Jack Repenning > Recent Status Updates

Several new twists on classic themes

Some over-used stereotypes.

While the first book in this trilogy is only minimally “grim dark,” things get grimmer and darker in the second book, and by the third things are just about unbearable. By the time I finished the second, I wasn’t sure I could recommend the series to YA readers; by the end of this book I’ve got to say I really don’t feel I can recommend it for anyone.

There is some really explicit sex. There is oceans of gore.

If you read this book before ... oh, say, January 2020 .. you should reread it ... oh, say, today .. particularly the discussion around page 860, concerning the injection of “Artificial Inanity” into a “Reticule” (network).

Unifies characters from the Waterhouse saga (Cryptonomicon, The Baroque Cycle) and REAMDE.

Unifies characters from the Waterhouse saga (Cryptonomicon, The Baroque Cycle) and REAMDE.

The book begins with a mountain of disclaimers: these are not "cultures" in the familiar sense; they defy easy characterization; they are by no means an exhaustive set. But having climbed the mountain and descended the other side, I do find them useful, and I find his history of (mostly Church) cultural evolution over the last two millennia to be a bit clearer for being viewed through this quad-ocular instrument.

As the fruits of a lifetime of taxonomization, it’s nice enough, but what does it mean to me?

I'm on my fourth read-through

Not for me. Targets a younger audience (~11-15)