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A question for Neal Stephenson fans

post #1 of 16
4/2/09 at 11:42pm
Thread Starter 
Hiya guys, after 'shopping around' so to speak for a post-cyberpunk sci-fi author to get into, Stephenson seems to be right up my alley. As a consequence Ive just got my hands on Diamond Age, but have since wiki'd Stephensons work and Snow Crash seems to be loosely set in the same universe about 60-80 years before it.

As a consequence I'm wondering, what would be the best first Stephenson novel to start with? Is there a third option I should begin with instead?

Is there a 'best order' to read his stuff in so to speak or can I just dive in anywhere?
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post #2 of 16
4/2/09 at 11:52pm
There are a few names and characters that recur, but you can read anything first. (Unless you're in the Baroque Cycle which, for obvious reasons, should be read in order.)
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post #3 of 16
4/3/09 at 12:00am
Thread Starter 
Since I have the choice tho Russ, would you recommend I start with Snow Crash or Diamond Age?
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post #4 of 16
4/3/09 at 12:03am
It's been over a decade since I read either. I'd read chronologically, but I have no other input.
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post #5 of 16
4/3/09 at 12:22am
The Diamond Age was the first Stephenson book I tried to read and I never made it through. I've since read a number of his other books and enjoyed them all. Snow Crash is the most accessible novel I've read of his, it's a pretty easy read and relatively fast-paced.

A lot of his other books are slower and really simmer for a while before they get going. I don't think I was used to that sort of style when I tried to read The Diamond Age and as a result, I never really got through it.

People who have read all of his books may be better able to tell you how The Diamond Age compares to the rest of his work in this regard, but it felt just a little slower to me.

So, in the interest of getting you good and hooked on Stephenson, I'd suggest starting some place else. Cryptonomicon is still my favorite.
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post #6 of 16
4/3/09 at 10:14am
If you like Dickens, Diamond Age is perfectly accessible. It takes its time unfolding, but like most Stephenson books, there's a reason for that. Diamond Age was one of my favorite science fiction novels back in the day. I never got around to Snow Crash.
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post #7 of 16
4/3/09 at 2:33pm
Snow Crash if you want the full-on scifi. Cryptonomicon if you just want the fantastic elements hanging around the periphery.

Anathem is also pretty great, but I wouldn't recommend it as a first Stephenson book. It does, however, feature kung-fu space monks.
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post #8 of 16
4/5/09 at 5:47pm
The Diamond Age is the best Hard scifi on dry Nano Technology ever written. It pretty gowned in the theories laid down by Richard Feynman, K. Eric Drexler and others.
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post #9 of 16
4/5/09 at 7:51pm
"Snow Crash" is probably a good start. It explores some fascinating ideas such as the human brain as a determinstic computational system that can be crashed by thoughts which it is physically or logically incapable of thinking, as well as language as a progamming virus.

It's a dense and culturally rich piece of work which is clearly influenced by (and builds upon) the work of William Gibson.

Because it clearly plays to the (late) teen market I found it a bit disorientating. It's not a book that I enjoy (perhaps I'll change my mind when I read it again), but I have an awful lot of respect for Stephenson's originality and innovation.
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post #10 of 16
4/5/09 at 8:07pm
Diamond Age or Snow Crash is a fine place to start, but I might recommend Zodiac as a follow-up. It's a nice change of pace, is a bit more grounded, and develops at a nice clip.

I would not, however, recommend anything following Cryptonomicon (which is fantastic) until Stephenson manages to get a decent editor.
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post #11 of 16
4/7/09 at 1:58pm
I, like most, started with Snow Crash and thought it was the best thing ever written. I read Diamond Age afterwards and enjoyed it.

Five years later, I re-read both, and The Diamond Age is much, much better. I think it's his best work. One of these other threads has some rankings of his work.. might even be in the current reading thread.
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post #12 of 16
4/9/09 at 5:00pm
I personally love all of his books, but there's a clear delineation between past-Stephenson and current-Stephenson. Cryptonomicon/Baroque Cycle/Anathem are completely different in tone and style, IMO.

Personally, I prefer these to his earlier works. Screw the lack of editing, the time you put into the Baroque Cycle pays off dividends to a patient reader. I'm convinced most that dislike these get through Quicksilver and are confused or tired of the meandering, so they stop. But pretty much every single vignette in that book has a reason which finds fruition in the later volumes. If you view those suckers as one 3600 page opus, intimidating as it may be, they stand out as unique achievement.

If you really want to soak in a revolutionary time period, these are his best, digressions and all.
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post #13 of 16
4/9/09 at 5:34pm
"Cryptonomicon" has been on my shelf for a while. I've been meaning to read it but the sheer size scares me off. It's not that I have a problem with big books. I'm just worried that if I get thirty pages in and it's as disorientating as "Snow Crash" I'll end up spending a fortnight on it.

Of course, any normal person would just toss it aside and start something else. But when you're an obsessive-compulsive every-book-I-start-I-MUST-finish type like me there's no giving up.
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post #14 of 16
4/9/09 at 6:09pm
Even though it has aged quite badly, CRYPTONOMICON is probably my favourite of Stephenson's books. The 1990s setting of half the book is painfully dated, but the WWII sequences are brilliant and set the stage for his long, meandering excursion into the Age of Enlightenment in the Baroque Cycle. Also, CRYPTONOMINON's written in an incredibly percussive style in which words just ricochet across the page and paragraphs race along breathlessly, daring you to keep up. It's a real achievement. The Baroque Cycle is even more impressive, but is more discursive, so the momentum is lost somewhat compared to CRYPTONOMICON.

All four books are wonderfully written, erudite and clearly the work of an inquisitive mind. Solely for those qualities they deserve to be read.
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post #15 of 16
4/9/09 at 6:20pm
The best parts of Baroque are amazing, and if he'd managed to make the development of ideas and science in concert with economy and politics in the third novel as elegant and exciting as the piracy in the second, it would be one for the ages.

As is, it's good stuff.
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post #16 of 16
6/21/12 at 10:29am

This magnificent bastard is doing an AMA on reddit right now. 

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