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lostinthelibrary's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
This book was A LOT. Huge in length, scope and ideas. I feel like I've been reading it for ages and can't say that I'm not somewhat relieved that I finally finished it. Neal Stephenson is a master at world building and plotting. He has devised a very believable alternative history that is so close to reality that I had to constantly be looking up which parts came from history and which from his imagination. There are so many ideas about mathematics, finance and global politics and although I tried very hard to grasp them a lot went over my head. However, these are delivered through likeable characters that you really root for and this got me through a lot of the drier sections of the text. I'm still not completely sure that I "got" it but I definitely admired the craft and enjoyed the ride.
Content Warnings
Graphic: War, Violence, and Confinement
Moderate: Cannibalism
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