Reamde

By: Neal Stephenson

Narrated by: Malcolm Hillgartner

Length: 38 hrs and 29 mins

Publisher's summary

“Stephenson has a once-in-a-generation gift: he makes complex ideas clear, and he makes them funny, heartbreaking, and thrilling.” - Time

The #1 New York Times bestselling author of Anathem, Neal Stephenson is continually rocking the literary world with his brazen and brilliant fictional creations - whether he’s reimagining the past (The Baroque Cycle), inventing the future (Snow Crash), or both (Cryptonomicon). With Reamde, this visionary author whose mind-stretching fiction has been enthusiastically compared to the work of Thomas Pynchon, Don DeLillo, Kurt Vonnegut, and David Foster Wallace - not to mention William Gibson and Michael Crichton - once again blazes new ground with a high-stakes thriller that will enthrall his loyal audience, science and science fiction, and espionage fiction fans equally. The breathtaking tale of a wealthy tech entrepreneur caught in the very real crossfire of his own online fantasy war game, Reamde is a new high - and a new world - for the remarkable Neal Stephenson.

©2011 by Neal Stephenson. (P)2011 Brilliance Audio, all rights reserved.

Critic reviews

“Stephenson...delivers a sprawling thriller that shows him in complete control of his story.” ( Publishers Weekly)

“Noir futurist Stephenson returns to cyberia with this fast-moving though sprawling techno-thriller...Who’ll prevail? We don’t know till the very end, thanks to Stephenson’s knife-sharp skills as a storyteller. An intriguing yarn—most geeky, and full of satisfying mayhem.” ( Kirkus Reviews, starred review)

“Sometimes when you’re reading Neal Stephenson, he doesn’t just seem like one of the best novelists writing in English right now; he seems like the only one.” (Lev Grossman, Time)

The vein of cryptonomicon

Lots of action and excitement like cryptonimicon. Not as much drama and science as anathem

Decent

For such a detailed, well researched story, it suffers from the same hammy fish out of water explanations as can be found in your average Law and Order episode on gamers. This would be forgiveable if it weren't for the flat tone used for each character. Aside from accents, it's nearly impossible to discern any particular emotion in the dialogue.

Started out well, but abandoned imagination

The game world was a great hook, but the story-telling didn't last. If Stephenson weren't a great writer I would have abandoned the book halfway through.

Action packed

I like most of Stephenson's books, so it probably shouldn't have been a surprise that this one rocked my socks. It is a ridiculously action packed book. And that may the one negative, the action goes on for so long and to such lengths that it loses some of its credibility.

Its was an absolute blast though, and the virtual pages kept turning. The narrator does a great job of keeping all the characters distinct. It comes very highly recommended.

Way to stretched out for so little story.

They story is retold about 5 times through multiple characters. they would switch between characters so often that I really knew what was going on. Or when and time it was occurring.

I struggled to finish it, but my OCD does not allow me to leave a book unfinished. There's so many times you are left asking the author why.

I had multiple people refer to me to this book saying that it was the same plot as ready player one. there is so little actual video game references in the book. it feels like it was an afterthought.

Paid by the word

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

No, while the basic plot mixing the world of gaming and international terrorism has great potential, the story is overly long due to the level of detail provided that often doesn't enhance the story.

Would you be willing to try another book from Neal Stephenson? Why or why not?

Maybe, based on other works.

What does Malcolm Hillgartner bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

This is one that could be read or listened to equally.

Could you see Reamde being made into a movie or a TV series? Who should the stars be?

Yes

Any additional comments?

Unless you are looking to kill a lot of time, listen to something more compactly written.

Not Science Fiction

If you could sum up Reamde in three words, what would they be?

Long, International, Thriller

Any additional comments?

The book was very engaging but veered off from its promise to be about the world of gaming and cybercrime. Instead it was a fairly conventional (and predictable) international thriller, full of narrow escapes, chases and gunplay. The action was rendered in such meticulous detail that I wound up playing it at 1.25 speed to move it along faster. Still the characters were engaging and I listened to the very end.

Entertaining. could not stop listening.

Would you listen to Reamde again? Why?

Maybe, after a few years have passed.

What did you like best about this story?

It's a Neal Stephenson. The details are all credible and spot on.

Which scene was your favorite?

The meeting of the russian mobsters and the islamic terrorists.

Science Fiction?

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Yes I would recommend this. While it is hardly science fiction, not even the cyber sci fi
of Snow Crash or Diamond Age it is still a good story. Seems like Stephenson is looking for a movie deal.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Reamde?

I enjoyed the personal relationships in the novel.

Which character – as performed by Malcolm Hillgartner – was your favorite?

Not one in particular they were all pretty good. But as I think of it I did like the Chinese hacker.

Any additional comments?

Like I mentioned this is not science fiction. The device of the video game was entertaining only because I like video games. While I don't play them anymore, too time consuming. I would recommend this because it is a good story.. a little long and somewhat predictable but the action was entertaining. I hope Neil gets a movie deal; I probably will not see it, there are enough movies; and books too I suppose with the terrorist boogeyman.

Long but excellent and technologically prescient book

This is an insanely long audio book (40 hours), even on faster than normal speeds. However, it’s a story that builds slowly and, as others have noted, becomes hard to put down! I finished it in about 2 weeks, taking a week off in the middle for a trip.

A talented weaving of numerous storylines to an artful conclusion, and the expected handling of technology with the realism expected from the author. While, as most stories, there are many plot conveniences/coincidences for the story’s sake, they are generally satisfying and rarely technology-related.

Amazingly, though published in 2012, it’s incredibly relevant in 2018 (significantly more than 2012 in fact), making it another unusually-prescient piece. Another author would have waited to write it until 2019 :-)