banjax451's review
adventurous
challenging
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
smithel's review
4.0
I don't often bother to review books, but I won a copy of this as part of a Goodreads giveaway so I thought I would put in my two cents. I was so excited to win this! I've absolutely loved all the books I've read by Neal Stephenson (which is a fair few). When I started The Rise and Fall of D.O.D.O., though, I will admit to some disappointment. Melisande felt more than a little Mary Sue to me in the first chapters - an attractive young woman who is equally skilled in making accurate translations in languages that span, as far as I can tell, the whole planet and about twelve millennia. And this is quite aside from the fact that she's a humanities scholar who is perfectly happy to sign up to a secret military organisation without any moral qualms or hesitation about walking away from her existing academic job. Moreover I was slightly uncomfortable about the women throughout the book, not least because they seemed to be separated into the categories of "femme fatale" and "assistant".
That said. After an initial disappointment, I quickly found that I was completely sucked in and frankly couldn't put it down. The ways in which magic and technology flowed back and forth were fun, and the ways in which different strands of possibility played out were intriguing. Thinking through all the possibilities of the characters' actions, once I was nested inside the witchy time travel framework of the book, was endlessly enjoyable and the plot had more than enough twists and turns to keep me feeling pleasantly off balance.
The mix of kinds of material presented was also interesting and worked well. Not only did it give each of the characters their own distinct voice, but the D.O.D.O. ended up being sort of a character in itself, and the universal office-ese gave some grounding to some frankly off the wall plot lines.
On the whole, it is an enjoyable romp of a book! I would certainly recommend it.
That said. After an initial disappointment, I quickly found that I was completely sucked in and frankly couldn't put it down. The ways in which magic and technology flowed back and forth were fun, and the ways in which different strands of possibility played out were intriguing. Thinking through all the possibilities of the characters' actions, once I was nested inside the witchy time travel framework of the book, was endlessly enjoyable and the plot had more than enough twists and turns to keep me feeling pleasantly off balance.
The mix of kinds of material presented was also interesting and worked well. Not only did it give each of the characters their own distinct voice, but the D.O.D.O. ended up being sort of a character in itself, and the universal office-ese gave some grounding to some frankly off the wall plot lines.
On the whole, it is an enjoyable romp of a book! I would certainly recommend it.
begemot's review
adventurous
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
charbroiled's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
ferris_mx's review
4.0
Entertaining and thought provoking as ever. There are elements of Terminator in how it all hangs together. However, it was all a bit too pat. The information conveyed via bureaucratic memo was a bit tedious. And most of the characters were caricatured.
paulgrostad's review
5.0
A perfect blend of fantasy, sci-fi and action-spy-adventure 😂 Witches and time-travel used to change the course of history for nation-state strategic objective as well as personal interests. Surprisingly funny, in a way that reminds me of Terry Pratchett and Douglas Adams.
maxed's review
2.0
Neal Stephenson does a Connie Willis impression. From the time travelling them, to the tone of the most of the book, I just keep feeling that I'm reading yet another story about intrepid historians from Oxford. Mind you, this book never gets as convoluted and hilarious as "To Say Nothing of the Dog", or as tense and dramatic as "Doomsday Book" or "Blackout/All Clear". In fact, it reads a lot like one of the weaker Connie Willis book, so I'd argue that while Neal & Nicole succeeded in emulation of Willis style, they failed at producing a good book.
It's hard to pinpoint a problem, but for me, for one thing, the change of tone between chapters was maybe a bit too jarring, going from first-person past-tense exposition to "official document", then to "personal diary" and back again. Another thing which spoiled the book for me was the "compression of time" that sped up as the book progressed: the first chapters are written as day-by-day description, then some months pass, then years. This disconnected me from the book, broke the immersion.
But that all is just something I can point my finger at, but probably not the root cause. Which, I think, has a lot more to do with the absence of elements that I'm used to seeing in Stephenson's books, like technical and historical details (why, yes, I love Stephenson's info-dumps on anything from cryptography to finance) and interesting action (of which this book has very, very little). I also didn't feel anything for the characters.
It's a real disappointment, because Neal Stephenson is one of my favourite authors. But this is the weakest book with his name on it since... Well, since "The Big U", I guess. It doesn't even have the saving grace of thrilling action sequences which salvage mediocre "Reamde" to a point. I can't help but wonder if it's a result of wrongly chosen collaboration, but it's an useless avenue of thought to explore, so I just hope that the next Stephenson will be a come back.
It's hard to pinpoint a problem, but for me, for one thing, the change of tone between chapters was maybe a bit too jarring, going from first-person past-tense exposition to "official document", then to "personal diary" and back again. Another thing which spoiled the book for me was the "compression of time" that sped up as the book progressed: the first chapters are written as day-by-day description, then some months pass, then years. This disconnected me from the book, broke the immersion.
But that all is just something I can point my finger at, but probably not the root cause. Which, I think, has a lot more to do with the absence of elements that I'm used to seeing in Stephenson's books, like technical and historical details (why, yes, I love Stephenson's info-dumps on anything from cryptography to finance) and interesting action (of which this book has very, very little). I also didn't feel anything for the characters.
It's a real disappointment, because Neal Stephenson is one of my favourite authors. But this is the weakest book with his name on it since... Well, since "The Big U", I guess. It doesn't even have the saving grace of thrilling action sequences which salvage mediocre "Reamde" to a point. I can't help but wonder if it's a result of wrongly chosen collaboration, but it's an useless avenue of thought to explore, so I just hope that the next Stephenson will be a come back.
beeblebrox299's review against another edition
adventurous
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
3.75