Anathem

· Atlantic Books Ltd
4.6
70 reviews
Ebook
1008
Pages

About this ebook

The latest magnificent creation from the award-winning author of Cryptonomicon and the Baroque Cycle trilogy.
Erasmas, 'Raz', is a young avout living in the Concent, a sanctuary for mathematicians, scientists, and philosophers. Three times during history's darkest epochs, violence has invaded and devastated the cloistered community. Yet the avout have always managed to adapt in the wake of catastrophe.
But they now prepare to open the Concent's gates to the outside world, in celebration of a once-a-decade rite. Suddenly, Erasmas finds himself a major player in a drama that will determine the future of his world - as he sets out on an extraordinary odyssey that will carry him to the most dangerous, inhospitable corners of the planet...and beyond.

Ratings and reviews

4.6
70 reviews
Andrew Moravec (aka Bear Michaels)
December 23, 2013
Get pulled in by some of the greatest world building in the genre. The story of Erasmus traces across paths so real, you can almost feel them under your feet.
2 people found this review helpful
Na Ap
July 23, 2019
One of the best, most compelling, most original books I have ever read. Great concepts magically realised in prose. If Neal Stephenson didn't write then I would be forced to go into politics in order to make that a criminal offence. It's reading as hard work but it's so worth it.
L M
November 14, 2020
Can be summed up by this quote from the book "But then, sort of as when you are looking at some geometric shape that looks like a tangle having no order at all, and you rotate it just a tiny bit, and suddenly all its planes and vertices come into alignment and you see what it is." Great book.

About the author

Neal Stephenson is the author of eight novels, including the cult successes Snowcrash and Cryptonomicon. He has been shortlisted for the Arthur C. Clarke Award five times, winning with Quicksilver. Three of his last four novels have been New York Times bestsellers. He lives in Seattle.

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