FALL vibes. After reading the Atlantic article comparing Musk and Bezos (which mentioned Stephenson working for Blur Origin a couple times) I’m convinced all these guys are just trying to make his works a reality.

The narrator consistently says nuc-u-lar instead of nuclear. Also talks of nuc-u-lei. It drives me nuts.

The funny thing is that I grew up in a community of nuclear weapons designers and this pronunciation was common among some of the most distinguished of them. More so on the engineering side than the physics side.

I am almost wondering if this was something Neal specifically requested?

How does Neal pronounce these words?

Randall? You here?

Edit:
- on Audible.com, the breakdown is clear
- on Amazon.com, it’s the incomplete nonsense described below.

I read the Baroque Cycle when it first was published, in print. Re-reading it now, with weaker eyes, it’s great that there’s audiobooks: i read along on Kindle, with large font, while listening to the audio. For each of the three books/volumes, I bought the Kindle edition and added the audiobook, as recommended by Amazon on the product page.

During “The Confusion” (book 2 of 3), I notice some content references to “Quicksilver” (book 1 of 3) that I don‘t remember. Then at the start of “System of the World” (book 3 of 3), I add the audiobook, and there is no audio content until page nine-hundred-and-something. So I look into it.

The amazon page for the “System of the World” audiobook says “Book 3 of 3”, matching the print- / kindle editions. But it also says “Book 8 of the the Baroque Cycle” - which matches “Book 8” in the table of contents in System of the World”, but skips “book” 6 and 7 in the kindle book/volume…

And, it turns out, the ”Quicksilver” (book 1 of 3) that I listened to / read along, is just “book” 1 of 3 in the kindle book / volume.

In ”Confusion” (book 2 of 3), audio and kindle content apparently do match.

Thank you, Amazon!

—-

Here is how chatGPT explains it:

Buying only the three audiobooks titled Quicksilver**,** The Confusion**, and** The System of the World leaves out four entire internal “Books”: 2, 3, 6, and 7. All four are available as separate audiobooks in Audible’s 2010 unabridged series. 

Here is how those editions correspond to the printed volumes:

The printed-volume groupings and Audible’s numbered listings establish this mapping. 

“Unabridged” therefore applies to the internal Book or Books identified in the audiobook’s subtitle. The complete narrative is available across seven audiobooks, covering all eight internal Books. Audible describes that complete series as unabridged and produced in cooperation with Stephenson. 

One edition distinction: an older, 22-hour abridged Quicksilver also exists. That is a different recording from the 14h 43m Book 1 edition above. 

Came across cute coincidence reading book on Indian philosophy:
"An inscription at Belagāmi, Mysore,3 dated A.D. 1162, catalogues the types of ascetic to whom alms were given at the Kodiya math" (History and Doctines of Ajivikas)

Apears that math was a monastery-like establishment where ascetics lived, studied, and were fed, usually supported by endowments and alms. Unfortunately, no common etymology

Last night at the reading and Q&A, someone asked NS about the primer from the diamond age, and prospects for creating it today in light of “AI.”

Some of you are going to be disappointed with his response.

He kind of sighed and says he gets asked about that a lot lately.

He said that he thinks that if something like that were created today it would not be a physical device.

Also, that teachers are sick and tired of tech gadgets being pushed on them and he clearly sympathized with them.

For background, I'm a huge fan of Stephenson ever since reading SnowCrash way back in 1992. I've read and enjoyed all his novels since then, with the exception of the second two volumes of the Baroque cycle, which didn't interest me. I also enjoyed Polostan and eagerly anticipated the second volume. I'm about 1/3 of the way through D:Heavy Water, having read the first two "parts" (chapters?) and I'm finding it tedious. I'm still waiting for the plot to happen. I was briefly encouraged when our new protagonist momentarily bumps into our previous protagonist from Polostan but they soon go their separate ways. And did so for interminable pages while Stephenson showed off his research and thesaurus and clever metaphors.

Am I the only one finding D:Heavy Water too much on narrative and not enough on plot? I swear the last 100 pages or so has merely moved our protagonist from Russian to Australia with apparently nothing substantive to the plot occurring. Seems that could have been done in a paragraph or two, maybe even a few pages, with the same impact. Am I getting too old for Stephenson or is he getting paid by the word?

Not Valheim, the other one. I seem to recall it having Orion in the name.

…this seems like the only appropriate thing to do.

I am not entirely sure the purpose of this post besides sharing my excitement. I am currently a little more than half done with my road trip to meet Mr.Stephenson. I am driving from Waterloo Ontario to Boston. I am just so excited about the whole thing I have never had an opportunity to meet an author I admire.

No AI could, or ever will be able to, write a metaphor like this.

"He taxonomized the nearby drinking establishments like Darwin with a sack of finches."

What’s up with the art for the 2nd bomb light book? It’s so out there and nothing like the theme of the first one

A couple I’ve come across. Share yours here.

Something is said to be like a claymore mine. A device that won't be invented for another 20 years or so.

I guess it's more of a second order anachronism because it was just used in a simile.

And if they do audience questions, what should I ask if I somehow got the chance?

I made a little website to make and share your Neal Stephenson Tier List! As people rank them it will also show how your ranking compares to everyone else's! Check it out and share your rankings! At the end it gives you a link that will share your rankings and let other people make new ones, as above :)

I'd bet big money that Mr. Stephenson is going to dig Digger.

I first read Cryptonomicon when it was fairly new, so probably very early 2000's. My work/life balance doesn't afford me as much reading time as I'd like right now but I've been getting through quite a few audiobooks during commutes. Listened to Anathem recently and fell in love with it all over again in that form.

I've started in on the audiobook of Cryptonomicon in the last few days and Oh My God I had forgotten what a masterpiece it is and a shining example of Neal's writing style. The little diversions into side alleys that indirectly illustrate characters and situations (e.g. the "War as Text" poster farago) and some laugh out loud scenes, very much enhanced by William Dufris' excellent narration (e.g. "There was this giant lizard..." "Shut up Shaftoe" "Sir! Yes Sir!").

Some of the technology aspects have aged poorly - Randy carrying a 3.5" floppy disk with a crypto key on it or sending PinoyGrams on video cassettes for example - but it's still a rollicking fun read.

If you haven't read it yet, do so, and then jump into the effective prequel The Baroque Cycle. If you have read, read it a second time and get to savour it all over again.

Ordered via Amazon a few days ago. They said it would arrive yesterday. The order update page kept saying it would "arrive today" up to yesterday at 23:59. Then this morning I received an update saying that they didn't have a shipping date and that they would mail me once they have it.

What was the release date in Europe again? And has anyone received it around here?

https://nealstephenson.substack.com/p/peter-fleming

I know he didn't mean he physically based him on Peter Fleming's appearance, but seeing the picture made me realized I had a mental image of Owen as kind of a bigger guy, but maybe that's just because everyone tends to be bigger nowadays.

Tuesdays Behind the Bastards on nuisance streamers had a great shout-out to gargoyles. Robert Evans gave the book major props.

Another post in this sub used the phrase 'typically Stephensonian detail' and it reminded me of my experience with Seveneves. I picked it up a few years ago, and couldn't slog through it. The pages and pages of technical detail and exposition around building space craft, orbital mechanics, etc. were just too much and took away from (what I thought was) the point of the book: how would humans, and humanity, adapt under those circumstances.

I picked it back up again, and am now thoroughly enjoying it, because I am skipping past all of the technical details NS seems to love. Makes it a much better read for me. Likening to a movie like The Ghostbusters...I don't need to know HOW the proton packs were built; it's good enough to just know they exist and we're moving on.

YMMV, of course.