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jawignall's review against another edition
5.0
SUCH a cool premise. I had so much fun reading this even though I don’t think I even understood all of it... I tried to just avoid giving myself a headache by thinking of time travel paradoxes too much and enjoyed the ride. But it felt very clever and complete with respect to world building. I think due to the format characterization was maybe a little weak (Tristan was a bit of a black box) but it didn’t take away from the fun story, settings, and characters that popped up.
amayhew's review against another edition
3.0
There's large sections that mimic departmental memos that was too much like my actual job which detracts from my "escape from work" aspect. I would've liked a cleaner ending that wasn't such a setup for more books in a series.
actualhumanbeing's review against another edition
3.0
Once again, Neal Stephenson has done it:
Written a book with an interesting enough plot and concept that goes through a rollicking good, well fleshed out adventure and then stuck the landing. If by "stuck the landing" you mean falling, rolling into the audience and landing in a folding chair facing the stage then saying "I meant to do that."
Without giving spoilers, there's some typical Stephenson geeking out over quantum physics that can be lightly glossed over, but I think he actually makes it more intriguing than, say, some of the esoteric orbital dynamics stuff in Seveneves.
Also typical to Stephenson is presenting the story from multiple viewpoints and weaving these voices together into a coherent narrative.
The audiobook is well produced, particularly for dealing with the challenge of presenting a narrative in so many different voices and styles.
The thing about Stephenson, for me, is that (even though his endings always make me feel like he sort of just walks away from the idea instead of wrapping up anything) the ideas he presents are intriguing, and the characters react and relate to those ideas in very human, interesting ways.
This is fundamentally what keeps me coming back to his writing.
Though I will say: the sex scenes here one could omit entirely and the book would be better. Just didn't add anything except "Hey! People are having sex now!" (which may have actually been a better rewrite of the same, for all the good they did the plot).
I'd try to summarize or come up with something pithy here to end my review, but because it's Neal...
Written a book with an interesting enough plot and concept that goes through a rollicking good, well fleshed out adventure and then stuck the landing. If by "stuck the landing" you mean falling, rolling into the audience and landing in a folding chair facing the stage then saying "I meant to do that."
Without giving spoilers, there's some typical Stephenson geeking out over quantum physics that can be lightly glossed over, but I think he actually makes it more intriguing than, say, some of the esoteric orbital dynamics stuff in Seveneves.
Also typical to Stephenson is presenting the story from multiple viewpoints and weaving these voices together into a coherent narrative.
The audiobook is well produced, particularly for dealing with the challenge of presenting a narrative in so many different voices and styles.
The thing about Stephenson, for me, is that (even though his endings always make me feel like he sort of just walks away from the idea instead of wrapping up anything) the ideas he presents are intriguing, and the characters react and relate to those ideas in very human, interesting ways.
This is fundamentally what keeps me coming back to his writing.
Though I will say: the sex scenes here one could omit entirely and the book would be better. Just didn't add anything except "Hey! People are having sex now!" (which may have actually been a better rewrite of the same, for all the good they did the plot).
I'd try to summarize or come up with something pithy here to end my review, but because it's Neal...
pris_asagiri's review against another edition
3.0
This book is so long. I should get credit for two books. I liked the beginning and the ending and don’t ask me about the middle because I wasn’t listening very carefully. The variety of narratorswas interesting but not particularly well executed. It made it really difficult to remember who was who when the voices kept changing.
It felt like a mash of Strange and Norrel and this Austen time travel book I’m reading. It doesn’t surprise me it was so long because I don’t think Stephenson knows how to write anything shorter. But I was surprised that the writing wasn’t as good as I’m used to. I didn’t write it down, but there was a sentence that just hurt because it was using words that just should not be strung together like it was.
I like the idea that science killed magic, but this was way too detailed about the occult for me. It would be like listening to the intricate details of how vampire dna is different from werewolf dna...for 17 hours. For a fun premise, it was exceedingly boring in large chunks. But the ending was fun so it ended on a good note. Plus, I’m done.
It felt like a mash of Strange and Norrel and this Austen time travel book I’m reading. It doesn’t surprise me it was so long because I don’t think Stephenson knows how to write anything shorter. But I was surprised that the writing wasn’t as good as I’m used to. I didn’t write it down, but there was a sentence that just hurt because it was using words that just should not be strung together like it was.
I like the idea that science killed magic, but this was way too detailed about the occult for me. It would be like listening to the intricate details of how vampire dna is different from werewolf dna...for 17 hours. For a fun premise, it was exceedingly boring in large chunks. But the ending was fun so it ended on a good note. Plus, I’m done.
ponyxtales's review against another edition
4.0
I started this as audio, but it's a big one, so I finished it in print form. I had fun with both. I'm glad I dragged out the experience. I feel like the cast of characters are good friends now. :)
arkobla's review against another edition
5.0
The Rise and Fall of D.O.D.O is an interesting and enjoyable novel about Time Travel. It doesn't weigh itself down with the self doubt of what happens when they muck about in the time streams (although their are ramifications) but instead enjoys the premise that there is a way to travel back and forth in Time.
Fundamentally, the book isn't about Time travel however, its about the discovery that witches actually existed until a certain point in time and then all witchcraft went away abruptly. That discovery prompted development into new technology, that allowed for limited spells by the lone remaining witch, and led to going back and forth in time to advance their departments mission.
As the small team has success, it gets consumed by the government bureaucracy and an underlining current of the novel is how the author pokes fun of this trope. Everything is an acronym, which tends to be a bit confusing at first until you just know what it means by the context of the sentence - and, after working in a military environment for 20+ years, this is exactly what happens. I've had plenty of conversations with folks about what an acronym means only to be told they have no idea exactly what it stands for, but they know what it means. Same thing here.
I really enjoyed the two main characters - Mel & Tristan. Their story arc's were satisfying and enjoyable. They, like all characters in the novel, are more cavalier about messing with time than most readers might believe, but its consistent with the rules of the world we are reading.
As they both begin traveling in time, trying to solve various challenges, we meet more characters that become important to the overall story. Soon enough, there are a glut of characters never become too much a burden to deal with.
I might have given this novel 4 stars for some small nitpiks in the story, but what really made it shine was the Audible version I listened to. Ultimately, there were 10 different POV characters (With Mel being the primary and most used). For the Audible version, each of these 10 characters had a different reader chosen specifically to represent the new character. Some of these readers are outstanding!! I enjoyed Mel's reader very much, but Grania, an Irish Spy from the 1600's was a pure joy to listen to.
As we move forward in the novel, as more bureaucracy overlays the group, the author uses a back and forth discussion between characters as they are using email or a chat program, with each reader reading their parts. This style might be confusing in text, but was really fun via audible.
As you would expect, everything explodes when things don't go as planned and our heroes have to figure out a way to recover. In the end, its a fun romp.
Fundamentally, the book isn't about Time travel however, its about the discovery that witches actually existed until a certain point in time and then all witchcraft went away abruptly. That discovery prompted development into new technology, that allowed for limited spells by the lone remaining witch, and led to going back and forth in time to advance their departments mission.
As the small team has success, it gets consumed by the government bureaucracy and an underlining current of the novel is how the author pokes fun of this trope. Everything is an acronym, which tends to be a bit confusing at first until you just know what it means by the context of the sentence - and, after working in a military environment for 20+ years, this is exactly what happens. I've had plenty of conversations with folks about what an acronym means only to be told they have no idea exactly what it stands for, but they know what it means. Same thing here.
I really enjoyed the two main characters - Mel & Tristan. Their story arc's were satisfying and enjoyable. They, like all characters in the novel, are more cavalier about messing with time than most readers might believe, but its consistent with the rules of the world we are reading.
As they both begin traveling in time, trying to solve various challenges, we meet more characters that become important to the overall story. Soon enough, there are a glut of characters never become too much a burden to deal with.
I might have given this novel 4 stars for some small nitpiks in the story, but what really made it shine was the Audible version I listened to. Ultimately, there were 10 different POV characters (With Mel being the primary and most used). For the Audible version, each of these 10 characters had a different reader chosen specifically to represent the new character. Some of these readers are outstanding!! I enjoyed Mel's reader very much, but Grania, an Irish Spy from the 1600's was a pure joy to listen to.
As we move forward in the novel, as more bureaucracy overlays the group, the author uses a back and forth discussion between characters as they are using email or a chat program, with each reader reading their parts. This style might be confusing in text, but was really fun via audible.
As you would expect, everything explodes when things don't go as planned and our heroes have to figure out a way to recover. In the end, its a fun romp.
jbrown2140's review against another edition
4.0
As with other Stephenson efforts, a fascinating world, clever and wryly (though at times too snarkily) presented - but with an unsatisfyingly arbitrary ending.
tonytrlin's review against another edition
4.0
Excellent book. Very creative. Amazing how the author blended in contemporary pop culture references with historical facts. Great time travel story. They are hard to write and this one is great
esquire61's review against another edition
2.0
Great premise, but lost its aim as the story developed. I love stories about time travel. And this idea was novel and intriguing. But half way thru the book, the narrative gave way to feature bureacratic-minded overseers entering the D.O.D.O. picture, even featuring memos and red tape decisions to buttress the bold new enterprise. At first these memos showed the absurdity of government oversight and hyper-regulation to good effect. Used in smaller doses would have helped carry the day. I almost gave up until the narrative thread was again found.
So: Loved the start. Middle was too long and off-putting. The ending... well, it wasn't an ending, but a leaving-off place suggesting there is more in store. My advice if more?
Less!
So: Loved the start. Middle was too long and off-putting. The ending... well, it wasn't an ending, but a leaving-off place suggesting there is more in store. My advice if more?
Less!