Reamde

“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.

Reseñas de la Crítica

“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)

Hard to put down, well written

This is the classic multi plot, multi character novel that builds to its climax with no lack of action or suspense. Stephenson is able to refract many interesting ideas through this, which is only part of what is wonderful about this novel. However, as with all such novels, some of the twists required to keep the balls juggling or keep key characters alive come to stretch credibility to the point where even some of the characters wonder about it. However, since this is not really a Science Fiction novel, though technology plays a big role, Science Fiction readers will have some willing suspension of disbelief to spend, and will be more than willing to spend it.

Better than the average action novel

Upon recently reading my first Stephenson novel, Snow Crash, I was so struck by the originality and all-encompassing nature of that book that I knew I had to read another by him as soon as possible. So when Reamde appeared on my audio book recommended list, I downloaded it immediately (narrator: Malcolm Hillgartner). My expectations were pretty high, and at the beginning I was a bit put off by the long passage describing a family reunion that centered around target practice with guns. But the main character seemed interesting, so I kept listening. Then the technological/geeky content of the book started to rise, and things really picked up steam when the terrorists showed up. Although I haven't read many recently, when I was a teenager I went through a time when I read tons of action novels (think Ice Station Zero and the Guns of Navarone) and this novel was shaping up to be a pretty good one. It had exotic locales (British Columbia, Manila, and Xiamen), an international cast (Islamic terrorists, Russian mobsters, Hungarian hackers and British spies, to name just a few) and criminal activity both real and virtual. My only real complaint with the book is that in many places, particularly the final confrontation with the bad guys, the nearly microscopic level of detail in the narrative made what should have been a bang-up, rip-roaring finale into something closer to a boring doctoral paper in the Logistics of a Modern-Day O.K. Corral. What happened to the Neal Stephenson who once wrote "after that, it was pretty much just a car chase" -- end of chapter? I missed the author who made me laugh with fourth-wall-breaking phrases like that, the guy who knew when to get into the details and when to cut to the next scene. Still, I would recommend the book as a better than average action novel.

Great novel - convincing, entertaining, fun

I started reading, rather than listening to, this novel because I knew Stephenson is no minimalist. A fast pace and a spare writing style is the best (maybe only) kind I can listen to without zoning out. I could tell "Reamde" would be an exception so I switched to my iPod and finsihed the book in a few days. Even when he delved into details while time (in the story) slowed to a crawl, I always remained very interested and attentive. Never once did I zone out during this long book. The only thing that really bothered and distracted me was the narrator's pronunciation of "Reamde." While reading the book, I established the word in my head as "reamed," with the "e" at the end silent -- "reamed" doubling as a typo and meaning "screwed," which you are if the Reamde virus infects your files. The author must have meant it that way; it makes perfect sense. But the reader pronounces it "ream-dee," and my mind corrected him every time. It was distracting.

Otherwise, the novel was convincing and entertaining. It's packed with information, but the details don't get in the way of the story. They serve the story - to make it more compelling and real. The Russian mafia are in this book, so you might think it's going to be pulp garbage. Not so. They seem real. This book is long and at times the pace is slow, as I've mentioned, but it still flies by. I would have kept listening indefinitely and plan to check out Stephenson's other books.

Not for me

I wish I have read the reviews before because I kind of agree with dome of the other readers.It is very long, I have not really an idea why so many people was eager to risk everything for the girl.

My First Foray w/Stephenson

I've never read Stephenson before but this plot line involving the tech/game world intrigued me. In the beginning the game references to WoW, which I used to play religiously, were thick and it just made me smile. But then it lagged for a bit in the middle while many other plot lines were discussed. I started to feel a little duped with regard to the initial tech/game plot line that got me to buy this book but then it all started to come together and I was hooked.

The different plot lines began to converge and come into focus and I began to appreciate the detail with which he not only built up the storyline but also the characters. Additionally the tech/game portion started to become more of a factor which I enjoyed.

Overall I quite enjoyed this book and I am now seriously thinking of giving Cryptonomicon a read even though it's got the hefty price of 2 credits.

With regard to the narrator I thought he did a very good job bringing the story along and personally I found his accents for the different characters well done despite others reviewing them as sub-par.