Anathem

By: Neal Stephenson

Narrated by: Oliver Wyman, Tavia Gilbert, William Dufris, Neal Stephenson

Fraa Erasmus is a young avout living in the Concent of Saunt Edhar, a sanctuary for mathematicians, scientists, and philosophers, protected from the corrupting influences of the "Saecular" world by ancient stone, honored traditions, and complex rituals.

Over the centuries, cities, and governments have risen and fallen beyond the concent's walls. Three times during history's darkest epochs, bloody violence born of superstition and ignorance has invaded and devastated the cloistered mathic community. Yet always the avout have managed to adapt in the wake of catastrophe, becoming out of necessity more austere and less dependent on technology and material things. Erasmus, however, has no fear of the outside - the Extramuros - for the last of the terrible times was long, long ago.

Now, in celebration of the week-long, once-in-a-decade rite of Apert, the fras and suurs prepare to venture outside the concent's gates - opening them wide at the same time to welcome the curious "extras" in.

During his first Apert as a fra, Erasmus eagerly anticipates reconnecting with the landmarks and family he hasn't seen since he was "collected". But before the week is out, both the existence he abandoned and the one he embraced will stand poised on the perilous brink of cataclysmic change.

Powerful unforeseen forces threaten the peaceful stability of mathic life and the established ennui of the Extramuros - a threat that only an unsteady alliance of Saecular and avout can oppose - as, one by one, Raz's colleagues, teachers, and friends are all called forth from the safety of the concent in hopes of warding off global disaster.

Suddenly burdened with a worlds-shattering responsibility, Erasmus finds himself a major player in a drama that will determine the future of everything - as he sets out on an extraordinary odyssey that will carry him to the most dangerous, inhospitable corners of an unfamiliar planet...and far beyond.

©2008 Neal Stephenson (P)2008 Macmillan Audio

Pretentious failure to bring on the intended state imho

This book has no serious issues. It is well written, nicely narated albeit a bit to slow gor my taste. However it is not your usual epic sci-fi story with lots of tech and or otherworldly species. It tries to bring on the “feel” of a different type of civilization by twisting words and their meaning enough to be different but not as is required to be familiar, thus creating an effect of “differenceness”. Additionally it mixes various dialectics which apparently in that world caused earth shattering conflicts and shaped civizations. The problem with this, is that these specific dialectics do not carry such power, for even the casual reader of true philosophy, This brings me to the last thing about this book: It tries to present a number of worldviews and systems of thought and philosophies in a very naive and shallow way. If I wanted to learn philosophy I ‘d read Aristotle and Kant and if I wanted a basic science instruction I’d pick up a science book, if I wanted to etymologize and do wordplay, I’d get a book on those things. I wanted sci-fi and so I picked this up, but the “dose” was not strong enough it had all those other things in there. In the end I do not think that presenting a mosaic of philosophy using slightly twisted words and imaginary dialectics brings on the intended state. Instead I was left wondering if the author was simply trying to present us with a display of how many words he knows well enough to manipulate and how many philosophical concepts he can encompass into a narration. In the end, the means of this work has obliterated the goal.

Could not stop until the end

A very imaginative description of the truth. Well written and narrated. Perfect balance of logistic science and spirituality.

A Thrilling Philosophical Journey

This is certainly not your grandfather’s sci-fi novel, and not one for the faint of heart (or perhaps I should say mind)! I imagine if you have not had some exposure to mathematical platonism, possible worlds, and other philosophical topics of the like, the book would be both confusing and perhaps boring, as a large amount of it delves into these topics, with a significant percent being dialogue related to them. But if you have been at least exposed to those topics - and find them interesting - you will love this book. It is an amazing mixture of philosophy and sci-fi, and even for a Christian theist as myself, I found it mesmerizing. This is an intellectually stimulating masterpiece that I will certainly come back to many times in the near future.

Worth the 2 credits

I am the type of listener who prefers the longer epic tales. This book is complex, interesting and humorous with an invented vocabulary that you have to get use to. Once I got use to the flow, I realized how smart and funny the novel is. Quite a few of the dictionary definitions made me laugh out loud.

Rich, detailed, heady stuff - worth it!

Just finished Anathem. The short review? Great book--a fine and challenging piece of fiction that is well , envisioned, crafted, and executed. Stephenson yet again draws the reader into a world at once recognizable and altogether alien, and manages to tackle some huge (and I mean huge) and deep (and I mean deep) concepts. It has its humor, and it has its drama, but its no thriller, mind you. There's new, made up vocabulary, and it is mindfully challenging. There's a point to it. Don't sweat it. Also, don't look for a great dealof character development: it's not what Stephenson does best, but it is no detraction. These characters are well realized, like anchors in a storm of ideas. If you're on the fence, I'd say go for it. With any luck, people will be talking about this book for years to come. Lightweights need not apply.

A lovely old friend

I’ve owned a hard back copy of this book since 2012 since it was gifted to me by a friend, and I’m sure I’ve read and listen to this book more that 10 times by now and every time I’m delightfully surprised by a small nuance that I failed to realize the last time I’ve read/listened to it and every time I reread it it’s like meeting with an old friend

absolutely stunning in breadth and depth

This author has an unbelievable ability to tie together so many different threads of culture, language, life, philosophy and science... and to do so without any of it seeming trite, or incomplete.

This is a VERY COMPLICATED story. It is tremendously interesting, clever, deep, and very engaging. I often felt stunned/floored by the complexity of the world that was imagined here... the detail, the completeness... I can't fathom what it must be like to have a mind capable of imagining the ridiculous (and I mean that in the best possible way) quantity of amazing ideas contained in this story. .. and then to be able to convey them in a thoroughly coherent, convincing, and engaging way for over 30 HOURS... !

Neal Stephenson, you are my new favorite author. Thoroughly impressed... and thoroughly smitten by your characters.

Oliver Wyman, your skills in narrating this story cannot be understated... as much as the story itself was a work of genius, your narration was truly an inspired performance. You breathed life into a strange world, and into so many characters, using so many different voices -- you made listening to this book a special experience that raises the bar for all narrators everywhere.

Starts out slow, but well worth a go.

I really liked it. Some great commentary about human nature and the mosaic scientist thing is pretty awesome.

good book cept for the platonic nonsense

had no clue Stephenson had such a hard on for the classics. If I read one more cave allegory I'm going to vomit.

jk it's a must read if you like his work. get cracking it's 32 hours.

listening through a second time it was so good

Stephenson is see inspiring in most of his books, but anathem is the most underappreciated. there's more packed into this story than most textbooks.