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)

Not the typical Neal Stephenson

Die hard Neal Stephenson fans that only want to see him write "Neal Stephenson" books should stay far away from this one. This book is a much more straight forward techno-thirller than the typical Stephenson work and I say that isn't a bad thing. Stephenson's prose and his always well researched scientific and technical details are present mixed with techno action reminiscent of a James Rollins novel. The book moves along at a breakneck pace and never drags, a great feat for a 1000+ page (38+ hours) book.
This book is fun and entertaining and if you are looking for a great action thriller to listen to, you won't go wrong with this one. If you are looking for a "Neal Stephenson" novel you might want to skip it.

Whimsical, entertaining, all over the place

You kind of have to be a Stephenson fan to enjoy this book. I realize that may not be the case with everyone. If you like a kind of "stream of conciseness", fly by the seat of your pants, 10 different directions, crazy world that this book paints, then you'll love this book.

All the different story lines eventually collide, but at times you'll not really think it's going to happen.

I do technology for a living, and I specifically work on software. So maybe this book was more interesting to me than the average person. But I think that it was crazy and fun. If that's what you're after, then you should feel fine about getting this book.

Hey, it's Stephenson, pandemonium is what he does best.

Solid. 4.75.

Overall a fast paced romp around the world with a well-developed cast of characters. Listening was easy. Narration well done. Only aspect keeping this from a 5.0 is a bit of direction loss around the middle.

Well written and engaging

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes. Sadly, a 38 hour book isn't one that can be listened to in one sitting, but I did the best I could. I started listening to Reamde on Thursday afternoon, and finished Saturday afternoon.

good but somehow emotionally draining

good story. went on too long. made me want to grab him and shake him, and tell him to stop preaching already

Meaty!

I love a book when the author has such fully developed characters and plot! Plus even after 30+ hours I would have been happy to hear more.

Tremendous Adventure !!!

A surprisingly engaging adventure, dipping in and out of cyber-gaming, with fleshly characters you begin to truly care about. Altruism at its finest! Stephenson never fails the reader. Dangle a toe and get sucked in over your head!

Well researched

This author adds an extreme level of detail that can only come from extensive research into the subjects. This level of detail does a great job pulling you into the rich world it creates. Sometimes I felt like it jumped around too much, making it hard to follow but it doesn't really lose you.

Very enthusiastic about this one!

What made the experience of listening to Reamde the most enjoyable?

Hillgartner's reading was perfect--and I listen to a lot of books. He was so good I actually looked him up and looked over what else he's narrated with an eye to buying! Yes, that good.

What did you like best about this story?

The pacing and storytelling were terrific--it's one of those interwoven tales where we follow several plots, with several characters. Usually one or more are just a bit duller, but in this book, they were all great. The author did not play favorites. I am a Stephenson fan, and have read in paper both Snow Crash and The Diamond Age. I just bought on Audible Cryptonomicon, and have the Baroque Cycle in the wishlist.

Have you listened to any of Malcolm Hillgartner’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

See my comments above....

I came for the Sci-Fi but all I got was the Action

It's just ok. It's just ok even if you like the action genre.

It's not Neal Stephenson's finest work and further follows his current trajectory out of science fiction.

The best I can say about Reamde is that it is cleverly titled and has some nice gun play bits. That is all.