Reviews

Seveneves by Neal Stephenson

skc73's review against another edition

2.0

This book could've been about 300 pages shorter. I'm a big fan of Stephenson's earlier work - Zodiac, Snow Crash, Cryptonomicon. These books were taut, exciting, and a bit gonzo. This one was sluggish, overwrought and sloppy. It feels like Stephenson read The Martian, and decided he would take competency-porn to a whole new level. Except he decided to eliminate all the tension and humor that made The Martian so fun to read. I lost interest at about page 300 but slogged through to the end. Too bad, because the premise is fantastic. I just wish a young Stephenson had taken it on, rather than this older ego-driven Stephenson who seems to be working without an editor.

tygaribay's review against another edition

4.0

I am a big fan of Neil Stephenson's work, but I am often put off by the sheer size of his works. I finally got around to investing the time into chewing through Seveneves, and I found it to be extremely uneven. This volume is actually two books, each a manageable 4-500pages. The first half about the events following the unexplained destruction of Earth's moon is one of the best hard SF books I have ever read. I highly recommend this part. The second half takes place 5000 years later, after humans have survived, near extinction, created a ringworld around the earth and developed great new technologies to rebuild the Earth almost like it was before. This section suffers from being a collection of individually interesting digressions into how all of these things could be accomplished. The story and the characters of the future are uniformly depressing, as it is clear that one our greatest imaginations can only picture humans being so very human, more interested in status, war, and power than ever. Stephenson is still a great writer, but if these were two separate books, the first half would be a 5 star and the 2nd half would get about 2.

breakiemimosa's review against another edition

4.0

This is a difficult book to rate. The first 600 pages are great hard sci-fi. A great premise coupled with plenty of problem-solving, orbital mechanics, and rocket engineering. But the last 250 pages are essentially a drawn-out epilogue, and it doesn't quite work. So my 4 star rating is a weighted average of all this.

scotteichinger's review against another edition

3.0

This was a big book. I'm upset that 3 stars is the best I can give it. The first two thirds of the book were fantastic. FANTASTIC! Page turner. There were a few moments of Slowing down and how many more vectors and gees and science. I got list and skimmed over those sections. I trusted the characters knew they were the best at what they were doing, I didn't need a astrophysics lesson. Frankly, I think the book could have been shorter and stopped at the end of that second third. Continue on in a new book. Because the last third just didn't work for me. I got lost and confused. I couldn't picture the worlds our Spacers were living in. I kind of got, but I couldn't really visualize it. I got the various races. But then I got confused by reds and blues and epigenetic shifts...I'll see the movie, maybe that will clear some things up.

andileah306's review against another edition

4.0

Wow. An extinction-level event threatens Earth, and people take to space to save the human race. Events, human and natural, affect the survival mission.

It was a fascinating story, at times reminiscent of others in the genre -- in some ways it felt like a meatier "Dragonsdawn" --but also distinctive. At times the technical detail was a little overwhelming (hence only four stars) but overall it was an enjoyable read. This was the first book I read by Neal Stephenson, but it won't be the last.

zactrolley's review against another edition

3.0

The first half of the book is amazing. The second should have been a separate book.

frogfather78's review against another edition

adventurous challenging hopeful tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

laurapetto's review

5.0

Beginning lagged a bit, became quite addicting at about page 200. Last few pages were a bit disappointing; perhaps this is a series? Felt a little let down about how much that happened in the last 40 pages with such a quick conclusion.

dancingdane's review against another edition

3.0

I can tell if a book is good by how it sticks with me. I read Seveneves 4 years ago, and I'm still thinking about it and recommending it. The reason for the 3 stars, though, is because I found the second part confusing and kind of uninspiring. But the first part is just wow. The science, the research, the what-if.... I also liked that this is not a man-made disaster, just one of those things that probably happens multiple times but because it doesn't affect us, we don't know.

kriation's review against another edition

5.0

An epic novel about the future of humanity!

Neal spins a tale of epic proportion that encompasses every aspect of humanity's future on Earth. Those who are thrilled by our bleak future, and the possibility of a version two of humanity should read this. Detailing the future with this balance of detail and plot is challenging; Neal absolutely nails it!