Christopher Mocella’s Reviews > The System of the World > Status Update

Peter the Great gives, who the reader presumes to be, King Solomon a full-blown noogie. Indeed!

At times, the book was ravishingly slow, to a point that it was probably intentional. But when Stephenson opens it up, the writing has a pace and rhythm that can be felt physically, implicitly. When he decides it's time for Jack to come to a head with one of the book's nemesis, oh, it's a viceral page-turner. It boggles my mind to comprehend how the scope, temporal and philosophical, ever came into Stephenson's head.

Reading Scotish-accent English in a book slows page turning substantially.

This whole bit about Daniel running around London, a little slow after Jack's exploits in the last book. Points for the veague Tolkien reference, though, "... he looked a dwarf out of some Sazon ring-saga." I see what you did there...

10 years later...