Reamde

4.5 * This is probably the second best out of what I've read from Stephenson so far (after Cryptonomicon). Looks much more mature in writing. He managed to avoid his usual 200 page introduction to the world, which is a big big plus, while maintained characteristic style and wit. The book is very well researched (maybe besides the behaviours of mountain lions) and creates a believable and detailed world. In his usual fashion the author describes to the highest detail side concepts of the world, which theoretically don't have anything important to do with the plot. That actually makes the book engaging all the time, as plot is evolving in the most unexpected ways. At the beginning the story seems to be about cryptocurrencies (one of Stephenson's favourites) and multiplayer video games changing unexpectedly to a crime story with Russian Mafia, later evolving into almost James Bond style of terrorist/jihadist plot and ending in American preppers subculture. The amount of ideas here, as usual with this author, is just perplexing. And this is really awesome as gives us, as the readers a plethora of things to think about. Especially, that in this case the topics are very much close to our everyday world. I have only minor issues with a couple of things - the final encounter seemed a bit chaotic. I was lost with so many groups and their viewpoints, who is where and why some enounters happen. Another one was the character of Yuxia as acting very unnatural. I also did not really get why everyone was so involved with the Zula - the main protagonist here. It was as if everyone either felt like they owe her something (for what?) or were in love with her. Those weren't huge issues though and I really enjoyed the read. If you are looking for a good and engaging techno-thriller I really doubt there is a much better position then this one.