Book Review – Cryptonomicon: Neal Stephenson

Neal Stephenson is essentially a brilliant, witty, thoughtful, prophet for nerds.  Math enthusiasts, computer nerds, programmers,  hackers, and science fiction geeks can all find an interesting and exciting home in Stephenson’s writing.

Those less prone to spontaneous conversations over the Turing test or the most advanced modern-day encryption methods, can still find their enjoyable way into the realm of Cryptonomicon vis a vis Stephenson’s depiction of very human, multifaceted characters.

The characters are woven into a narrative linked across two time periods: the first taking place during WWII and the invention of modern computing; the second sometime in the 90′s with an attempt to create a data haven in the South Pacific.

The inter-stitched elements of fiction woven through with historical and technical fact left me baffled, in awe, and often consulting Wikipedia–not unhappily–for more information (Van Eck Phreaking and Bletchley Park being prime examples).  Stephenson is so good at appeasing his science-fiction nerd base while also pulling together the essential elements of incredibly detailed characters that the reader wonders what came fist.

Author Neal Stephenson

The ending, to me, was disappointing and arrived much too quickly.  Like a fireworks show that died without a finale, it left much to be desired.  So much, in fact that Stephenson has come out with some excellent prequels to events in Cryptonomicon (of which I already read one and enjoyed immensely).

A fun, informative, fascinating read with some playful nods to nerdom as well as more serious consideration of tech-philosophy mixed in.