Reviews - The Rise and Fall of D.O.D.O.

The Rise and Fall of D.O.D.O. by Nicole Galland, Neal Stephenson

1.21k reviews for:

Any time I read a new Neal Stephenson book, I hold it to an extremely high standard—because my favorite Stephenson books are among my all time favorite books. Because of this, the first time I read this book, I enjoyed it, but couldn't help but feel a bit disappointed, since it did not rank among these rare few. Upon second reading, and with reasonable expectations, I enjoyed this much more than the first time through. It still doesn't make it into my favorite Stephenson books, but DODO is a fun read, presents some interesting concepts, and has lots of great historical settings. The characters are also great! They are highly varied and detailed. There is more pseudoscience than I really like in my scifi, but that's somewhat unavoidable when dealing with time travel.

sugaroni's review against another edition

4.0

What a relief to discover that this is book #1 of the D.O.D.O. As the ending left me yelling that the ending was quite abrupt with threads of the tale wrapped up suddenly or left dangling after 100s of pages of build-up.

Witches and time travel and office politics told with great amusement.

davefoolery's review against another edition

5.0

Yes! This was full of action, time travel, witches, commentary on bureaucrats and workplaces. I really enjoyed it.

alexandriareads123's review against another edition

4.0

A fun and funny romp through time with witches!

schwa73's review against another edition

DID NOT FINISH: 18%

I really just didn’t like it. It was overly scientific and slow.

lilblackqtip's review against another edition

4.25

adventurous funny medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

I loved, loved, loved this book. From the concepts to the in-depth physics behind them, it was all *mwah* amazing. I did thoroughly enjoy the characters and the pacing, though towards the end it felt rushed. There wasn’t a lot in terms of character development, and I believe there is ample material within the book itself that could have prompted a further peak into their emotional undertones. However, in retrospect, that was most likely a cognizant choice as the story is written from a multiple first hand accounts and documents. There are many moments where the depth of a character’s emotion is heavily implied within the subtext. Ugh, lovely book.