Neal Stephenson Popular Books

Neal Stephenson Biography & Facts

Neal Town Stephenson (born October 31, 1959) is an American writer known for his works of speculative fiction. His novels have been categorized as science fiction, historical fiction, cyberpunk, postcyberpunk, and baroque. Stephenson's work explores mathematics, cryptography, linguistics, philosophy, currency, and the history of science. He also writes non-fiction articles about technology in publications such as Wired. He has written novels with his uncle, George Jewsbury ("J. Frederick George"), under the collective pseudonym Stephen Bury. Stephenson has worked part-time as an advisor for Blue Origin, a company (founded by Jeff Bezos) developing a spacecraft and a space launch system, and is also a cofounder of Subutai Corporation, whose first offering is the interactive fiction project The Mongoliad. He was Magic Leap's Chief Futurist from 2014 to 2020. Early life Born on October 31, 1959, in Fort Meade, Maryland, Stephenson came from a family of engineers and scientists; his father is a professor of electrical engineering while his paternal grandfather was a physics professor. His mother worked in a biochemistry laboratory, and her father was a biochemistry professor. Stephenson's family moved to Champaign-Urbana, Illinois, in 1960, and then in 1966 to Ames, Iowa. He graduated from Ames High School in 1977.Stephenson studied at Boston University, first specializing in physics, then switching to geography after he found that it would allow him to spend more time on the university mainframe. He graduated in 1981 with a B.A. in geography and a minor in physics. Since 1984, Stephenson has lived mostly in the Pacific Northwest and currently lives in Seattle with his family. Writing Stephenson's first novel, The Big U, published in 1984, is a satirical take on life at American Megaversity, a vast, bland, and alienating research university beset by chaotic riots. His next novel, Zodiac (1988), is a thriller following a radical environmentalist in his struggle against corporate polluters. Neither novel attracted much critical attention on first publication, but showcased concerns that Stephenson would further develop in his later work.Stephenson's breakthrough came in 1992 with Snow Crash, a cyberpunk or postcyberpunk novel fusing memetics, computer viruses, and other high-tech themes with Sumerian mythology, along with a sociological extrapolation of extreme laissez-faire capitalism and collectivism. Stephenson at this time would later be described by Mike Godwin as "a slight, unassuming grad-student type whose soft-spoken demeanor gave no obvious indication that he had written the manic apotheosis of cyberpunk science fiction." In 1994, Stephenson joined with his uncle, J. Frederick George, to publish a political thriller, Interface, under the pen name "Stephen Bury"; they followed this in 1996 with The Cobweb. Stephenson's next solo novel, published in 1995, was The Diamond Age: Or, A Young Lady's Illustrated Primer. The plot involves a weapon implanted in a character's skull, near-limitless replicators for everything from mattresses to foods, smartpaper, and air and blood-sanitizing nanobots. It is set in a world with a neo-Victorian social structure. This was followed by Cryptonomicon in 1999, a novel including concepts ranging from Alan Turing's research into codebreaking and cryptography during the Second World War, to a modern attempt to set up a data haven. In 2013, Cryptonomicon won the Prometheus Hall of Fame Award. The Baroque Cycle is a series of historical novels set in the 17th and 18th centuries, and is in some respects a prequel to Cryptonomicon. It was originally published in three volumes of two or three books each – Quicksilver (2003), The Confusion, (2004) and The System of the World (2004) – but was subsequently republished as eight separate books: Quicksilver, King of the Vagabonds, Odalisque, Bonanza, Juncto, Solomon's Gold, Currency, and System of the World. (The titles and exact breakdown vary in different markets.) The System of the World won the Prometheus Award in 2005. Following this, Stephenson wrote Anathem (2008), a long and detailed novel of speculative fiction. It is set in an Earthlike world, deals with metaphysics, and refers heavily to Ancient Greek philosophy. Anathem won the Locus Award for Best Science Fiction Novel in 2009. In May 2010, the Subutai Corporation, of which Stephenson was named chairman, announced the production of an experimental multimedia fiction project called The Mongoliad, which centered upon a narrative written by Stephenson and other speculative fiction authors.Stephenson's novel Reamde was released on September 20, 2011. The title is a play on the common filename README. This thriller, set in the present, centers around a group of MMORPG developers caught in the middle of Chinese cyber-criminals, Islamic terrorists, and Russian mafia.On August 7, 2012, Stephenson released a collection of essays and other previously published fiction entitled Some Remarks: Essays and Other Writing. This collection also includes a new essay and a short story created specifically for this volume. In late 2013, Stephenson stated that he was working on a multi-volume work of historical novels that would "have a lot to do with scientific and technological themes and how those interact with the characters and civilisation during a particular span of history". He expected the first two volumes to be released in mid-to-late 2014. However, at about the same time, he shifted his attention to a science fiction novel, Seveneves, which was completed about a year later and was published in May 2015. On June 8, 2016, plans were announced to adapt Seveneves for the screen.In May 2016, as part of a video discussion with Bill Gates, Stephenson revealed that he had just submitted the manuscript for a new historical novel—"a time travel book"—co-written with Nicole Galland, one of his Mongoliad coauthors. This was released as The Rise and Fall of D.O.D.O. on June 13, 2017.In June 2019, his novel Fall; or, Dodge in Hell was published. It is a near-future novel that explores mind uploading into the cloud, and contains characters from 2011's Reamde, 1999's Cryptonomicon, and other books.Termination Shock, published in November 2021, is a climate fiction novel about solar geoengineering. Writing style Stephenson's books tend to have elaborate plots drawing on numerous technological and sociological ideas at the same time. The discursive nature of his writing, together with significant plot and character complexity and an abundance of detail suggests a baroque writing style, which Stephenson brought fully to bear in the three-volume Baroque Cycle. Outside of writing Stephenson worked at Blue Origin, Jeff Bezos' spaceflight company, for seven years in the early 2000s while its focus was on "novel alternate approaches to space, alternate propulsion systems, and business models." He left after Blue became a more standard aerospace company.In 2012,.... Discover the Neal Stephenson popular books. 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Best Seller Neal Stephenson Books of 2024

  • Snow Crash synopsis, comments

    Snow Crash

    Neal Stephenson

    Now featuring neverbeforeseen material, the “brilliantly realized” (The New York Times Book Review) breakthrough novel from visionary author Neal Stephenson, a modern classic that ...

  • CTRL S synopsis, comments

    CTRL S

    Andy Briggs

    LOG IN > LOAD WORLD > SAVE HER.Life in the near future's NOT ALL BAD. We've reversed global warming, and fixed the collapsing bee population. We even created SPACE, a virtual...

  • Manhattan 2060 - Meltdown synopsis, comments

    Manhattan 2060 - Meltdown

    Dan Adams

    New York in naher Zukunft: In den Straßen tobt ein Krieg zwischen rivalisierenden DrogenGangs. Mike Quillan vom Department of Special Operations versucht mit seinem neuen Partner C...

  • The Rig synopsis, comments

    The Rig

    Roger Levy

    On a desert planet, two boys meet, sparking a friendship that will change human society forever. On the windswept world of Bleak, a string of murders lead a writer to a story with ...

  • Waking Hell synopsis, comments

    Waking Hell

    Al Robertson

    Return to the world of Station in the sequel to the acclaimed Crashing Heaven.Leila Fenech is dead. And so is her brother Dieter. But what's really pissing her off is how he sold h...

  • Invisible Sun synopsis, comments

    Invisible Sun

    Charles Stross

    The alternate timelines of Charles Stross' Empire Games trilogy have never been so entangled than in Invisible Sunthe technothriller follow up to Dark Stateas stakes escalate in a ...

  • The Diamond Age synopsis, comments

    The Diamond Age

    Neal Stephenson

    Vividly imagined, stunningly prophetic, and epic in scope, The Diamond Age is a major novel from one of the most visionary writers of our timeDecades into our future...

  • The Null Prophecy synopsis, comments

    The Null Prophecy

    Michael Guillen

    A book to challenge the status quo, spark a debate, and get people talking about the issues and questions we face as a country!

  • Battle of the Immortal synopsis, comments

    Battle of the Immortal

    Jeff Norton

    Hordes of Uploaded (the online incarnations of dead people) have escaped the Metasphere and taken over the bodies of living people in the real world. As warring factions vie for co...

  • Master of the Revels synopsis, comments

    Master of the Revels

    Nicole Galland

    In this brilliant sequel to The Rise and Fall of D.O.D.O.an enthralling, historybending adventure traversing time and space, fact and fiction, magic and science cowritten with #1 N...

  • Interface synopsis, comments

    Interface

    Neal Stephenson & J. Frederick George

    From his triumphant debut with Snow Crash to the stunning success of his latest novel, Quicksilver, Neal Stephenson has quickly become the voice of a generation. In this nowclassic...

  • The City Inside synopsis, comments

    The City Inside

    Samit Basu

    A Best SFF of 2022 pick by The Washington Post | Book Riot | Quill to LiveThe City Inside, a nearfuture epic by the internationally celebrated Samit Basu, pulls no punches as it co...

  • Fight for the Future synopsis, comments

    Fight for the Future

    Jeff Norton

    Jonah Delacroix can't stand the real world so he lives most of his life inside a global computerbased virtual world called the Metasphere, where everyone is represented by an avat...

  • Choc terminal - tome 1 synopsis, comments

    Choc terminal - tome 1

    Neal Stephenson & Benoît Domis

    « Férocement intelligent, toujours surprenant, d'une grande audace spéculative et d'un humour noir ravageur. » Publishers WeeklyParce que la montée des eaux menace l'existence même...

  • Accidental Flight synopsis, comments

    Accidental Flight

    F. L. Wallace

    Outcasts of a society of physically perfect people, they couldn't stay and they couldn't go home againyet there had to be some escape for them. Oddly enough, there was! A ...

  • Manhattan 2060 - Masterplan synopsis, comments

    Manhattan 2060 - Masterplan

    Dan Adams

    Der TribecaKonzern ist in Aufruhr: Nadine Usher wird wegen Mordes an einem Untergebenen gesucht. Harris, der Stellvertreter des ominösen Mr. K, sieht sich zu drastischen Maßnahmen ...

  • Our Next Reality synopsis, comments

    Our Next Reality

    Alvin Wang Graylin, Louis Rosenberg & Neal Stephenson

    Foreword by Neal Stephenson, bestselling author of Snow Crash Over the last 100 years, technology has changed our world. Over the next decade it will transform our reality. The pla...

  • Manhattan 2059 - Eternity synopsis, comments

    Manhattan 2059 - Eternity

    Dan Adams

    New York in naher Zukunft eine Stadt am Abgrund!Die Cops Liberty Capriso und Mike Quillan verrichten ihren Dienst in Manhattan, dem gefährlichsten Teil der Stadt. Schlimmer noch: ...

  • Wolves synopsis, comments

    Wolves

    Simon Ings

    A chilling literary dystopia for those who love Iain Banks and JG Ballard.Conrad is desperate for an escape after a devastating accident changes his way of life. When his childhood...

  • Manhattan 2060 - Infiltration synopsis, comments

    Manhattan 2060 - Infiltration

    Dan Adams

    Captain Kirkland gerät unter Druck: Mit seinem Lauschangriff auf den TribecaKonzern hat er nicht nur seine Frau, sondern auch Commissioner Stafford gegen sich aufgebracht. Und auch...

  • Never Come Midnight synopsis, comments

    Never Come Midnight

    Christopher Grimm

    Across the void came a man who could not ever have been born from a world that could never have been conceived to demand his birthright of an Earth that would have to die to pay ...

  • The Doloriad synopsis, comments

    The Doloriad

    Missouri Williams

    "[The Doloriad] just might be what your rotten little heart deserves." J. Robert Lennon, The New York Times Book ReviewOne of Vulture's Best Books of 2022. Winner of the 2023 Repub...

  • The Cobweb synopsis, comments

    The Cobweb

    Neal Stephenson & J. Frederick George

    From his triumphant debut with Snow Crash to the stunning success of his latest novel, Quicksilver, Neal Stephenson has quickly become the voice of a generation. In this nowclassic...

  • The Dead are Rising synopsis, comments

    The Dead are Rising

    Jeff Norton

    The Changsphere offers a safe haven for the Uploaded, and with more processing power than the Southern Corner could ever offer, the Uploaded begin to grow, develop, and yearn to be...

  • The Caledonian Gambit synopsis, comments

    The Caledonian Gambit

    Dan Moren

    The galaxy is mired in a cold war between two superpowers, the Illyrican Empire and the Commonwealth. Thrust between this struggle are Simon Kovalic, the Commonwealth’s preeminent ...

  • Strange Flesh synopsis, comments

    Strange Flesh

    Michael Olson

    In this debut thriller for fans of Neal Stephenson and the Millennium Trilogy, a troubled hacker finds himself at the center of a highstakes revolution in virtual reality.James Pry...

  • Seveneves synopsis, comments

    Seveneves

    Neal Stephenson

    Neal Stephenson combina ciencia, filosofía, tecnología, psicología y literatura en una excelente obra de ficción especulativa que nos ofrece un retrato de un futuro simultáneamente...

  • The Smoke synopsis, comments

    The Smoke

    Simon Ings

    A searing nearfuture tale about love, loss and loneliness in an incomprehensible world. Humanity has been split into three different species. Mutual incomprehension has fractured t...

  • Some Remarks synopsis, comments

    Some Remarks

    Neal Stephenson

    #1 New York Times bestselling author Neal Stephenson is, quite simply, one of the best and most respected writers alive. He’s taken sf to places it’s never been (Snow Crash, Anathe...

  • The Deluge synopsis, comments

    The Deluge

    Stephen Markley

    A New York Times Notable Book “This book is, simply put, a modern classic. If you read it, you'll never forget it. Prophetic, terrifying, uplifting.” Stephen KingFrom the bestselli...

  • Battle of the Linguist Mages synopsis, comments

    Battle of the Linguist Mages

    Scotto Moore

    “This is a standalone novel with material enough for six... By the halfway point, it had blown my mind twice... an audacious, genrebending whirlwind.” New York Times“It reads like ...

  • Reports from the Deep End synopsis, comments

    Reports from the Deep End

    Maxim Jakubowski, Rick McGrath, Will Self, Iain Sinclair & Michael Moorcock

    A fascinating and unsettling anthology of 32 science fiction short stories in tribute to the prophetic dystopias of New Wave scifi pioneer, and literary titan of the twentieth cent...

  • The Freedom Frontier synopsis, comments

    The Freedom Frontier

    Jeff Norton

    The thrilling final instalment of the actionpacked METAWARS series. With the Guardians and Millennials eliminated, Jonah and Sam are left to fend for themselves. When they discover...

  • Escapology synopsis, comments

    Escapology

    Ren Warom

    Shock Pao is the best. In the virtual world the Slip there’s nothing he can’t steal for the right price. Outside the Slip, though, he’s a Fail – no degree, no job. So when his ex o...

  • Manhattan 2058 synopsis, comments

    Manhattan 2058

    Dan Adams

    In einer finsteren Zukunft sucht ein Cop nach Vergeltung ... doch wer ist der wahre Feind?New York, 2058: Hochwasser, Umweltverschmutzung, Überbevölkerung und Kriminalität bedrohen...