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Comment by simonbarker87 | Hacker News Reader

Seveneves is my favourite book, it’s excellent and, unlike most people, not only do I like the last third it’s actually my favourite part. The world building, the reimagining, the what-if is incredible to me.

If you don’t like the last third of Seveneves and haven’t read Anathem then you’ll struggle with the first 150 pages of that book. It’s like Seveneves flipped, starts mega slow and turns into an action fantasy book.

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I enjoyed it but I never understood why the seven races didn’t interbreed. That made a lot of far future stuff less enjoyable to me. Even Homo sapiens and Neanderthals interbred. Did the genetic modifications to each race make them completely incompatible?

They did interbreed just like we do now. They had distinct geography and culture and stayed mostly separate for the same reasons we do mostly now.

Generally I'm a huge Stephenson fan (I own all of his major works in first editions), but I hated Seveneves. The third part is the only bit I can claim to have really enjoyed.

That said, I loved Anathem, so perhaps something of your theory tracks :)

Couldn't finish it. Way too slow, I'm not even halfway through. Does it pick up at some point? Is there a satisfying ending?

I'm not the person you're asking, but my answers would be "not really" and "no".

When or if to give up on a book is a personal decision. Personally I try to allow an author 20% of the page count if the book is well written, less if it isn't. I wish I'd applied that rule to Seveneves, but I didn't because it had been so heavily recommended. By the time I'd finished it I actually felt angry for having my time wasted.

My opinion of Stephenson is that he is smart guy and an able writer (particularly of non fiction), but also that he is an undisciplined writer.

I think the problems started with Cryptonomicon. The book is great, but it’s very apparent the final act of the book is just missing. He clearly ran out of time and just slapped something together and it was hugely well received (and with good reason, there’s lots to like). But the success of a book that frankly got away from him made him near untouchable. So yeah, undisciplined is what happens next.

In my experience, how you like reading a book is hugely influenced by your state of mind and situation when you read it. You might love a book this month but have found it boring six months ago. It's just something you need to bear in mind (I loved Seveneves).

The last part is so different from the rest, that it may as well be an unauthorised sequel written by a different author with a different personality, because they didn't like how the previous bits ended.

Honestly hated Seveneves, it marked the point where I stopped reading Stephenson. With that said, I agree the final part of the book is the most interesting by far.

Personally I thought Seveneves was pretty good ... the most recent Neal Stephenson novel I read was "The Rise and Fall of D.O.D.O." and I loved it. As with Snowcrash, it'd make an awesome movie (if done right)!

I feel like the guy has skill, but it’s unreliable as to whether he’ll employ it, get preachy or wander off entirely.

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