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Title: Big, ambitious and disappointing
Review: I am intriqued by thick books. That said this is, like the first in the proposed trilogy, terribly overwritten. Half as long and it would have been a much better reading experience. Stephenson digress to the point of becoming annoying. Much of these digressions are completely irrelevant. Part Sci-fi, part mystery, part historical - the author seemed unable to make up his mind and that ruined the experience. Bigger is just not better in this case, in fact it is to the detriment of the work. Better, more thorough editing is needed. Stephenson is trying too hard to impress with his ability to write, and write, and write - but the result is a lot of words, but not nearly enough substance. Plotting is all over the place, the characters are cardboard and pedestrian, and trying to pretend his characters are better prognosticators of future technological developments than Nostradamus is just too much to accept.
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