetime of intensive training, meant nothing..."
There is a line less than 20 pages from the end of the book that I thought summed up the entire pointless enterprise. "...all of Nell's intellect, her vast knowledge and skills, accumulated over a lifetime of intensive training, meant nothing..."
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I liked this book much more than [b:Snow Crash|830|Snow Crash|Neal Stephenson|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1157396730s/830.jpg|493634]. Stephenson is a great world-builder and idea man, but that clever goofiness prevalent in SC was absent in TDA, much to my relief.
This may also be the only drama-related SF novel I've come across although I seem to recall that Disch's On Wings of Song might qualify.
This may also be the only drama-related SF novel I've come across although I seem to recall that Disch's On Wings of Song might qualify.