AUGUST 2019 - AudioFile
Malcom Hillgartner narrates a vast and expansive epic spanning the modern day and reaching into a technological afterlife. After a routine procedure, Richard "Dodge" Forthrast is pronounced medically dead, and his brain is scanned and stored in the cloud. Once technology advances, his brain is turned back on; thus, the Bitworld is created—a digital heaven for humanity. Hillgartner maintains a steady narration as the story transitions from science fiction to a fantasy romp. A large cast brimming with colorful characters is easy to track, thanks to Hillgartner's consistent voicings. Furthermore, he mitigates some of the uneven elements of the story and keeps the narrative engaging throughout its sweeping duration. J.M.M.
© AudioFile 2019, Portland, Maine
From the Publisher
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
“Stephenson isn’t just playing with words, he’s playing with ideas, and he isn’t joking either. He is sci-fi’s great contrarian, and Fall deserves to be rated as one of the great novels of our time, prophetically and philosophically.” — Wall Street Journal
“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
Booklist [starred 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.
New York Times Book Review
A one-of-a-kind synthesis of daring and originality, unafraid to venture into wild and unmapped conceptual territory.
Wired
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.
Shelf Awareness
“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.
Slate
Neal Stephenson’s Fall explores higher consciousness, the internet’s future, and virtual worldbuilding in one mind-blowing adventure.
Reason
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.
Wall Street Journal
Stephenson isn’t just playing with words, he’s playing with ideas, and he isn’t joking either. He is sci-fi’s great contrarian, and Fall deserves to be rated as one of the great novels of our time, prophetically and philosophically.
Nature Lib
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
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.
Reason
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.
Wired
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.
Slate
Neal Stephenson’s Fall explores higher consciousness, the internet’s future, and virtual worldbuilding in one mind-blowing adventure.
Wall Street Journal
Stephenson isn’t just playing with words, he’s playing with ideas, and he isn’t joking either. He is sci-fi’s great contrarian, and Fall deserves to be rated as one of the great novels of our time, prophetically and philosophically.
Slate
Neal Stephenson’s Fall explores higher consciousness, the internet’s future, and virtual worldbuilding in one mind-blowing adventure.
Shelf Awareness
“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.
New York Times Book Review
A one-of-a-kind synthesis of daring and originality, unafraid to venture into wild and unmapped conceptual territory.
Wall Street Journal
Stephenson isn’t just playing with words, he’s playing with ideas, and he isn’t joking either. He is sci-fi’s great contrarian, and Fall deserves to be rated as one of the great novels of our time, prophetically and philosophically.
Wired
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.
Reason
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 placeeven if it means inventing that future himself.
Booklist [starred 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.
Nature
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.
AUGUST 2019 - AudioFile
Malcom Hillgartner narrates a vast and expansive epic spanning the modern day and reaching into a technological afterlife. After a routine procedure, Richard "Dodge" Forthrast is pronounced medically dead, and his brain is scanned and stored in the cloud. Once technology advances, his brain is turned back on; thus, the Bitworld is created—a digital heaven for humanity. Hillgartner maintains a steady narration as the story transitions from science fiction to a fantasy romp. A large cast brimming with colorful characters is easy to track, thanks to Hillgartner's consistent voicings. Furthermore, he mitigates some of the uneven elements of the story and keeps the narrative engaging throughout its sweeping duration. J.M.M.
© AudioFile 2019, Portland, Maine