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A review by robrogan
The Rise and Fall of D.O.D.O. by Nicole Galland, Neal Stephenson
5.0
I read this on Kindle and Audible. I think the Audible cast did a great job and it was nice to have multiple narrators for this. Having said that, I read most of the book without the audio.
Overall, the book was a tad different than what I normally get out of Stephenson, but perhaps that's due to being co-authored. I usually enjoy (except when I don't) his long and detailed tangents into a topic I usually know nothing about. In Sevenenves, or Anathem, I find myself delighted with some actual real knowledge on a subject despite the books fictional plot. This book has a little bit of the explainer-tangent that often comes with Sci-Fi, but I would say it's more like a TV show explainer than the usual Stephenson mini-lecture. For some people, that extra layer of detail is what they love or hate about Stephenson, so that makes this book either better or worse than his others - depending where you stand on that.
I think I prefer the more detailed explainers, but I wasn't disappointed by this book. It was a truly interesting mix of science and magic, as well as his typically huge scope of time.
Overall, the book was a tad different than what I normally get out of Stephenson, but perhaps that's due to being co-authored. I usually enjoy (except when I don't) his long and detailed tangents into a topic I usually know nothing about. In Sevenenves, or Anathem, I find myself delighted with some actual real knowledge on a subject despite the books fictional plot. This book has a little bit of the explainer-tangent that often comes with Sci-Fi, but I would say it's more like a TV show explainer than the usual Stephenson mini-lecture. For some people, that extra layer of detail is what they love or hate about Stephenson, so that makes this book either better or worse than his others - depending where you stand on that.
I think I prefer the more detailed explainers, but I wasn't disappointed by this book. It was a truly interesting mix of science and magic, as well as his typically huge scope of time.