In the years between Snow Crash and Cryptonomicon, Stephenson seems to have matured quite a bit as an author. His style has become much more refined, and the story is much more complex. Still, many of the problems I had with his earlier work are still present here. The story ended very abruptly, and he insists on using the present tense for much of the book. Still, I did enjoy the book. Stephenson manages the right mix of action and nerd appeal, for me at least; your mileage may vary. Despite its flaws, I think this one has convinced me to read more of his work.

Started: 12/16/2003 | Finished: 12/29/2003

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Quite a remarkable book. It's a story about a castaway (I found it slightly reminiscent, in tone at least, of Eco's The Island of the Day Before) so it is a tale of hope, despair, courage, wonder. Yet it is also deeply concerned with God and religion, and, even more, the faith that underlies all religions. I think this may become one of those books I'll keep coming back to. All in all, a great read.

Started: 12/15/2003 | Finished: 12/15/2003

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I've heard so much about Neal Stephenson that I felt I had to check him out for myself. I find he's neither as good nor as bad as he's made out to be. On the one hand, I did find Snow Crash engaging and fun. It's no ground-breaking, Earth-shaking thing, but it was entertaining. On the other hand, I found Stephenson's constant puns (the main character's name is Hiro Protagonist?!) and use of the present tense to be jarring and pretentious. The book's premise is also one that I could easily see many people finding offensive, and I think his portrayal of memetics shows a sensationalist and ultimately flawed understanding. And, creatively speaking, he doesn't do much that people like William Gibson and Tad Williams haven't already done. Still, for all that, I did enjoy the book and found many of the characters intriguing.

Started: 12/14/2003 | Finished: 12/15/2003

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As you peruse the contents of this list, you may notice that this book has taken me considerably longer to finish than any of the rest. It was worth it. Meriwether Lewis was a fascinating man, and Ambrose's biography is a great read. Ambrose has little time for political correctness, so he doesn't hesitate to call Lewis a great and important man. At the same time, he's an honest historian and doesn't gloss over Lewis' faults and mistakes. As may be expeceted, Lewis and Clark's expedition takes up the majority of the book. What I would give to be able to see the America that Lewis saw, still wild and pristine, beautiful and new. But I also found, somewhat unexpectedly, that Ambrose's description of the American sociopolitical landscape both before and after the expedition was most intriguing. You might say that a great book should both interest and educate. This one certainly did both.

Started: 9/19/2003 | Finished: 12/14/2003

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This was my fourth attempt at reading this book, and I finally succeeded. What the heck was wrong with me those other three times? I tell you, it takes a really good writer to tell you everything that will happen before it happens and still keep you emotionally involved in the story. I read almost the entire book in a single day.

Started: 9/1/2003 | Finished: 9/6/2003

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It took me a while to finish this book, but only because there was so much to think about. Goldstein provides a good look at the history of copyright, both in America and abroad. In today's world of the Internet, file-sharing, digital satellite and cable systems, and video-on-demand, it is a highly apropos subject. Some of Goldstein's biases come out in the book (and, writing in 1994, he was a bit optimistic about how worldwide networks would develop), but it is still highly informative. But what I found even more interesting was the way in which it examined the workings and interworkings of Congress and the Supreme Court. It's not a difficult read, and I recommend it to anyone interested in the subject.

Started: 8/2/2003 | Finished: 8/31/2003

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Last night, as I was getting ready for bed, I intended to stay up for perhaps another hour and read another hundred pages or so; I was about a hundred pages into it. I ended up not getting to bed until I had finished the last 700+ pages at three in the morning. It's still unmistakably a Harry Potter story, but I hesitate to call it a children's book. Darker in tone and heavier in content, Rowling is definitely allowing her work to mature. The only problem I had with the book was that it became difficult to like Harry. He became too moody and self-absorbed; in short, too much of a teenager (though I can't say I wasn't that way in my own adolescence; can any of us?). One warning and mild spoiler (in case you haven't already heard): something very sad happens in the climactic scene; prepare yourself for it.

Started: 7/27/2003 | Finished: 8/2/2003

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Such an interesting novel, at once hilarious and tragic. I wasn't crazy about all of the ideas put forward in the book, but I can't deny that I found it gripping. There's something bordering on insane about Vonnegut's writing, and it intrigues me to no end.

Started: 7/16/2003 | Finished: 7/23/2003

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The fourth installment of the Legacy of the Alldenata saga concludes the Human-Posleen War series. It lived up to the first three novels, if it did resort to a bit of deus ex machina in the end. I would have been upset with all the loose ends, but Ringo made it clear in his afterword that he will be writing more about these characters (although perhaps after a not-too-brief hiatus).

Started: 7/9/2003 | Finished: 7/13/2003

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I've been a huge fan of Gene Wolfe since I first picked up his Book of the New Sun series about five years ago. His novels are dense and it can be difficult to get to the core of them. A single reading is never enough to figure them out. But, oh!, they are so beautiful! The Fifth Head of Cerberus was my favorite of his books for a while, but Peace may be giving it a run for its money.

Started: 7/2/2003 | Finished: 7/9/2003

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