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    • The Unofficial Neal Stephenson Reader

    Neal Stephenson

    Many years ago, I had a small corner of my website dedicated to Neal Stephenson. In those lawless early days of the internet, when the Big U was out of print and In the beginning was the command line was the talk of geeks everywhere , I provided downloads of his books and other writings, as well as biographical info, links to interviews, and other NS miscellanea.

    For reasons that are not altogether clear, except to say that I want to, I have decided to resurrect the unofficial NS reader.  As with most of my projects, this is a work in progress, so come by from time to time to see what’s new.

    Biographical Info

    Excerpt of the biographical blurb from a book jacket:

    Neal Town Stephenson issues from a clan of rootless, itinerant hard-science and engineering professors. Born on Halloween 1959 in Fort Meade, Maryland – home of the National Security Agency – he grew up in Champaign-Urbana, Illinois, and Ames, Iowa, before attending college in Boston.

    He began his higher education as a physics major, then switched to geography when it appeared that this would enable him to scam more free time on his university’s mainframe computer. When he graduated and discovered, to his perplexity, that there were no jobs for inexperienced physicist-geographers, he began to look into alternative pursuits such as working on cars, agricultural labour and writing novels.

    His first novel, The Big U, was published in 1984 and vanished without trace. Zodiac: The Eco-thriller is his second novel. On first coming out in 1988 it quickly developed a cult following among water-pollution-control engineers and was enjoyed, though rarely bought, by many radical environmentalists. The highly successful Snow Crash was written between 1988 and 1991, as the author listened to a great deal of loud, relentless, depressing music. …

    Neal Stephenson now resides in a comfortable home in the western hemisphere where he spends his time – when not sidetracked by his computer, rollerblading or parenting – attempting to make a living out of writing novels and the occasional magazine article.

    Bibliography

    Novels

    Here is a list of Stephenson’s books. Description blurbs (in italics), where provided, are taken from the book jacket. I’ve also given you the first sentence to whet your appetite, and because I think Stephenson has killer first sentences.

    The Big UThe Big U (1984)

    If you want to know what Stephenson was doing twenty years before he wrote the epic Cryptonomicon, it’s back-to-school time. Back to the Big U, that is, a hilarious send-up of American college life starring thirty-year-old junior Casimir Radon.

    “The Go Big Red Fan was John Wesley Fenrick’s, and when ventilating his System it throbbed and crept along the floor with a rhythmic chunka-chunka-chunk.”

    Random info:

    The Big U did not receive much critical attention when first published. As a result, the publisher pulped most of the first edition. Later books brought interest to Stephenson’s first novel and it’s scarcity pushed the resale value of second-hand books to ridiculous levels. It also meant certain bloggers (cough, cough) felt justified in posting bootleg versions of the novel on their websites. Asked about the novel, Stephenson said: “If the book were judged on its own intrinsic merits, it would not attract such a high price or engender such curiosity. The Big U is what it is: a first novel written in a hurry by a young man a long time ago.”  Although Stephenson had been content to let the book stay out of print, he eventually reauthorized its reprinting, saying that the only thing worse than people reading the book was people paying that much to read it.

    ZodiacZodiac (1988)

    In Boston, two centuries after the Tea Party, harbour dumping is still a favorite local sport, only these days it’s major corporations, piping toxic wastes into the water. Environmentalist and professional-pain-in-the-ass Sangaman Taylor is Boston’s latter day Paul Revere, spreading the word from a 40-horsepower Zodiac raft.

    “Roscommon came and laid waste to the garden an hour after dawn, about the time I usually get out of bed and he usually passes out on the shoulder of the some freeway.”

    Snow Crash (1992)

    In reality Hiro Protagonist delivers pizza for Uncle Enzo’s CosaNostra Pizza Inc., but in the Metaverse he’s a warrior prince. Plunging headlong into the enigma of a new computer virus that sticking down hackers everywhere, he races along the neon-lit streets on search-and-destroy mission for the shadowy virtual villain threatening to bring about the infocalypse.

    “The Deliverator belongs to an elite order, a hallowed subcategory.”

    InterfaceInterface (1993)
    Written with J. Frederick George under the pseudonym Stephen Bury.

    There’s no way William A. Cozzano can lose the upcoming presidential election. He’s a likable midwestern governor with one insidious advantage. An advantage provided by a shadowy group of backers. A biochip in his head hardwires him to a computerized polling system. The mood of the electorate is channeled directly into his brain. Forget issues. Forget policy. He’s more than a candidate – he’s a special effect.

    “William Anthony Cozzano’s office was a scandal.”

    The Diamond Age: Or, a Young Lady’s Illustrated Primer (1995)

    Set in twenty-first century Shanghai, it’s the story of what happens when a state-of-the-art interactive device falls into the hands of a street urchin named Nell. Her life – and the entire future of humanity – is about to be decoded and reprogrammed.

    “The bells of St. Mark’s were ringing changes up on the mountain when Bud skated over to the mod parlour to upgrade his skull gun.”

    CobwebThe Cobweb (1996)
    Written with J. Frederick George under the pseudonym Stephen Bury.

    CryptonomiconCryptonomicon (1998)
    Weaving together the cracking of Axis codes during WWII and the quest to establish a free South Asian ‘data haven’ for digital information in the present, Cryptonomicon explores the themes of power, information, secrecy and war in the twentieth century.

    “Two tires fly. Two wail.
    A bamboo grove, all chopped down
    From it, warring songs.

    … is the best corporal Bobby Shaftoe can do on short notice – he’s standing on the running board, gripping his Springfield with one hand and the rearview mirror with the other, so counting the syllables on his finger is out of the question.”

    QuicksilverQuicksilver (2003)

    In which Daniel Waterhouse, fearless thinker and courageous Puritan, pursues knowledge in the company of the greatest minds of Baroque-era Europe – in a chaotic world where reason wars with the bloody ambitions of the mighty, and where catastrophe, natural or otherwise, can alter the political landscape overnight.

    “Enoch rounds the corner just as the executioner raises the noose above the woman’s head”

    The ConfusionThe Confusion (2004)

    “He was not merely awakened, but detonated out of an uncommonly long and repetitive dream.”

    The System of the World

    The System of the World (2004)

    “Men half your age and double your weight have been slain on these wastes by Extremity of Cold”, said the Earl of Lostwithiel, Lord Warden of the Stanneries, and Rider of the Forest and Chase of Dart, to one of his two fellow-travellers.

    AnathemAnathem (2008)

    “Do your neighbors burn another one alive?” was how Fraa Orolo began his conversation with Artisan Flec.

    The MongoliadThe Mongoliad
    This is not a traditional book, but rather an online serial novel written by a group of authors, including Neal Stephenson, who are “also working closely with artists, film-makers, game designers, and other folks to to bring the story to life in ways that can’t be done in any single medium.”

    “Cnán halted just outside the clearing surrounding the stone monastery and dropped to a crouch.”

    Short fiction

    Non-fiction

    Awards

    Snow Crash

    • 1993 British Science Fiction Association Award, nominated
    • 1994 Arthur C. Clarke Award Best Novel, nominated

    The Diamond Age

    • 1996 Prometheus Award Best Novel, nominated
    • 1996 Locus Award Science Fiction Novel, winner
    • 1996 Arthur C. Clarke Award Best Novel, nominated
    • 1996 John W Campbell Memorial Award Best Novel, nominated
    • 1996 Hugo Best Novel, winner
    • 1997 Nebula Best Novel nominee, nominated

    Cryptonomicon

    • 2000 Locus Award Science Fiction Novel, winner
    • 2000 Hugo Best Novel, nominated
    • 2000 Prometheus Award Best Novel,  nominated
    • 2000 Arthur C. Clarke Award Best Novel, nominated

    Quicksilver

    • 2004 Arthur C. Clarke Award Best Novel, winner
    • 2004 Locus Award, Science Fiction Novel, nominated

    The System of the World

    • 2005 Locus Award Science Fiction Novel, winner
    • 2005 Prometheus Award Best Novel, winner
    • 2005 Arthur C. Clarke Award Best Novel, nominated

    Anathem

    • 2008 British Science Fiction Award, nominated
    • 2009 Locus Award Science Fiction Novel, winner
    • 2009 John W Campbell Memorial Award Best Novel, nominated
    • 2009 Arthur C. Clarke Award Best Novel, nominated
    • 2009 Hugo Best Novel, nominated

    Interviews & other articles

    Video

    Other

    IoletIolet

    “In Neal Stephenson’s new novel Anathem, the Decanarian Erasmus’ daily chore is to ring the Clock bells in his “Math” in a special sequence each day as he chants out the sequence. Those sequences and chants are all based on mathematical formulae that composer and coder David Stutz has put together into an album called Iolet.”