[Taylor514ce]

Neal Stephenson is one of my favorite SF authors. Strike that: favorite authors. I thought Snow Crash and Diamond Age were mind-blowing, amazing stand-alone novels. Cryptonomicon and The Baroque Cycle stand up with some of the best SF, Fanatasy, and Action Thrillers ever written. So I responded with unmitigated, undignified glee when I found that his newest novel, Anathem, out in hardcover, was also out as an e-book at half the cover price.

I bought it. I read it. I liked it.

Warning, it has highly abstract, theoretical discussions. It has to have. That's what the main characters do: have theoretical discussions. Why? Because all mathematicians, researchers, and scientists have been segregated from society into "concents", and banned access to most technology. They are back to chalkboards, for the most part. Why? I can't say, because the "why" is part of the plot.

One fascinating aspect of these "concents", or "maths" (what we might call convents and monasteries) is that they are divided into groups who only have access to the outside world, briefly, once every ten, hundred, or thousand years, respectively. Why? I can't say, it's part of the plot.

Some would say that this book isn't for everyone. Fine. But for existing Stephenson fans, you won't be disappointed. For those who like William Gibson, Orson Scott Card, and a dash of Encyclopedia Brown, you might be a new Stephenson fan.

I'll also say that this book has one of my new favorite lines. I can't repeat it, because it would give away part of the plot, but I can tell you that it involves a protractor.