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Reamde (2011, William Morrow) 4 stars

Reamde is a speculative fiction novel by Neal Stephenson, published in 2011. The story, set …

Fun albeit sometimes a bit obnoxious

4 stars

It's a fun adventure/thriller involving techbros, terrorists, mafia, three-letter-agencies and gun-nuts. It takes some pretty crazy twists and turns but eventually culminates in a really satisfying manner. It was kind of different from what I usually read/listen to but definitely worth it.

As pointed out in the title, the writing can sometimes be a little obnoxious. This is because the book was clearly written by a techbro-y kind of guy: Computer stuff, MMORPG culture, commercial and military organization principles and gun usage are all described and explained in minute detail. Some of this is quite interesting (I learned a bunch of stuff about firearm safety) but it can get somewhat draining at some points.

Another thing that I found somewhat off-putting is all of the cartoonish characters. Nearly everyone is an excentric genius, super hardcore operator or very principled anti-Trump conservative. With some fantastical stories, Dune prime among, this sort …