Anathem by Neal Stephenson

I recently finished reading Anathem by Neal Stephenson and despite the fact that it was over 900 pages long, it was quick reading and therefore only took me about a week to finish it. This book is much more about ideas and the development of society and history than it is about the development of characters. It's a shame to say, but the main character remains essentially unchanged by the end of the book. He know more, but that knowledge doesn't really change him or his motivations. That said, the ideas posed in this book are quite interesting, and there's a fair amount of adventure and action to keep it fun.

This book takes place on another planet, and Stephenson really takes his time describing and showing what this world is like. Half the fun of this book is just getting lost in the alternate culture, geography, etc, even if it isn't strikingly different from Earth's. There is more detail than I could ever talk about here. There's a reason it's 900 pages long.

What is brilliant about this book is the way it gradually unravels the main idea of parallel universes through many discussions throughout the book that makes it possible to understand how the book ends. Stephenson helps the reader see the way multiple universes, and time and space travel work in his universe by slowly instilling it through progressive conversations between various characters, and because of the length of the book and these discussions, and all that happens between the conversations, I had time to think about each piece and accept it as fictional fact so that I would be ready for the next piece when it came along, making the ending more believable.

The plot is pieced together in a similar way, where many events are mentioned in ways that make them seem inconsequential and there to merely add color, and then turn out to be integral parts of the plot. The many details weave together to show a bigger picture.

I must say that this author fails at romance though. There is supposed to be a romance between the main character and another girl, and somehow they manage to fall incredibly in love while separated over a period of many weeks and never talking to each other. And oddly enough the book ends with their marriage. It's strange, but the rest of the book is good enough to let it slide.

This book was a fun and interesting read and it definitely made me think about the mysteries of the universe and science. I'd recommend this book to those who like speculative fiction, variations on time travel and traveling quests.

Next I will read The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins per recommendation of my best friend Juli.