Title: Reamde
Author: Neal Stephenson
Genre: Thriller
Publisher: HarperCollins
Publication date: September 20th, 2011
REAMDE begins with Richard Forthrast: draft dodger, marijuana smuggler, Iowa farmboy, and most recently, CEO of Corporation 9592, which created the online world of T'Rain. He's a workaholic making a halfhearted attempt at retirement when a virus called REAMDE wreaks havoc among the T'Rain community. Caught up in the drama is Richard's niece Zula. The story skips and weaves among the many characters whose lives tangle together in the wake of REAMDE.
Reading this book isn't the normal reading experience, in which one sits down and finds out what is going to happen next. You don't read REAMDE, you inhabit it. During the days I spent reading it, I would wake up and ask myself, "I wonder what Zula is doing right now." Because, while I was inside the world of REAMDE, the characters were as real as anyone else I encountered throughout the day. Even when I wasn't reading, they were there, eating and sleeping and living right alongside me. That's Neal Stephenson's particular brand of genius.
I read the Advance Reader's Edition of this book, which is 981 pages long. Every single one of those pages is riveting. I don't know how he did it, but Stephenson somehow wrote a thriller that's packed with nonstop action for almost a thousand pages. Reading it is exhausting and exhilarating.
Neal Stephenson's cult following will love this, but I think it will also earn him some new fans. I for one will be recommending it to everyone.
3 comments:
You know...the ARC has been sitting at work and no one has claimed it...and I didn't really know what it's about...and still don't exactly. But since it riveted you and you're reviewing books I DO love, I'll check it out :)
I've read Cryptonomicon and it was exhausting--in a good way. It sounds as if this novel will be the same. Thanks for the review; I'm gonna read it!
Neal Stephenson packs his books with great details and sprawling plot lines.
A captivating story, as I have come to anticipate from Stephenson.
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