Well, so… here we have the first real post after the break I took. Let’s see if I’m still able to write at least a little bit coherently! :D
Disclaimer: I’m a Neal Stephenson fanboy, so any likeness between this post and reality may be by pure chance :P
Original title: Anathem.
Spanish title:
Author: Neal Stephenson (USA, 1959 - ).
Year: 2008.
Genre: Sci-Fi.
Language: English.
Read in: English.
Publisher: Atlantic Books.
Pages: 936.
ISBN: 978-1-84354-915-4.
Plot outline
Fraa Erasmas, an avout living in the Concent of Saunt Edhar, is preparing for the Apert, the brief time in which the Concent, a sanctuary for science and philosophy protected from the outside world, opens its doors letting the inside and the outside get mixed.
Comment without Spoilers
The narrative style is that one Neal Stephenson has has gotten us used to book after book, with a fluent and interesting flow that sets a trap from which the reader definitely can’t escape.
The story from Anathem is also really good, setting a really interesting base in the very beginning, from which the author begins to develop bit by bit until you get completely wrapped in it.
Although most of the main characters are perfectly defined, the one from which we get the deepest view is Fraa Erasmas, as the novel is supposed to be a manuscript he wrote during the events.
The scenarios shown in the novel are really well depicted and have extensive descriptions, thus allowing you to form a faithful image of them in your mind, helping you to immerse even more into the story.
A really nice detail is the definition of the different words from the world of Anathem that can be found in the beginning of each chapter, as well as the glossary at the end (in which they’re all collected), the different appendixes with technical explanations, and the chronology, which is really useful to read once you finish the book.
The edition published by Atlantic Books is simply excellent. The hardcover binding is of a great quality. The pages have a great texture both to sight and touch, and the printing is neat, clear and with the perfect size for reading.
Well, as you can see, I really enjoyed reading this book, and I greatly recommend it to everyone. Furthermore, is one of the few books of Neal Stephenson that actually has what I would call an ending!
So you know, if you have the chance, give it a try… it’s not as long as it seems :D
WARNING! SPOILERS!
For some time, in the middle of the book, I had a feeling that greatly reminded me of Footfall, a feeling that certainly I didn’t like, because it was as if I had already read that. However (anf rotunately), it didn’t last long.
By the end of the novel, when it is shown that the extraterrestrial ship contains people from the Earth, well, although is a nice (and really interesting) twist in the plot, it isn’t completely unexpected, as they keep giving small clues all along the story.
End of SPOILERS
Neal Stephenson:
Related links:
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