Too deep by half. This author has written many descriptive masterpieces, but his characters have always been hard to take. Not a derogatory remark. Donaldson writes complex, twisted reflections of an internal dialog that many if not most of us have never glimpsed.
Fall is a Creation myth told in nanotech. If that is sufficient to peak your interest then I can say no more.

Not my favorite of N. Stephenson. Still appreciate the advance copy from Netgalley.

I will continue to recommend his work though.

Personally I did not fully love this book, but I do feel like it will be one for fans of Neal Stephenson. This lastest book ties together other books Stephenson has wrote, so if you're one well versed in his ouvre, this book will be a good addition.

For those new to Stephenson's work it may be a mix bad. Personally I enjoyed the book up until a little past the half-way mark, then it started falling, and it continued, and continued. From the other three books of this author's works it seems he writes way too much and could cut out huge amounts, like 300 pages, and still the story would be good, if not way better for lack of the wordiness. It feels like Stephenson likes to test his readers for stamina.

The book was about the afterlife, if you could scan your brain and upload the process to a computer. Well, what then, what is this computer world like, and you have this author's take on it. Since it was modeled from a character who created a gaming company there are many aspects like the gaming world, yet not entirely. There is a lot of heavy-handed symbolism in the book, so this will give fans lots to talk about.

I had to try twice to get through this book. I initially received an eARC, but I couldn't sustain through it. The audiobook was better.

As usual, Neal Stephenson does an incredible job with world-building and exploring concepts. I found the explorations of a post-truth world and the what that might mean for the humanity who would come to inhabit a post-mortality afterlife to be interesting. I found most of the details of that post-mortality afterlife, including everything about its formation, to be tedious.

The frustrating thing about this book (along with most Neal Stephenson books) is that after all of that intricate and detailed world-building and concept-delving, the plot just reaches a convenient conclusion and ends. I'd still say that the book is worth reading, but it's an awfully long book to feel 'meh' about at the end.

This book is too word and technical for the average fiction reader. Neal Stephenson's current fans might love it but I don't think he will gain any with this work..
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I thoroughly enjoyed Stephenson's take on the scifi idea of being cryogenically frozen and brought back to life in the future. It was certainly nothing like what I was expecting, and I like it more for that. I did have some trouble finishing the book. I found I lost my enthusiasm for the ideas and themes he had introduced. The parts that took place in the "real" world were more engaging, and we visited the "real" world less and less as the book went on. Still, having read several of Stephenson's novels I knew what to expect from him and feel this is a solid novel from him. I've already recommended it to my husband.

This book was incredible. It encompasses half a dozen different genres and tropes, but stitched together into a coherent whole. The structure is brilliant, with the gradual transition from the majority of the story taking place in the living world to the majority taking place in Bitworld, as the characters transitioned from one place to another.

Leaving me in a drought after Seveneves, Stephenson roars back with an examination of humanity, culture, mores, and society. What is consciousness? What is life? Death? What’s the delineation between the two? Don’t assume this is just going to be a quick action based romp. If you’re not ready to struggle with broader concepts of humanity and consciousness, you’ll probably be frustrated by this book, so take it a few pages at a time and reflect.

An epic follow-up to Reamde imagining a world of digital "life" after death . Recommended for anyone who enjoyed Ernest Clline's "Ready Player One."

A fascinating and enthralling ride again from Neal Stephenson. It raises questions we all should be grappling with today as regards the acceleration of technology and what it means for the human race. While I was delighted to catch up with characters from his previous work, his reinterpretation of the creation story bogged down in places. All in all, a great, if long, read.

Stephenson's new novel is a monumental work of science fiction that morphs into fantasy and back to science fiction. At the beginning, which takes place in a not too distant future, Dodge, a wealthy guy who has been successful developing computer gaming software, is on his way to a medical procedure. He dies that day, and his will stipulates that he must undergo a cryogenic process, or whatever the most advanced technology would be to preserve him. We are introduced to the most important people in his life as they wrestle with how to best satisfy his wishes. The upshot is doing a scan to digitize his brain. As this process goes on to become fine-tuned, it becomes increasingly common, with the result that a virtual world develops inhabited by the beings who have been digitized. Chapters then alternate between the people Dodge has left behind and the new world that has evolved. As the novel progresses, though, the new world dominates and takes on the feel of a highly developed fantasy world, with its own topography, communities and characters and conflicts and magic. For this reader, the narrative became bogged down in the extensive world-building with its confusing geographic details. I was eager for more of the "meatspace" plot, and found that it was tempting to skip the lengthy descriptions. I've loved other Stephenson books I've read, not wanting them to end.; that was not the case with this novel.

As always, Neal Stephenson demonstrates a mastery of long timescales. My only regret is that the book never quite recaptures the intensity of a scene early in the novel depicting a near-future dystopia. That passage is gripping and trenchant in a way the rest of the book, while entertaining and thought-provoking, never does.

I really enjoyed this Neal Stephenson book more than the last two I read (DODO and Seveneves). The premise made me think and it did not feel so outrageous. Many technological and ethical questions arose.