Reamde

Fantastically crafted characters, but Stephenson's writing style can sometimes provide a touch too much colour and infer a minutia of exact intricacies. Sometimes exciting scenes can be punctuated by a precise description of a mountain ranges, or the state of the flora to be found underfoot. The writing has a comfortable and flowing pace in most situations though. Best of all though, prepare yourself for perhaps one of the greatest secondary characters ever. The formidable Sokolov. A gripping book with an excellent conclusion.

An entertaining read. The story is vast with a large cast and a set to match, moving from the US and Canada to China and back, touching on quite a few other countries along the way. The characters are good and likeable, even the bad ones. I did find the story a little too long but that is probably more of a reflection on my limited reading time nowadays.

As you're reading it everything makes sense and is just pure enjoyment, but try to describe even the basic plot to a friend and you'll sound like a mad man. Amazing the way Stephenson weaves such a complex web, only to have all the disparate storylines converge on a single climactic ending.