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Is this science fiction?
Yes, in the way that Stephenson has always defined it—fiction about science. It is not speculative fiction, except to the degree historical fiction inherently requires some small amount of speculation. This is probably the best test case so far for Stephenson's claim, however. Even the Baroque cycle was more directly "fiction about science" than Polostan, but it doesn't require a particularly attentive reader to see the building blocks along the way.
I rather hope that as the Baroque Cycle/Cryptonomicon are to computing, Bomb Light will be to particle physics, and if that's the case, I am excited to see where we end up several books from now.
Is this Neal Stephenson?
Absolutely, both in authorship and in the qualities that make his writing so distinctive. Also yes in the sense that this should be satisfying for Stephenson readers who enjoy his less high-concept offerings, like the early books in the Baroque cycle. This is not the sprawling audacity of Seveneves or Anathem, and is less densely layered than Cryptonomicon, but hangs a compelling, compulsive narrative on a clever storytelling hook.
Yes, I finished this book within 48 hours. As I say, a compulsive narrative.
Yes, in the way that Stephenson has always defined it—fiction about science. It is not speculative fiction, except to the degree historical fiction inherently requires some small amount of speculation. This is probably the best test case so far for Stephenson's claim, however. Even the Baroque cycle was more directly "fiction about science" than Polostan, but it doesn't require a particularly attentive reader to see the building blocks along the way.
I rather hope that as the Baroque Cycle/Cryptonomicon are to computing, Bomb Light will be to particle physics, and if that's the case, I am excited to see where we end up several books from now.
Is this Neal Stephenson?
Absolutely, both in authorship and in the qualities that make his writing so distinctive. Also yes in the sense that this should be satisfying for Stephenson readers who enjoy his less high-concept offerings, like the early books in the Baroque cycle. This is not the sprawling audacity of Seveneves or Anathem, and is less densely layered than Cryptonomicon, but hangs a compelling, compulsive narrative on a clever storytelling hook.
Yes, I finished this book within 48 hours. As I say, a compulsive narrative.