About this ebook
For ten years Fraa Erasmas, a young avout, has lived in a cloistered sanctuary for mathematicians, scientists, and philosophers, protected from the corrupting influences of the outside world. But before the week is out, both the existence he abandoned and the one he embraced will stand poised on the brink of cataclysmic change—and Erasmas will become a major player in a drama that will determine the future of his world, as he follows his destiny to the most inhospitable corners of the planet . . . and beyond.
Anathem is the latest miraculous invention by the New York Times bestselling author of Cryptonomicon and The Baroque Cycle—a work of astonishing scope, intelligence, and imagination.
Ratings and reviews
4.6
61 reviews
Andrew Moravec (aka Bear Michaels)
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April 13, 2013
It is hard to speak about Anathem immediately after reading it. The reader's brain has been partly rewired, trained so efficiently to understand the book's world that re-interpreting it with Earth-speak seems like describing the scent and flavor of a banana using only geometry. This is a story of ascetic passion, an epic of humility...a mythos for the mystically declined. Anathema is not perfect, but it is absorbing. It is not climactic, but it has resolution. The text is not always clear, but it is hard to put down. But you can decide when to put it down, you should pick it up. I don't think you will regret it.
A Google user
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July 13, 2012
Unlike THE BAROQUE CYCLE which is filled with philosophy, action, engrossing characters,and intricate plot, this experiment in "fiction" is a failed experiment. It has just naked, dry philosophy. It should be read as an essay, not a novel. Our better yet, don't read it--read REAMDE, which is 1000x more entertaining and is a really good novel.
1 person found this review helpful
A Google user
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August 10, 2012
It takes a creative genius to come up with a world as engrossing as this. The premise sets up a fabulous adventure that never drags, even with the inevitable Stephensonian digressions into math and astronomy theory. Highly recommended.
About the author
Neal Stephenson is the author of Reamde, Anathem; the three-volume historical epic the Baroque Cycle (Quicksilver, The Confusion, and The System of the World); Cryptonomicon; The Diamond Age; Snow Crash, which was named one of Time magazine's top one hundred all-time best English-language novels; and Zodiac. He lives in Seattle, Washington.
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