Zodiac

Rating:
Summary: Neal Stephenson needs to hurry up and write some more books.
Review: Neal Stephenson needs to hurry up and write some more books.
I've read most of them and I'm running out fast.

They're all darned fine, too.

I blew through this one in a couple of days. It's laugh out
loud funny in some places. Interesting perspective on the
city of boston's geography. Kinda makes me wish I had a
zodiac myself.

I didn't say too much about this book, did I...just read it.

Rating:
Summary: Not only for computer dorks.
Review:

I went to visit Boston about a month prior to reading this book and I must admit, the book is very accurate in its description of how lousy that city really is. The science students squirming all over the place with their giant textbooks, ideals, and giant egos. And then there's the dorky main character who bathes regularly, although not often, who uses computers, but not for hacking, and who likes hardcore science - the simple, inorganic chemistry.

Obviously, since this is a Neal Stephenson novel, the reader is kept in suspence as an improbable plot of conspiracy develops to almost kill the main character on many occasion while he tries, in his chaotic-good manner, to save the world from itself and corporate America. We get the typical Neal Stephenson sarcasm, overblown ego of the main character, super-dorky references, and giant explanations of chemical processes (although some may not be accurate, e.g. not all chemical processes are reversible, really - but it's fiction, so what the heck, no?).

I highly recommend this book for anyone who loves hardcore science - not just computer science. It's perfect for people who do any form of research in chemistry, physics, etc. while utilizing minimal use of computers in their work.

Zodiac is great for the early Stephenson novel that it is. Gold-hearted geeks of all worlds, unite!

Rating:
Summary: Stephenson fun
Review: So you know where I'm coming from, other Neal Stephenson books I've read are: Snow Crash, Diamond Age and Cryptonomicon.

Zodiac, as long as you're not an environmentalist-hater, is fun to read. There's excitement, danger, hard science, bad guys, cool dudes, geekboys/girls and Vietnamese food. I enjoy NS's writing, but I feel he still needs to refine his craft. He tends to take a long time to "start" his plot and/or gets caught up in setting the scene so there's the risk of either boring the reader or overwhelming the reader with too many details and too many characters.

But I must say that Zodiac was the most fun, lighthearted even, of the NS books I've read.

Rating:
Summary: Hugely entertaining
Review: I've read the four newest books from Neil Stephenson - this one's neither the best nor the worst, just... different. I've read other people's reviews, and here are my two cents.

True, the supporting roles are far less dense than ST, but that's the case in many novels (and in all of NS's stories) and a writer who gives side characters a deep personality dedicates more time to people descriptions and less to storytelling, at least that's what I've seen many times. And it's fast entertainment we're talking about here.

Anyway, this novel is great. It's funny, breathtaking, and it has a character which is both positively and negatively shown. ST has a pretty materialistic view of the people around him, he teams with them when they help him in what they want to do and leaves them when they are no longer necessary. NS has moved away from this somewhat, but the way he describes Amy in Cryptonomicon is only slightly "better". That's the way these novels work! You can always pay more attention to your SO's! On the other hand ST is a very energetic person, and his idealism is credible.

There's only one thing I found exaggerated: The ending. The showdown with the submarine bombs and the divers is incredible. Too much action, too many improbable incidents. Anyone would be scared as hell, swimming around in these PCB polluting (yes, not polluted, but -ing, if you don't believe me, read it yourself...) waters, but ST just did the right thing at the right time. Too much of a superhero.

But go and read yourself, it's worth the time that you invest, I assure you.

Rating:
Summary: Zodiac rocks
Review: I love Neal Stephenson and I've read all of his books. He creates a world unlike any other, overflowing with imaginative, sometimes factual detail that helps immerse the reader in the fictional universe. Initially, I was turned off by the idea of an eco-thriller, but I was finally forced to buy this book because Stephenson just doesn't publish often enough to keep me in new books. I was not sorry I bought this book, and I would recommend it to anyone with even a casual interest in Stephenson's work, ecological practice, or science fiction.

Rating:
Summary: Disappointed
Review: Having read Cryptomomicon, I was eager to explore some of Neal Stephenson's other work. I have to say that I was disappointed and disagree with many of the other reviewers here. I thought Zodiac was superficially written, with thin characters and a silly, scattered plot line. Cryptonomicon was incredibly entertaining and had a descriptive writing style that was a pleasure to read for the writing itself. Zodiac, on the other hand, reminded me of so many science fiction books today that use thinly-disguised allegory and unbelievable plot twists to push a simple political agenda--corporations are bad and will do anything to further their nefarious ends, especially when it comes to the environment. There is much meatier stuff out there and I am glad that Mr. Stephenson's writing has improved so much since Zodiac.

Rating:
Summary: More approachable than most of Stephenson's other books . .
Review: . . . because Zodiac's characters are not trying hard to exude 'coolness.' Sangamon Taylor, the main character, is a jerk that most of us can identify with on a basic human level, in spite of (or perhaps because of) his bad behavior. The influence of Joseph Campbell myths is less pronounced here than in Mr. Stephenson's other works.

Zodiac is well paced throughout and has a solid ending. It is the perfect book to stuff in a back pocket or backpack and while away a cold afternoon with.

Rating:
Summary: Very entertaining eco-thriller.
Review: I have read Mr. Stephenson's works, and this is by far his best work, even better than Snow Crash.

The book is set in the present, where we can all read about toxic waste spillage, oil tankers running aground, and mega-pollution in the big cities. The narrator is Sangamon Taylor, an eco-warrior whose goals in life seems to be eating vietnamese food, getting the girl, and getting the big chemical corporations to pay for their dirty deeds.

ST hilariously tells his story in the first person, and he does so in a way that keeps you turning page after page, rooting for the little guy and wondering what he'll get into next.

If you were dissappointed by Stephenson's other books (The Diamond Age and Cryptonomicon), you'll want to forget about those and dive right into this. Just don't forget to wear a "dry suit". After all, you don't know what they're dumping into the water.

Rating:
Summary: None too shabby
Review: Stephenson himself has written that he didn't even like this book, or at least he isn't proud of it. I commend him on the fact that I haven't read other books like it (not to say they aren't out there, I just haven't read them yet). He takes the reader on a thrill ride as do his other books, and makes a topic even as uninteresting to me as toxic waste is seem exciting. That and it is set in Boston where I live.

Rating:
Summary: Fast, Furious, Fun
Review: A quick read, and an enjoyable one at that. NS's second book, after The Big U, is a great introduction into NS's quick, sarcastic, and humorious way of writing science fiction. His knowledge is also encyclopedic, and you might know more about Boston than you cared to know. All that and a happy ending, too. The only problem with the book is that it shows its age. Just as one can tell Clarke's fiction was written during the 1960s, one can tell that Zodiac takes place in the late 1980s. The two references to 386 computers and Dodge Omni forever mark it as 1989.