Fall; or, Dodge in Hell

A Novel

By: Neal Stephenson

Narrated by: Malcolm Hillgartner

Length: 31 hrs and 48 mins

Publisher's summary

A New York Times Notable Book

The #1 New York Times bestselling author of Seveneves, Anathem, Reamde, and Cryptonomicon returns with a wildly inventive and entertaining science fiction thriller - Paradise Lost by way of Philip K. Dick - that unfolds in the near future, in parallel worlds.

In his youth, Richard “Dodge” Forthrast founded Corporation 9592, a gaming company that made him a multibillionaire. Now in his middle years, Dodge appreciates his comfortable, unencumbered life, managing his myriad business interests, and spending time with his beloved niece Zula and her young daughter, Sophia.

One beautiful autumn day, while he undergoes a routine medical procedure, something goes irrevocably wrong. Dodge is pronounced brain dead and put on life support, leaving his stunned family and close friends with difficult decisions. Long ago, when a much younger Dodge drew up his will, he directed that his body be given to a cryonics company now owned by enigmatic tech entrepreneur Elmo Shepherd. Legally bound to follow the directive despite their misgivings, Dodge’s family has his brain scanned and its data structures uploaded and stored in the cloud, until it can eventually be revived.

In the coming years, technology allows Dodge’s brain to be turned back on. It is an achievement that is nothing less than the disruption of death itself. An eternal afterlife - the Bitworld - is created, in which humans continue to exist as digital souls.

But this brave new immortal world is not the Utopia it might first seem...

Fall, or Dodge in Hell is pure, unadulterated fun: a grand drama of analog and digital, man and machine, angels and demons, gods and followers, the finite and the eternal. In this exhilarating epic, Neal Stephenson raises profound existential questions and touches on the revolutionary breakthroughs that are transforming our future. Combining the technological, philosophical, and spiritual in one grand myth, he delivers a mind-blowing speculative literary saga for the modern age.

©2019 Neal Stephenson (P)2019 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved

Favorite author, least favorite work

In interviews with Mr. Stephenson during the run up to the release of this book, the book was accurately portrayed as a fantasy story wrapped inside a sci-fi story.

For me, the Sci-fi part, the beginning of the book, was somewhat satisfying. We are reunited with beloved characters from Reamde, which I was very much looking forward to. However, it felt like those characters bailed on our reunion way early, so we don’t really feel caught up with most of them.

I did not enjoy the fantasy part of the book much, but I’m not a fan of that genre. Our familiar characters, while sprinkled around this part of the book, have become unfamiliar and their newness very fully explored. One can tell where the story is heading but not before the “are we there yet” internal chant begins. In the meantime, many new and potentially more interesting characters and subjects are glimpsed at but not developed.

Better Than Reviews Suggest, But Far From His Best

I'm writing this review only because I find the other reviews posted here to be far more negative than this book deserves. Is this Stephenson's best book? No - far from it. Should Stephenson fans still read it? Absolutely.

The problem, as I see it, is that there are simply too many plot elements and themes thrown into one story, and the book unfortunately does not seem to realize which are the most interesting. In fact, the single least interest plot element takes up almost the entire second half of the novel, and culminates in a final confrontation that just doesn't work. Conversely, the "Ameristan" and Moab conspiracy plot element (which I found very interesting) just kind of disappears, and leaves you wondering why it was included at all.

The good news is that the entire book bleeds Stephenson's signature style. From the very first page, he has you thinking about the nature of human consciousness as it relates to the outside world, and those themes persist throughout. There is plenty to like here, even if the novel is ultimately unsuccessful.

Stephenson's most polished work

Filled with many Easter eggs for hardcore Stephenson fans, and built on the usual foundation of a broad topic, explored with geek level precision and obsession, the story meanders pleasantly, delivering surprises, while still always remaining on a satisfyingly preordained track, not so much predictable as simply the way it should be. Heavily laden with characters from the Stephensonian universe as well as the mythos of the western world, this epic feels familiar, but is still fresh.

Another great and engrossing take from Neal Stephenson

His ability to pull you into the world and make you feel like you are truly there never ceases to amaze me. I also love the continuation and total change from Reamde. Reading one of his books and getting to the end then looking back on where you started and feeling like it was ages ago for all that has happened and loving every minute of it!

Not what you expect, and brilliantly so

I loved this book. While it is a sequel to Reamde, it takes place in a different universe. And when one universe is replaced for another, one has to expect many things to be the opposite.
For those who have read Mr Stephenson's other works, Fall includes some threads started in the Cryptonomicon and The Baroque Cycle. You won't miss anything if you've not read them, but characters and plot lines will have more meaning if you have.

um . . .

I didn't get it. The first part of the novel seemed to have a story it was going to connect together. The story never connected together.

Philosophy in Fiction

A worthwhile and well crafted mix of philosophy and mythology. I look forward to listening to it again.

Love NS, this was alright

Not the author’s best, but I enjoyed the read. It was a bit tedious to get through to be honest, and the characters were a bit too numerous and and difficult to really love. The story sort of meandered and was a bit disjointed, but went off onto significantly fun explanatory tangents in places where Neal shines. With most of his books, the ending just kinda ends...

If you are a Neal Stephenson fan, you should definitely give this a listen. If you are just starting out with Neal Stephenson, read Snow Crash, Cryptonomicon, and cherish every bit of the Baroque cycle first please!

Mildly disappointing

This novel is nearly as epic as Stephenson's longer tomes, but much of that length is spent on random fantasy. As pleasant as that may be, I was really hoping for him to at least put a bow on it when he synced everything back up to the real world at the end. Instead I feel he dropped the ball and went for the easy out.

I very much enjoyed the tie-ins with Cryptonomicon/The Baroque Cycle in addition to those with Reamde... but if take any one of those books over this one. I have loved basically everything I've read by Stephenson, so it's not easy to say I wasn't blown away by this one. But there you have it. Plenty of cute ephemera, lots of name-dropping and cool hand-waving around the more iffy science bits, as you might imagine.

Really I would've been perfectly fine with all of the piffle in the middle of there were some sort of payoff at the end; There just wasn't, and that's that. On to the next book!

His best book yet. Sooooo much awesome.

His creativity knows no boundaries, ergo this, well, unbounded tale. From page 1. While completely woven from absurdly complex threads, I never lost track, drifted, or, well, lost the thread. And of course, narration was superb!.