Fall; or, Dodge In Hell by Neal Stephenson

From the New York Times bestselling author of SEVENEVES 'One of the great novels of our time' Wall Street Journal 'Wonderful' Guardian 'Staggering' New York Times 'Captivating' Washington Post 'Cutting-edge' Booklist 'Mind-blowing' Slate What if we could live forever? What if we did? In Fall or, Dodge in Hell exists a world where we hold the keys to our own mortality, where the limits of survival no longer exist, and the potential to decide our fates lies in our corruptible hands. From one of the greatest speculative writers of our time comes an epic saga of life and death, power and technology, and a future that isn't as far away as it seems...

The first third of the book was ok. It then turned into a ramble, in excruciating detail, of game world creation, which then segued into a morality tale of good vs evil. The book just ended with a feeble unsatisfactory whimper. Disappointing.

I was really looking forward to this. So much so I re-read [b:Reamde 10552338 Reamde Neal Stephenson https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1305993115i/10552338.SY75.jpg 15458989] (and enjoyed it almost more than the first read) I had also seen enough to know not to expect a true sequel and it truly wasn't. Like [b:Seveneves 22816087 Seveneves Neal Stephenson https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1449142000i/22816087.SY75.jpg 42299347] it is a book of three parts and i loved parts 1 and 2 with the discussion of the concepts, ethics, practical implications of a “digital afterlife.” Other books I have read recently like [b:Head On 35018901 Head On (Lock In, #2) John Scalzi https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1497994548i/35018901.SY75.jpg 45415409], or [b:We Are Legion 32109569 We Are Legion (Bobiverse, #1) Dennis E. Taylor https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1474344826i/32109569.SY75.jpg 52752877], take the concept post facto, and run with it, but Stephenson, to his credit, sweats the details. I would have loved to be thrown a bone to know what Marlon was up to of if Yuxia and Seamus were still together, but that's OK. However when Enoch Root pops up I got excited. He was the perfect timeless character to enter this time shifting world, and as we were progressing through part 2 I thought Neal was going to join this world with [b:Snow Crash 40651883 Snow Crash Neal Stephenson https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1530057753i/40651883.SX50.jpg 493634] world of the Metaverse. I would have sqeeeed with delight. But No. The third part was a rather mundane “Fantasy Quest” that fell flat. Now Stephenson knows how to write a certain kind of Fantasy - [b:Anathem 2845024 Anathem Neal Stephenson https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1488349209i/2845024.SX50.jpg 6163095] is such a rich tapestry, but the “merry band on a quest” seemed thin, especially as we did not really have the time (except for Prim) to get to know the band. Maybe my main frustration is the fact that of all the books that are dying for a sequel (Seveneves and Anathem first among others) Reamde was not the one.