Neal Stephenson’s ‘Cryptonomicon’ is one of my favorite books of the past five years. I’ve given it out as Christmas, birthday presents, etc., more times than I can count. What I loved about that book is that, to me, it really described how math-oriented people THINK, and I have so seldom seen that represented in literature anywhere. That and the pure chaotic frenzy of some of the World War II stuff …

I dug Stephenson’s ‘Snow Crash,’ but it was his 70-odd page story in an old ‘Wired’ magazine about the laying of undersea fiber-optic cables and its historical precedents that first truly impressed me with this guy’s writing (and reporting) prowess. He hasn’t let me down since.

As I’ve heard/read elsewehere, this book slows down for a couple hundred pages after its first 100 or so pages. Still, it’s account of the scientific revolution in progress, plagues, fires, economics and the politics of vagabondry is pretty gripping reading. I’m tearing right through it, though I still have no real idea where this thing is going. I’m about half-way through the first book of a three-book series, though, so I guess it’s true that things are just getting started.