Reviews

Zodiac by Neal Stephenson

monal8822's review against another edition

adventurous funny informative inspiring lighthearted mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

davesroka's review

3.0

This book has sat on my shelf for about 10 years and I've just now read it...not Stephenson's best work, it's attack of environmental issues felt sadly mired in the time-period in which it was written. It has a few gems here and there in the writing, but overall it feels pretty uneven. At the very least, though, it has an ending that doesn't implode, so it has that going for it over other Stephenson novels.

pddkny's review against another edition

adventurous funny tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

jollyhammer's review against another edition

adventurous funny mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

gazzav's review against another edition

funny informative mysterious tense medium-paced

3.0

shea_proulx's review

adventurous informative lighthearted medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

scifi_sama's review against another edition

adventurous funny informative mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

emandem123's review

3.0

The plot was interesting but confusing, and the writing style was odd… being in the main character’s head and having him be the narrator, with his weird opinions and references, made it feel like a crazy dream.

micksland's review against another edition

adventurous funny fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.5

2.5

Going back to read an older book by a beloved author is like playing literary Russian roulette, and unfortunately I lost this round. Neal Stephenson is a brilliant author with a mind for exploring important scientific ideas and their impact on the modern world. Charitably, this novel (written in the 1980s) really shows that he has gotten much better about this in the intervening decades.

“Zodiac” isn’t exactly bad, but it’s not as polished or interesting as the author’s later books. The plot has too many red herrings and simultaneously the ending is too easy to guess. The protagonist is great but the side characters are flat. The trademark dark humor is still excellent, but doesn’t make up for the lackluster story. Overall, skip this one and read “Seveneves”, “Termination Shock”, “The Diamond Age”, or really anything else in his catalog.

tedpikul's review against another edition

adventurous funny informative medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0