Anathem

De: Neal Stephenson

Narrado por: 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

Hard Audiobook to read

I’ve got over 200 audiobooks and this is one of 3 that I never finished... until now, years later. The story and narration was so bland and hard to get into via the audio format. So, I borrowed a paper copy from a friend after he praised it (and reviews were good) and followed along the audio reading with reading the pages.. and finally the book took on a clarity that was lacking with only audio.. some of the concepts of the book just came out cleaner with visual aid of the words... so enough of that; Excellent book, great world... some vagueness and a rushed ending it seemed a whole additional book could be written of equal length to summarize the outcome of the convex and ————- of Saint Orolo. Maybe 700 years later ;-).
-Good like writing a sequel Neal!!

A little lengthy but really gets moving at the end

I enjoyed this book quite a bit. It is, however, quite lengthy. I found myself irritated at the speed (or lack thereof) at which things moved sometimes but it is worth it.

Good book - avoid the audio version

Would you consider the audio edition of Anathem to be better than the print version?

Even with a great reader, this would be a challenging book to do well in audio format, because it heavily relies on a glossary at the back and a timeline in the front.

Instead, we are given a terrible reading performance. I gave up after 100 pages, and the book became so much better when I switched to reading it myself.

What didn’t you like about the narrators’s performance?

The primary narrator's natural voice is very nasally - think "The Sicilian" from The Princess Bride. Imagine hearing that voice for 900+ pages. Even worse is when he does cartoonish affected voices - "Dave's not here, man!"

There are other narrators for various dictionary entries, delivered in a painful monotone. I get it, dictionaries are dry - but using zero inflection completely confounds any hope of the listener understanding what you're talking about.

One of these voices is probably Neal Stephenson himself. I'm enjoying his book thoroughly, but wish more care had been taken in his audio adaptation.

Way too much detail

This audiobook had a decent story but the writer includes way too much information and drags on and on and on only to come back to the actual story once in a while. I have forced myself to listen to the end, but boy it was tough to do so.

Life-Changing

Anathem is my favorite story of all time... The narrators are excellent, and really pull you into the story. One of the best things about Anathem is that it really makes you think. My friend and I have both read and listened to it, and we never cease to have interesting conversations about it. The vocabulary takes a little while to get used to, but after you adjust, you'll go on one of the best adventure of your life! Often, when I read/listen to a story, I find that it is a blatant copy of another work. Not with Anathem.... If only more books did copy it.... BUY THIS BOOK you won't regret it. Would most definitely buy again!

A Triumph

As a small corrective to the previous reviewer - the correct title of Stephenson's book before the Baroque Cycle is Cryptonomicon. The Necronomicon is an entirely different book.

This book blew me away, both with its heady ideas, and its rip-roaring story. This may be one of the books best suited to my personality, in that it required extraordinary concentration to keep up with the philosophy, but every time it seemed likely to lose me, Stephenson would throw in a fight, a flight, a disaster, or an emotional scene to keep me invested in the characters. Even the philosophical discussions have their intrigues, their personalities, and their excitements. This books is not for those who have little patience for long digressions into philosophy and the more abstract cul-de-sacs of science, but it is for those who love their ideas and their action in equal measure. This is heady stuff, make no mistake, but the rewards are great.

As a side note, and at the risk of misleading some who don't read carefully, this book reminded me in some places of Dickens, in the writer's obvious love of detail, and of Tolkien, in the way that the author created his world, imagining it as fully and as deeply as any I've ever read. In contrast to Tolkien, however, Stephenson has populated his world with real people, struggling with real emotions and human foibles. In that, this book might be closer than either of these to Herbert's Dune, with a better sense of humor, but no less a love of ideas and politics.

A masterpiece

While Stephanson can get a little longwinded in his navel gazing and world building, his overall story never ceases to amaze. This is one of those books that stick with you long after you've finished it. I'm a solid fan for life.

Very Tolkien - like world creation... Stunning

Very Tolkien - like world creation... Stunning philology!

If you start this book and struggle with boredom for a while... HANG IN THERE! You soon hit a point where the plot opens up and does an about face, blowing you away!

I've listened to three of this author's works in the last three weeks (100+ hrs) and have been stunned by his world creation, so similar to Tolkien - high praise indeed!

A philologist of the first degree.

I'm posting the same review on all three... Be patient - it's worth the wait.

I must add a word for the Narrator, who truly can make or break an authors work... OUTSTANDING!
A vast array of voices that never confuse or tire one - without the Narrators talent, all of NEAL STEPHENSON's stories could become a labyrinth of characters, fast leaving you behind in a quagmire of confusion.
KUDOS to you all!

Captivated

I love the vastness of realities Stephenson creates. Now that I've finished the book, I almost feel homesick.

.....Attention Surplus Disorder.....

Long ago in a galaxy far, far away lived a race of bipedal humanoids that had survived a slightly different history that that of Earth. Here they engaged in lengthily philosophical discussions on the fine points of logic that exactly mirrors the philosophy of Earth. On this far away planet these people even have historical archetypes that have exact parallels to our Newton, Emerson, Locke and Darwin. So, what this really is amounts to an alternate history of our Earth but with different political forces. For me this is less a Science Fiction novel than it is a Mainstream novel that includes some SF elements. I liken this to the many Romance novels that include SF elements but which are correctly categorized as Futuristic Romance pieces and not really Science Fiction.

After listening to the amazing SNOWCRASH I felt that Neal Stephenson deserved a second listen. SNOWCRASH is fast-paced, energetic, fanciful, farcical and fun. ANATHEM is extremely slow-paced, ponderous, mundane and tedious. I am now going on to tackle Stephenson’s CRYPTONOMICON just because SNOWCRASH is so good that I want to give him every opportunity to display the brilliance that he is capable of achieving.

William Dufris is a fine narrator. He has a limited range of character voices, which he recycles on occasion, but these work well for most any conversations. He is easy to understand and always energetic, making a good effort to make this a rewarding listening experience.