Neal Stephenson Goodreads Group discussion

I am very excited to see this book. I love that the work will take a character from a semi realistic novel and place him in an overtly SF setting. We've seen multiple worlds in Anathem but no real exploration of the idea on Earth. This is the 1st time Stephenson "returned" to characters in a sequel. There is no "Diamond Age II: Electric Boogaloo"

What does everyone think? Let's invite some friends and grow this group in anticipation for this release!

https://www.harpercollins.com/9780062...

In what way is this book a sequel?

Looks like somewhat of a sequel to "Reamde." I will probably read it. Ever since Cryptonomicon I have been a Neal Stephenson fan and cannot pass on his books. "Reamde" was pretty good with likeable characters that I really wanted to see again.

Richard "Dodge" Forthrast is the protagonist from REAMDE and I thought it was interesting that he is moving the character from a technothriller to hard sci fi.

Ah. Had forgotten he was that character. I will read the book regardless but that’s an interesting link!

Dave wrote: "Ah. Had forgotten he was that character. I will read the book regardless but that’s an interesting link!"

From Powells.com
Neal Stephenson
Tuesday, June 4, 2019 / 7pm
Powell’s at Cedar Hills Crossing

Synopses & Reviews
Publisher Comments
The #1 New York Times bestselling author of Seveneves, Anathem, Reamde, and Cryptonomicon returns with a wildly inventive and entertaining science fiction thriller — Paradise Lost by way of Phillip K. Dick — that unfolds in the near future, in parallel worlds.
In his youth, Richard "Dodge" Forthrast founded Corporation 9592, a gaming company that made him a multibillionaire. Now in his middle years, Dodge appreciates his comfortable, unencumbered life, managing his myriad business interests, and spending time with his beloved niece Zula and her young daughter, Sophia.

One beautiful autumn day, while he undergoes a routine medical procedure, something goes irrevocably wrong. Dodge is pronounced brain dead and put on life support, leaving his stunned family and close friends with difficult decisions. Long ago, when a much younger Dodge drew up his will, he directed that his body be given to a cryonics company now owned by enigmatic tech entrepreneur Elmo Shepherd. Legally bound to follow the directive despite their misgivings, Dodge’s family has his brain scanned and its data structures uploaded and stored in the cloud, until it can eventually be revived.

In the coming years, technology allows Dodge’s brain to be turned back on. It is an achievement that is nothing less than the disruption of death itself. An eternal afterlife — the Bitworld — is created, in which humans continue to exist as digital souls.

But this brave new immortal world is not the Utopia it might first seem...

Fall, or Dodge in Hell is pure, unadulterated fun: a grand drama of analog and digital, man and machine, angels and demons, gods and followers, the finite and the eternal. In this exhilarating epic, Neal Stephenson raises profound existential questions and touches on the revolutionary breakthroughs that are transforming our future. Combining the technological, philosophical, and spiritual in one grand myth, he delivers a mind-blowing speculative literary saga for the modern age.

I see the book has been given around 20 ratings at this time, while it will only be released in a few months. The ratings are pretty low, too. Does anybody have any idea whether we should attach any significance to these or if they're from people who don't like the premise or the author for whatever reason?

This isn't just a sequel(ish) to Reamde.
This is a prequel to Snow Crash. Egdod's Pantheon is the digital religion to the people in the boats.

Josh wrote: "This isn't just a sequel(ish) to Reamde. This is a prequel to Snow Crash. Egdod's Pantheon is the digital religion to the people in the boats."
It seems he is setting it up as a shared universe. I am not that far in yet but Daniel Waterhouse is mentioned which links Fall to the Baroque Cycle and Crypronomcon. And Snow Crash is linked to Diamond Age as YT is Miss Matheson

likewise. I'm a third of the way in and I delighted when Enoch introduces himself.... I re-read reamde before starting Dodge, but i fear i will have to re-read the Baroque Cycle, Snowcrash and Cryptonomicon... :-)

Yes, reappearing characters and families are like Easter eggs for devoted fans.

I love the appearance and reappearance of Enoch Root over and over throughout Stephenson’s stories, from Cryptonomicon to Baroque Cycle to Fall…

Similarly Shaftoes and Waterhouses across the centuries.

Such fun.