Polostan, Neal Stephenson

 

Polostan by Neal Stephenson is the first book in the Bomb Light series

Started: June 3, 2025
Completed: June 7, 2025
Recommendation: Recommended
Recommended By:  Nobody, I just pretty much read what Stephenson writes.  It isn't all perfect, but it is always interesting

Review:

This feels like a Forest Gump sort of walk through the history of the atomic bomb.  The protagonist here is wicked smart and female.  I enjoyed the start, but find it hard to highly recommend this book as it feels so very incomplete.  I also did not like the torture scene.  Maybe there is a really good reason for that beyond the scope of this book, but if it is just the scope of this book, then I feel it was more than was needed to make the point.

The Diamond Age, Neal Stephenson

 

The Diamond Age Or, a Young Lady's Illustrated Primer by Neal Stephenson is a book that has been on the shelf for a while.  I generally enjoy Stephenson.

Started: August 31, 2021
Completed: April 25, 2025
Recommendation: Not Recommended
Recommended By: Nobody

Words for which I sought help:

abattoir -- a slaughterhouse

abos -- An Aboriginal person

adumbrate -- indicate faintly

afflatus -- a divine creative impulse or inspiration

aleatory -- depending on the throw of a dice or on chance; random

anfractuous -- sinuous or circuitous

ashlar -- masonry made of large square-cut stones, used as a facing on walls of brick or stone rubble.

atelier -- a workshop or studio, especially one used by an artist or designer

barquentine -- a sailing ship similar to a barque but with only the foremast square-rigged and the remaining masts rigged fore and aft

brocade -- a rich fabric woven with a raised pattern, typically with gold or silver thread

caducity -- the infirmity of old age; senility

callipygious -- having a shapely or beautifully formed buttocks

caryatid -- a stone carving of a draped female figure, used as a pillar to support the entablature of a Greek or Greek-style building

castellan -- the governor of a castle

cicatrix -- the scar of a healed wound

coarct -- compress or constrict; press together

cocklebur -- a herbaceous plant in the daisy family with broad leaves and burred fruits, native to tropical America

coronach -- (in Scotland or Ireland) a funeral song

coruscating -- flashing; sparkling

crepuscular -- resembling or relating to twilight

decussate -- (of two or more things) cross or intersect each other to form an X

dramaturge -- a dramatist

dromond -- a large medieval ship of a kind used for war or commerce, chiefly in the Mediterranean

empennage -- an arrangement of stabilizing surfaces at the tail of an aircraft

enchiridion -- a book containing essential information on a subject

faience -- glazed ceramic ware, in particular decorated tin-glazed earthenware of the type which includes delftware and maiolica

foolscap -- a size of paper, about 330 x 200 (or 400) mm

foramen -- an opening, hole, or passage, especially in a bone

gallimaufry -- A confused jumble or medley of things

gamine -- (of a young woman) attractively boyish

histological -- studying microscopic biology or tissue under a microscope 

imprecation -- a spoken curse

ineffable -- too great or extreme to be expressed or described into words

ingenuous -- (of a person or action) innocent and unsuspecting

integument -- a tough outer protective layer, especially that of an animal or plant

jocose -- playful or humorous

knacker -- tire (someone) out

lacuna -- an unfilled space; a gap

lambent -- (of light or fire) glowing, gleaming, or flickering with a soft radiance

liminal -- occupying a position at, or on both sides of, a boundary or threshold

masculate -- mark with a spot or spots; stain

mickle -- a large amount

milfoil -- the common Eurasian yarrow

Minnesinger -- a German lyric poet and singer of the 12th-14th centuries, who performed songs of courtly love

opprobrious -- (of language) expressing scorn or criticism

opprobrium -- harsh criticism or censure

oriel -- a large upper-story bay with a window, supported by brackets or on corbels

palimpsest -- a manuscript or piece of writing material on which later writing has been superimposed on effaced earlier writing

particolored -- having or consisting of two or more different colors

pentatonic -- relating to, or based on, or denoting a scale of five notes, especially one without semitones equivalent to an ordinary major scale with the fourth and seventh omitted

Percheron -- a powerful draught horse of a grey or black breed, originally from France

perfidy -- the state of being deceitful and untrustworthy

perfuse -- permeate or suffuse with a liquid, color, or quality

petrichor -- a pleasant smell that frequently accompanies the first rain after a long period of warm, dry weather

pibroch -- a form of music for the Scottish bagpipes involving elaborate variations on a theme, typically of martial or funerary character

pissant -- an insignificant or contemptible person or thing

prurient -- having or encouraging an excessive interest in sexual matters, especially the sexual activity of others

ramify -- spread or branch out; grow and develop in complexity or range

retroussé -- (of a person's nose) turned up at the tip in an attractive way

salver -- a tray, typically one made of silver and used in formal circumstances

scapular -- a short monastic cloak covering the shoulders

sintered -- produced by or subjected to sintering (the process of coalescing a powdered material into a solid or porous mass by means of heating without liquefaction)

snug -- a small, comfortable public room in a pub or inn

soporific -- tending to induce drowsiness or sleep

spall -- break (rock, ore, or stone) into smaller pieces, especially in preparation for sorting

spirochaete -- a flexible spirally twisted bacterium, especially one that causes syphilis

tantivy -- a rapid gallop or ride

tatterdemalion -- tattered or dilapidated

thermogenic -- relating to or involving the production of heat, especially in a human or animal body

trencherman -- a person who eats in a specified manner, typically heartily

vituperative -- bitter and abusive

Weltanschauung -- a particular philosophy or view of life

whilom -- formerly; in the past

Review:

I started this book as a loan from the library, but it was a very slow start and the constant need to look up words had me on the Kobo. The story plods along and I found it very hard to engage until near the end.  The sub-stories interlocked, but it took so long for each piece to find the other that it felt like I was reading several books at once within this one book.  The frequency of words that were obscure or unusual in their use made the book feel unapproachable.

Termination Shock, Neal Stephenson

 

Termination Shock by Neal Stephenson is the latest novel from Stephenson.

Started: 6/24/2022
Completed: 6/30/2022
Recommendation: Not recommended
Recommended By: Saw a notice from Stephenson about this book on his Twitter account

Words for which I sought help:

abaft -- in or behind the stern of a ship

Review:

SPOILERS, so be 'ware.

I really wanted to enjoy this book.  Stephenson took a scientific truth (great start), implemented it (still happy), and started to look at the potential impacts (hey, this is great stuff).  The Stephenson threw in royalty (seems unnecessary) getting busy with a pig hunter (really, come on now) in an effort to up the drama and make the book more of a thriller then a science fiction novel (bad, bad move).  I like Stephenson's Science Fiction and Fantasy.  I tolerate that he is not great at understanding people's motivations.  It feels, however, that he stretched much too far in this novel and worked too hard to do the traditional girl meets boy, girl gets boy, girl loses boy, then boy saves girl (WHAT?!?).

In my opinion Stephenson took some well developed characters and then made them all take left turns so that things would wrap up with a bow.  It was unpleasant.  He spent a fair amount of time developing minor characters who did not matter.  It seemed like every time he needed a coincidence, he made things maddeningly complex in an effort to bring the coincidence about.  Either, this should have been a much bigger book or a much shorter book, but I'm no editor and I cannot figure out which it should have been.  I cannot recommend it as it is.

The Rise and Fall of D.O.D.O, Stephenson and Galland

The Rise and Fall of D.O.D.O:  A novel by Neal Stephenson and Nicole Galland.  I have no idea what this novel is about.  Neal Stephenson...done.

Started: 9/18/2019

Completed: 12/31/2019

Recommendation: Not Recommended

Recommended By: Nobody

Review:

The premise of magic being real and then destroyed is pretty awesome.  There are some fun plays with ideas on how time travel has effected the current time.  The structure of the book (particularly as an audio book) using emails and other text messages to talk back and forth is mind numbingly boring to hear.  The tool of using different chapters as collections of different people's recollections is also useful, but it feels like a crutch towards the end of the book.  I did not enjoy this one.

Fall, Neal Stephenson

Fall; or, A Dodge in Hell by Neal Stephenson is a sequel to Reamde.

Started:  7/29/2019
Completed: 9/18/2019
Recommendation: Mild Recommendation
Recommended By:  Nobody

Review:

Clearly Neal Stephenson is spending a lot of time thinking about uploading brains to a virtual environment.  I'm not really thrilled about the creation of the garden from nothingness, but OK, I guess it is important to grab onto something.

The thought of the United States swiftly riding off the rails makes some sense given the current trend.  I guess I am tainted by having recently read "The Handmaid's Tale" and am a little spun out on the religious dystopia.  The thought of all society just going away and living in the cloud seems highly unlikely.

This is a very long book about the recreation of society.  Of course, I love Neal Stephenson, so I listened to the whole thing.  If this is your first Stephenson distopian novel, pick another.  If you liked the last one, then you will probably like this one and it is shorter than whatever you read before.

Seveneves, Neal Stephenson

Seveneves by Neal Stephenson.  I don't even know what it is about.  It is Neal Stephenson.  I'll read it.

Started: 11/15/2017

Completed: 1/24/2018

Recommended By:  Nobody

Recommendation: Highly recommended

Review:

Very, very cool.  So, what happens if the moon suddenly explodes?  I really enjoy science fiction that examines what happens when some new scientific advance is posed.  This book has that in spades.  The huge variety of characters is interesting and the various scientific advances that are posited seem reasonable in the time frames suggested.  This book is not realistic, but it is easy to get lost in it and enjoy the world that Stephenson has created.  He is truly a great author.  Go get it and spend several weeks enjoying it.

Anathem, Neal Stephenson

Anathem by Neal Stephenson  is a book that has been on my to-read list for a while and has been ponderously progressing through the pile.  It is a HUGE book and I have to admit that I have grown tired of moving it from stack to stack and shelf to shelf.  I checked to see if it was on Audio and, indeed, all 28 discs can be had from the library.  So, I picked it up and I have something new to which I can listen in the car.  This novel received the Locus Award for Best Science Fiction Novel in 2009.  Discouraging, Michael Dirda (whom I respect) found the book "pretty darn dull."

Started:  7/24/2016

Completed: 8/28/2016

Recommendation: Well worth the volume

Recommended By:  Nobody

Review:

It is easy to think that this is a work of science fiction.  It isn't.  This is a book about physics and, in particular, the Many World's Theorem of Physics.  I finally get it.  It finally makes sense to me.  Thank you, Neal Stephenson.

As a novel this book is pretty good.  Stephenson does a very good job of building a consistent, completely alien, world.  It is different enough from our world to be clearly alien, yet familiar enough that most of the behaviors and technologies only need cursory explanations.  The audio version has lots of music that really makes the world seem more real.

As a love story, this book is a flop.  Boy ignores girl, boy finds girl, boy loses girl, boy gets girl.  C'mon Stephenson, you can do so much better.  The romance between Fra Leo and Valore (not a character, but a kind of loving history of martial technology) is so much better then the romance between Fra Erasmus and Sur (sp?) Aela.  Even Cord (sp?) has a better romance then "Ras."

The world building is second to none, the basic plot that carries the story forward, however, is physics.  The physics sort of falls apart at the end, but it needs to be a novel for some reason.  I'm comfortable with that.  The relationships between the main character group collapses and sort of drags as the story moves forward and I'm completely unclear about the extensive side trip in the snow (it doesn't seem to forward the story, but does offer a little foreshadowing) and so, I found that hard to enjoy.  The end product, however, and the clear explanation of the Many Worlds Theorem was excellent.  It was completely worth the time and there is a need to build up a lot if one is going to make an incomprehensible theory understandable.  Thank you, Neal Stephenson.

Reamde, Neal Stephenson

Reamde by Neal Stephenson is a novel that I picked up to listen to during my commute.  I have really enjoyed almost everything I have read that Neal Stephenson has written.  Apparently there is some discussion of the book becoming a television series (http://www.themarysue.com/reamde-television-show/) so that makes it a more compelling book to get to know before the series starts.  There is an interview with Neal Stephenson about this book here:  http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/nonfiction/interview-neal-stephenson/

Started: 5/21/2013

Completed: 6/9/2013

Recommendation: OH YES!  Go read this book...

Recommended By:  Nobody

Review:

There is no chance I can do this book justice in a couple of hundred words, so bear with me.  Action.  Yes.  Arguably too much--almost everyone kills someone.  Character development?  In some characters, yes.  In others, characters with specific traits react to a variety of circumstances.  There is one character who keeps finding her way out of scrapes and it gets increasingly hard to believe that each one can happen.  Of course, that is the way it is in books like this...the major characters survive.  Unlike Snow Crash (which also centers around a virus), this book is far less of a technical thriller and more of an espionage book.  There are no cool gadgets (like 007), rather this is just tough, gut it out hard work (more reminiscent of Mission Impossible).  The book moves fairly quickly and I was occasionally on the edge of my seat (which isn't great when one is driving).  It is also kind of fun that there isn't a lot of focus on how "hot" or "not" someone is.