A review by rperce
Polostan by Neal Stephenson

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

A return to form in the hist-fic tradition of the Baroque Cycle, but at a thickness that doesn't preclude the book from coming on a camping trip and a pacing that makes it a pretty fast read. A slow warm-up at the start accelerates rapidly through the middle, to a whirlwind finish that has me waiting eagerly for the next installment. I've always enjoyed Stephenson's approach to historical fiction, presenting the past as the alien world that it is; it's very satisfying to settle back into that space and in such a tightened, readable package—and with a female protagonist, by no means an unprecedented perspective in Stephenson's work, but still certainly a welcome point of view.