Anathem

If the final two-thirds of Anathem were as immersive and wildly creative as the first third, Anathem would be a near-perfect book. They were not (a seemingly endless slog through an arctic wasteland left me cold), but even a less-than-perfect Stephenson is a very good read, and the concepts at play are engrossing (if only a misspent youth had paid more attention to philosophy). Highly recommended -- a wonderful piece of speculative fiction

" Anathem" is a far cry from Stephenson's other stories. It is an intellectual, cerebral book that is linear in plot, and pivots entirely on internal comprehension of ideas and concepts given as the book progresses. If you have the paper version of the book, you have the luxury of studying the glossary more or less exhaustively before diving in. If, like me, you downloaded your copy, be prepared to leaf back and forth through some of the heavier exposition to ensure your comprehension of the concepts.

This bill had a good storyline and was interesting after I got far enough into it, but the made up vocabulary and slow procession made it hard to get past the setup.