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4.03 AVERAGE
4.03 AVERAGE
The ending is worthless, but the high notes are very good.
"We have pleasant names for them, of course, but you might think of them, respectively, as: one, a polite reminder; two, well in excess of your pain threshold; three, spectacularly fatal."
Fascinating/interesting ideas at play here, sometimes it was incredibly hard to follow. The jargon and language here were very complex and I found myself looking up words and ideas pretty consistently to stay in the know. Overall, I enjoyed this world and its story. It gives you a lot to think about regarding where we as a species and society are moving.
This had a lot of great ideas and yet I was left a little wanting at the end. So many threads that could have been explored. Enjoyed the main storyline with Nell and the book, I was expecting to get more of the story of the other two girls that had the book as well.
The Hackworth storyline was interesting, but I just wanted to go back to Nell.
The Hackworth storyline was interesting, but I just wanted to go back to Nell.
i thought this book was totally awesome. minus one star for the ending though. it was not quite as awesome.
Easily my favorite Stephenson book. It doesn't really get going until the girl gets the Primer but it's great from there on. It kept me up later than I wanted more than once just reading another chapter.
This was good. It is a cyber punk book so you don't really know what is going on for a long while until the threads start pulling together. There is some disjointedness around the time progression but I just gave up trying to figure it out.
The two books of his just kind of ended. There wasn't a great resolution. I think he is doing it on purpose but I would be nice to have some resolution. It was a good ride though.
The two books of his just kind of ended. There wasn't a great resolution. I think he is doing it on purpose but I would be nice to have some resolution. It was a good ride though.
informative
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Holy hell, this was a good book. Ambitious, humorous, funny, well crafted and plotted and (above all,) as imaginative as speculative fiction gets. I loved the central conceit, and all of the little subsidiary ones orbiting around it. I want to make everyone I know read it. Especially those that have expressed bafflement or disdain for science fiction as a genre.
I inhabited this book for all too brief a span. I was there with Nell and Fiona (to a lesser extent), Judge Fang, Doctor X and even poor hapless Bud. The novel is so well realised that after two months hiatus (I broke my e-reader and eventually my partner got sick of not being able to talk to me about it and got me the paperback), within a sentence I was deep inside the world of A Young Lady's Illustrated Primer again. I shall be hunting down Neal Stephensons back catalogue. Oh yes. I shall.
I inhabited this book for all too brief a span. I was there with Nell and Fiona (to a lesser extent), Judge Fang, Doctor X and even poor hapless Bud. The novel is so well realised that after two months hiatus (I broke my e-reader and eventually my partner got sick of not being able to talk to me about it and got me the paperback), within a sentence I was deep inside the world of A Young Lady's Illustrated Primer again. I shall be hunting down Neal Stephensons back catalogue. Oh yes. I shall.