Review “Stephenson devotees with a taste for Tolkienesque fantasy will revel in the author’s imaginative world building . . . . Still, there are enough futuristic, envelope-pushing ideas here, especially related to AI and digital consciousness, to keep even nonfans and science buffs intrigued.” (Booklist [starred review])“A one-of-a-kind synthesis of daring and originality, unafraid to venture into wild and unmapped conceptual territory.” (New York Times Book Review)“Those ready for an endlessly inventive and absorbing story are in for an adventure they won’t soon forget. An audacious epic with more than enough heart to fill its many, many pages.” (Kirkus Reviews [starred review])“Fall is at once science fiction and fantasy, with quantum computing enabling what amounts to magic, and while Stephenson spins out a pleasingly plausible vision of our near future, he carves out his most comfortable position in the uncertain nexus where that future becomes past and we rewrite our own apocrypha. Vintage Stephenson, which is to say it’s like nothing he’s ever written.” (Wired)“Fall is a stunning combination of science fiction and Tolkienesque epic fantasy. Neal Stephenson moves deftly between real and simulated worlds, following characters in both settings and the long-term consequences of their actions. Fall is biblical in theme and scope. At nearly 900 pages, Stephenson’s bifurcated world is easy to get lost in.” (Shelf Awareness)“Neal Stephenson’s Fall explores higher consciousness, the internet’s future, and virtual worldbuilding in one mind-blowing adventure.” (Slate)“Like Dodge, Stephenson is creating a new universe from scratch, fighting battles and wrestling with big ideas. Those of us in Meatspace can only sit mutely by and watch the spectacle in wonder.” (Nature)“Stephenson is not merely a fantasist of the future; he is a prophet of our present, a virtual architect of the ideas that define our world. . . a science fiction writer who is not only determined to entertain, but to make the world a better place—even if it means inventing that future himself.” (Reason) Read more From the Back Cover 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 Philip K. Dick—that unfolds in the near future, in parallel worldsIn the beginning . . . 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 stipulated 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. No one knows whether a simulated brain will be the same when it is rebooted, or if something will be lost—an ineffable spirit that cannot be re-created in computer code.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, and the beginning of a new world, an eternal afterlife—called Bitworld—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 sprung from the unique genius of Neal Stephenson: a magnificent drama of analog and digital, man and machine, angels and demons, gods and followers, past and future, reality and belief, the mortal and the eternal. In this exhilarating epic, Stephenson raises profound existential questions about the nature of man and truth, 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. Read more See all Editorial Reviews
B**E
Unfortunately marred; look elsewhere.
'Fall, or Dodge in Hell' is a book that's hard to talk about because I find it basically fractally bad -- at any level I look at it, there's an interesting idea shot through with some fatal flaw, and so if I let myself I could go on at far too much length about any one of its problems. At the highest level, it's a story about uploading human consciousness and the creation and organization of virtual realms, told with a tech-bro's certainty in technology and obliviousness to anything else, plus also the casual misogyny; then there's the story told about the uploaded, that attempts to be biblical without an understanding of morality, and fantastic without ever surpassing the level of 80s Tolkien imitators. It's too bad the book wants to be Paradise Lost, instead of Frankenstein; there would be a really good metaphor in something like this, pieced together from various half-envisioned ideas, and brought to life as a monstrous whole that its creator cannot control. That's not to say you couldn't enjoy reading this -- the certainty and declarativeness of the writing can carry you through a lot if you don't think too much about it -- but it would be best if you've never read these ideas before, or if you're looking for something to reinforce your particular technological eschatology, or if you're a teenager with time on your hands.On the other hand, let me offer some alternatives that have done better service to these ideas. First, Peter Hamilton's 'Void Trilogy': if you want long-spanning future history and an ever-expanding realm of uploaded consciousnesses, this has you covered, in spades. Alternately, Elizabeth Bear's 'Grail': it's much shorter, full of excellently realized characters, and deals thoughfully with the ethics of different ways of being human minds. And finally, Matthew Stover's 'Heroes Die': if you want a fantasy adventure in a world where modern people insert themselves to create epic drama without regard for the other inhabitants; it's only tangentially similar, but even its dystopian capitalist hellscape is more well-realized than the "realistic" political events going on in 'Fall.' So yeah, there's a lot better stuff you could be reading instead -- don't spend your time on this unless you have to.
J**B
Stephenson has become uneditable; as a result, he is now unreadable.
Unfortunately, like Robert A. Heinlein and George R.R. Martin before him, Neal Stephenson has apparently become so successful that no editor will stand up to him, and no publisher will force him to accept serious editing.That's the only explanation for this self-indulgent, nonsensical, and boring allegory-cum-digital fairytale. It consists of about 200 pages of some potentially interesting ideas — albeit improbably rendered — and about 600 pages of pointless, unengaging and off-putting 'virtual' pablum.There is no payoff in this novel, either. I doubt that even 1% of the readers who regrettably purchase it will read it all the way through. And I say this as a Neal Stephenson fan.If you enjoyed the Baroque Cycle, Anathem, Seveneves, et. al. — don't buy this book. You'll be sorely disappointed at the waste of money, and, more importantly, time.And so, the unthinkable has occurred, at least for me —I will never again pre-order a Neal Stephenson book.Give this one a pass.
B**A
An uneasy hybrid
First let it be said that I have deep regard and profound respect for Neal Stephenson. He has written some of the very best books I have ever read. This one is fabulous and complex and absorbing up until about two thirds of the way through. The writing is crisp and clever, the story is deep and involving. After that point, (or thereabouts) the story gets bogged down in far too many words where almost nothing happens. There are long verbose descriptions of terrain having to do with maps and compass points. There is a crowd of new characters whose personalities and particulars are lost in a sea of endless meandering narrative about textural and background stuff. I found myself skipping over vast sections, looking for someplace where the story advanced. Even the denouement was anticlimactic and ultimately unsatisfying. It grieves me to say these things. I think perhaps in this case cyberpunk and elaborate allegory are an uneasy hybrid.
P**L
That was pretty boring
I've no doubt I lack Stephenson's imagination, but about a third of the way in I got a bit bored with the Garden of Eden/Mount Olympia analogies.I no longer have the energy to follow recapitulations like this.Boring.
S**D
A romp
Stephenson in grand form, romping across the idiocy of StartupLand, and suggesting its excesses and feuds will shape the digital afterlife in ways both profound and ridiculous. Stephenson devotees will adore the way some threads dangling in previous books are tied up neatly. Newcomers will enjoy being propelled through a high-paced story that blends science fiction with fantasy, technology with psychology and competing visions of humanity's next evolutionary step. Looking forward to a re-read already so I can digest it properly!
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