A total thrill from start to finish, with the classic Stephenson style. This one's a little different than some of his other work in that it's more of a straight-through "technothriller" and not speculative sci-fi. Its plot is a web of complex character interactions with plenty of globetrotting. Recommended.

The writing is terrible but it's also highly enjoyable? I think Neal Stephenson's books are like the nerd dude version of the romantic books housewives buy at supermarkets.

Phew -- this one took me a while. I love Neal Stephenson's classics -- Diamond Age, Snow Crash -- but this book is nothing like those. It's more like a tech-literate adventure novel. Lots of flying around different countries, flying under the radar, and flying around in-game.

Overall, I was blown away with how well researched this book was, and the plot was also very interesting. The main issue I have with it is that I feel it could have been a much better 450-500 page book than this 1000 page tome. There were multiple times were I contemplated not finishing it because it felt slow, but kept pushing on because I had already invested so much time. In the end, I’m happy I finished it, but it should have been much more condensed, with some of the sections shortened

I loved, loved, loved that this was a book full of awesome ladies (of color, no less), who were all extremely competent and smart and quick on their feet. (Also other character.) But, uh, romances are not Stephenson's strong point, like, at all. And actually I'm not sure his style lends itself that well to the semi-thriller tone of this book -- winding digressions of character backstory slow down vital moments (although there was a lot less of that as the tension ramped up in the last third). And man, there was a lot of *book* here. But it was, for the most part, very compelling and exciting.

Enjoyable, not as good as some of his other works, but still a fun jaunt

Stevenson kept lots of balls in the air very well and brought them all together for a Big Finish. Too bad things in real life don't dovetail quite so neatly. I listened to the audio version of this book and enjoyed it very much. I cared about the characters and worried over them a lot. Sure, there's a lot of detail here. But sometimes a big, complex plot is exactly what you need. Worked for me!

Despite the fact that one of Stephenson's novels includes a character who drives around with a thermonuclear bomb in the saddlebags of his motorcycle, this is the most implausible of his books I've read.

This was not what I expected from Stephenson, but it's quite good. In my experience, most of his books are science fiction exploring a particular topic: the internet, nanotechnology, cryptography, space travel, etc. This book, however, seems to be Stephenson wondering if he could write an airport thriller. It's a rollicking good story about how a video game developer comes to be entangled in the lives of a broad range of spies, criminals, and terrorists. If it was half the length and not as exquisitely crafted, it'd be a Tom Clancy or Michael Crichton book. That said, despite the usual science fiction exploration of a topic, the usual Stephenson approach to character and story is evident. I was absorbed quickly, and couldn't wait to finish it. Highly recommended, but don't expect it to be like any of his other books.

I had high hopes for REAMDE but found it really disappointing and probably about twice as long as it ought to have been. I like long books but this one included so much minute detail about often catastrophic but generally uninteresting actions (gunfights movement through the environment), and I think a lot of it was really unnecessary. It felt like Stephenson overcomplicated the plot almost for the sake of complexity (or maybe for the sake of hitting some length milestone) and not because the story demanded it. Cut this down into a screenplay and I'd watch it in a heartbeat. Spending 10 days worth of reading on this lackluster prose and annoyingly detailed plot has left a bad taste in my mouth. I won't read more long Stephenson any time soon.

As much as I want every Neal Stephenson book to be the best thing since the last Neal Stephenson book, I have to admit this one didn't live up. Alas. It was alright--fun and ridiculous as always, but just not as good. I guess the hot streak couldn't go on forever.

I listened to the Audible version of this book and it was fan-tas-tic! The narrator had a great voice and was quite flexible given the range of characters. In terms of the book itself: Stephenson is Stephenson. I've now read 4 books by him and have loved them all. I describe his plots like huge boulders: they often start out very slow and it's hard to see all the way around as he introduces many characters and settings, but it steadily picks up the pace and has such momentum! At one point in the middle of the book, it felt like he could have concluded it right there with the primary "conflict" of the story about to be resolved, and then he slingshots the story from there to an even more exciting arc of the story. If you haven't read this author before, I would recommend Anathem or Seveneves first. If you've read Cryptonomicon, I'd say this one is similar.

this is a fucking long book. it could be half its size without loosing anything.

I really enjoyed the way he tied together online gaming and real life. A very long book, but engaging throughout. A sweeping epic from Vancouver to Taiwan.