Stephenson's Quicksilver Slated For March 7th

Swampper writes: "New Neal Stephenson novel Quicksilver is available for pre-order from Amazon UK. It's due out on March 7th. There is also another Stephenson book on the horizon; Interface. It will arrive May 2nd." Actually, Interface was previously offered through the psuedonym "Stephen Bury" Note the discussion of this book and others on the Cryptonomicon site.

In The Beginning Was The Command Line

[adamjone]

For anyone who has not read Neal Stephenson, In The Beginning Was The Command Line [artlung.com] is an essay he wrote dealing with the evolution of the UI from the command line to windows based. It is a funny and interesting rant on how the graphical widgets we use today have softened us.

Interface saved my mother's life.

[farrellj]

I know it sounds like a Tabloid Headline...but it's true. _Interface_ was written by Stephenson and Dr George F. Jewsbury. It's accurate description of the physiological problems and experiences of a person who has undergone a stroke and that they may have potential blood clots clued me into something that happened to my mom just before I visited. Based upon what I had told my mom that she had probably experienced a minor stroke and should go to the hospital, and that the stiffness & hardness in her calf was probably a blood clot. She and my dad didn't think it was all that serious...Well, within 24 hours, she was in the hospital, and stayed in the hospital for nearly 3 months...she had all the major artories between her heart and her legs replaced because they were so clogged...probably from 30+ years of smoking. She hasn't smoked since she went into the hospital

I got to thank Mr Stephenson in person a couple of years ago at the Computers, Freedom and Privacy 2000 conference held in Toronto. I sort of made a fool of myself since I only briefly said thank you and explained why...then ran off since a few tears started, and having some claim to being a little bit macho, didn't want him to see me cry.

So thanx again Neal and George!

ttyl
Farrell

p.s. The two of them also wrote another novel called The Cobweb, which seems a little prescient considering Sept. 11!

Stephenson talks about Quicksilver

[tds]

This a brief interview in which Stephenson talks about Quicksilver. "related -- loosely -- to "Cryptonomicon". I won't say it's part of a trilogy, but it's a somewhat related work. It's a historical novel, set farther back in time, about 300 years ago, and it deals with a lot of the same themes" http://www.onmagazine.com/on-mag/reviews/article/0 ,9985,46833-1954,00.html

Will we find out about Enoch Root?

[Glowing Fish]

One of my first questions after finishing Cryptonomicon was whether Enoch Root was indeed human or wasn't some sort of angelic presence sent to meddle in human affairs. Since Cryptonomicon depicts Enoch as seeming to not age very fast, and this book is set almost 300 years ago, it will be interesting to see whether Enoch is still alive and the same age at that time.

For more about the Enoch Root, click here [everything2.com] to read a little essay written by my colleague, e2 Glowing Fish.

Re:What a waste

[Murdock037]

I agree with a lot of what you say, but I think you may be asking a bit much.

All the truly valuable science fiction-- which I've heard referred to as the most interesting genre being used today, although I'm not sure I'd go that far-- deals with man's relationship with society and technology (which grew, on a side note, out of the western, which dealt with taming the frontier, or the big scary world; the next natural step was to ask where we go from there).

But you're right, there's nothing out there (with which I'm familiar) right now that's utterly breathtaking. A few reasons for this, in my mind:

1. Sci-fi has been disregarded in pop culture, despite the "rise of the geek," as fetishistic and childish. Because it's not respected, respectable people don't stick up for it.

2. The sci-fi we get is utterly commercial-- Star Trek, movies passing themselves off as sci-fi, etc.-- and so the money behind it doesn't want to tackle weightier issues.

But some things to ponder:

1. Stephenson's doing a pretty fine job. He's examining important ideas in a still-relevant medium, the novel, and he does so in a way that gets him at least a modicum of notice out in the real world. He'll be remembered down the line as one of the people that really gets it.

2. Sci-fi was pretty silly to start with, you know. The B-movies of the fifties-- giant bugs and such-- had the subtext of fears of communism and the dangers of atomic power, but they were still movies with GIANT BUGS AND SUCH. There are gems that we do get these days-- Stephenson, Spielberg's "A.I." (and sorry, folks, like it or not, it wasn't a BAD movie by any means, no matter how misdirected the ending)-- that are just as good, if not better, than anything from the bygone eras.

3. You can't expect a new "2001" every few years because there is nobody out there now operating at the level of Kubrick in 1968. He was, at his peak, probably the finest filmmaker in the world, and "2001" was his opportunity to indulge in his grandest delusions. If he wasn't such a genius, it would have been an atrocious movie. As it stands, it's the byproduct of one of the medium's greatest creators, and something like that's not going to come along every day.

There's talent out there capable of doing wonderful things. You've just got to sift through the rest.

Re:What a waste

[Muggins the Mad]

> The implications of what we can reasonably assume we'll be able to do within a few decades are mind blowing. Surely there must be someone who can bring it to life, to put us there and make it feel real, without wimping out and turning it into just a big joke.

In that case I'd recommend Greg Egan.
http://www.netspace.net.au/~gregegan/

As can be seen from his web site, he's a geek too :)

Pretty much any of his books rock, but I especially like Diaspora and Axiomatic. He puts
a lot of his short stories online so you can even try before you buy.

Of course, as with anything like this, it's up to personal taste, so YMMV.

- Muggins the Mad

Writing style. . .

[stevarooski]

I know many people who consider Neal Stephonson a visionary, but as far as authorship goes I wasn't too impressed with his work.

'Daimond Age' was required reading in a politcal science class here at the U, and I borrowed it from a friend who said it was good but confusing. I quickly arrived at the same conclusion. I loved the nanotech and the detail lavished on describing this technology. He had some great ideas on how it would work in our society--I especially liked the 'reactives' and the 'toner wars'. Oh, and I can't forget the ten terabyte nano hardrive. Can you imagine? 'Oops, I just dusted the entire library of congress off my left shoulder.'

Meanwhile, while much of the book was brilliantly creative, I have to say that I hated the splintered plot that only made sense in the last few pages. There were many aspects of the story that I'm still unsure about. For instance, 'Cryptnet' sounded like a great plot idea that simply died off unexploited. Likewise for the 'drummers'.

At any rate, if you haven't read any Neal Stephenson, please do! Especially if you like visionary works of dark futures, or are especially fascinated by nanomachine technology. I hope is later books will be a bit more cohesive, but I'm sure they'll still be good reads.