quicksilver

October 5, 2003 &bull books

On September 23 my favorite author, Neal Stephenson, published his latest book, Quicksilver. I’m only a little over 100 pages into it so I’m not going to provide any type of review at this time. However, I will say that I’m thoroughly enjoying it so far. It reminds me of Cryptonomicon, in the sense that it’s this huge, sweeping epic filled with interesting characters and tons of nitty-gritty details. But, so I don’t scare anyone off, it’s those details that make Stephenson’s writing so interesting and fun to read. They aren’t the kind of “put you to sleep” details that many writers sprinkle through their stories in order to make their old English teachers proud. No, Stephenson’s details are a part of the story; they are never, in my non-literary opinion, boring or out of place. I mean, the guy writes long, detailed books. If you aren’t up for that then turn on the TV and flip channels for a few hours. Conversely, if you want to get your mind blown, read what he has to write.

The first Stephenson book I read was Cryptonomicon. If you’ve hung out with me for any length of time and we’ve chatted about books, then chances are I started ranting about how much I love this book. In a nutshell it’s about World War II and cryptography — both German Enigma and modern-day computer-related — and a host of other cool topics too lengthy to list. I can’t recommend this book enough. If you are up for an epic and are remotely interested in World War II and computer security (in a non-technical sense), then you will enjoy this book.

There’s a link on the home page, advertising the new book. Show your support for great authors like this and pick it up. This is the first book in a series of three (the other two are due out next year).

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