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)

Good story, but not what I expected

I can not blame an author for writing outside what the readers are used to or expecting. NS is famous about explaining ideas or science and I loved that in books like Cryptonomicon. This book has technology in it but it is an adventure story more so than a science or philosophy lesson. I think NS finally really mastered the technique of mixing facts and information into a story without slowing it down greatly, in Reamde he mixes in useful information much better without it feeling like a break from the story to educate the reader. Do I suggest this, yes. It is a good book. If you loved Cryptonomicon this book isn't that.

Ransomware and the kitchen sink

Neal Stephenson's Reamde (an intentional typo of 'Read me') is a no holds barred tale of storytelling delight. It begins with an online game creator, Dodge, who has quite an interesting past. His family includes an adopted (by a sibling) Eritrean orphan (Zula) who now works for his gaming company. Her boyfriend undertakes some shady dealings which result in encrypting Russian mob files by a virus program associated with the online game. This leads to a Russian hit squad heading to China for the virus troll. They inadvertently attack a terrorist cell. Zula ends up a captive of the cell. At the same time, MI6 is involved as they've had the terrorist under surveillance. This leads to an American special ops guy in the Philippines who scoops the Chinese troll and a Hungarian hacker. Everyone ends up in Canada. All the while, Dodge has been working from his end with his unusual family and friends.

Stephenson provides much depth in terms of sophisticated online gaming including details on geology and fantasy background for the game. The introduction of ransomware is creatively employed by using the game environment that allows for virtual in-game payoffs and then cashing out. The detective sleuthing by multiple characters is well executed with always 'fog of war' conditions. Finally each character get plenty of background material. There few if any loose ends; although the denouement does drag a bit at the end.

The narration is excellent in spite of multiple ethnicities with good gender distinction. The pace is easygoing and while the length is >38 hours, Stephenson is a storyteller, rather than a novelist; in addition to the main plot, there are plenty of stories within.

unexpectedly engaging

I found myself rooting for the various characters and hoping that good would prevail.

Very slow story. Little to no wit or comic relief.

I love this author for his long, fast paced, often funny, and always thought-provoking books. This one is none of those things.
Only my love of Stephenson kept me listening past the first few hours of this 40 hour ordeal.
Whenever you think something is about to happen in Reamde, nothing happens.
Plot turns seem totally random, pointless, and unplanned. Loose ends are everywhere.
Don’t get me started on the accents. I was relieved and overjoyed when a certain character died, not because of the story, but because hearing the reader do his accent was so cringey.
The final conclusion scene was absurdly confusing and difficult to follow mostly because by that point I cared very little if any the 15 main characters lived or died.
Sorry!

Awesome as always

I’ll read/listen to anything Stephenson writes. The perfect blend of intelligence, storytelling, and humor.

You see this is 5 parts don't you!

This was a very long read. It was interesting and it flowed well and the characters are memorable. The plot is believeable though way over the realm of normal happenings. I gave it a 3 star for story because it was LONG and part 5 was the longest.

Engrossing story, excellent narration

The story was engrossing. Sprawling yet fast moving techno-thriller or very near future sci-fi. Description of T'Rain game and its design was very interesting. I'd be as addicted to it as characters in this book. Plot relies on improbable coincidences but characters themselves remark on it and so I also accept.

Narration was perfect. Proper pauses when scene changes. Excellent voicing of various character accents.

Another Win from Neal Stephenson!

Would you consider the audio edition of Reamde to be better than the print version?

I listened to the audio and loved it. I can't speak to the print version.

What other book might you compare Reamde to and why?

Reamde is like a Michael Chrichton tech thriller, but with ACTUAL CHARACTER DEVELOPEMENT! Fantastic!

Any additional comments?

Compelling story set in a universe only slightly apart from our own. The characters are original and a lot of attention is given to character developement, which to me is a welcome departure from most books in the Tech Thriller genre. If you are looking for Stephenson's usual hard sci-fi, this isn't it, but that wouldn't make me hesitate to recommend it to everyone.

Disappointing

Much more interested in the setup then what the story actually ends up being about

Splendid!

One of Neal's best! A great adventure, many interesting characters we get to follow. Great narrator too!