Bookshelved Wiki: NealStephenson

SnowCrash, considered one of the great cyberpunk novels
Cryptonomicon, a novel about cryptography past and present
TheDiamondAge, The best "nanotechnology" book so far?
Zodiac?, about a man fighting against industrial pollution
TheBigU?, about life in a university with a difference
InTheBeginningWasTheCommandLine, a lengthy non-fiction essay about the personal computer and Internet revolutions
Interface? with FrederickGeorge?
Cobweb? with FrederickGeorge?
Quicksilver, the first of a planned three-book BaroqueCycle
TheConfusion, the second book in the BaroqueCycle
TheSystemOfTheWorld, the third book in the BaroqueCycle
started (and writes in) the [[Metaweb]], a wiki to discuss Quicksilver and, well, all human knowledge. (that's not a book ... on a wiki that discusses book authors, is a wiki started by a book author relevant ?)
Anathem, released 20080909 -- ScienceFiction from another planet near our Narrative

Has anyone else noticed Stephenson's inability to finish stories properly? His narrative just halts rather than gracefully winding down. Is this a stylistic trick or simply a way of avoiding "and then they lived happily ever after?"--AdewaleOshineye

I agree that the last half or last third of his books are generally pretty weak. The same is true of many science fiction writers -- they set up fascinating premises and explore interesting ideas, but can't build effective climaxes or resolutions for their stories. -- KrisJohnson

Hmmm. I've definitely noticed this in Stephenson, but not in other SF authors. Can you provide some examples? -- BrentNewhall

RobertAHeinlein was famous for stopping books as soon as he reached the number of pages he intended to write, regardless of the actual development of the plot (though he tended to stop writing quite near its natural end). But... I did not see it with Stephenson, at least SnowCrash and Zodiac? have rather nice and polished structures from beginning to end... -- FabioVitali

I feel exactly the same way about his endings as AdewaleOshineye does. (And not exactly the same way as KrisJohnson does.) I don't have any problem with the structure of his books -- it feels as if he hasn't bothered to write the last few pages rather than the last few chapters. -- GarethMcCaughan

I feel his endings are curt because he doesn't know how to tie up the plot rather than not knowing how to write the end of a plot that has one. Apart from Zodiac, his books end with "and then they all had a big fight and went home for tea" which is always disappointing after the detail he has introduced early on. -- NatPryce

Is this a new adaptation of the DeusExMachina? technique, which originated in early Baroque opera? -- JosephPelrine

Did it? You don't think that it originated in classical Greek theater, then? Or are we not thinking of the same thing? -- KeithBraithwaite

I stand corrected. I was just watching a film of Monteverdi's Poppea (Harnoncourt's version, in which I also played <g>), and had my brain set on that age... -- JosephPelrine

Neal on the subject of endings, on his [[website]]:

: Some readers, or so it would appear, have been dissatisfied with the endings of certain of my novels. These people often come to the reasonable-sounding but totally wrong hypothesis that I am trying, but failing, to write the sorts of endings that they would like to see.

: This is not the case. In fact, I always write the endings that I want to, and am as satisfied with my endings as I am with any other aspect of my writing. I just have an opinion about what constitutes a good ending that is at variance with some of my readers.

But you'd hardly expect him to admit he couldn't write an ending to save his life, now would you? --AalbertTorsius.

So, it would appear that the answer to Ade's question: Is this a stylistic trick is "yes". Fair enough. I wonder how Stephenson would repsond to the reader's opinions moving on from "you are failing to produce the kind of ending we would like" to "the kind of ending you claim to be writing on purpose just isn't satisfying to us as readers", which seems more like the complaint being essayed right here. Perhaps he'll discover this page and we'll find out.--KeithBraithwaite

Well, at least he's aware of the problem. I think this shows that writing is an art as well as a craftmanship; perhaps we could discuss TheArtAndCraftOfNovelWriting? But add me to the list of people who think that most of his books end with somewhat of an anticlimax. --ATS.

I would enjoy a McGuffin for things anti-climactic. I'm particularly fond of anti-climactic jokes. Especially long ones with lots of build before the let-down. The closest thing I can find with a quick search is Anticlimax?, subtitled "A Feminine Perspective on the Sexual Revolution." So it doesn't seem right. Ideas? --JasonFelice

TheAuthorsDue