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hakimbriki's review against another edition
4.0
I had no idea what I was getting into reading Reamde... and I was certainly surprised. It is one of the most immersive, thrilling books I've read... but it's flawed. I'm very conflicted because I feel I could rate it a 5 or a 2, depending on when you ask.
Reamde has a wonderful set of characters whose storylines intertwine in the most amazing/improbable ways imaginable. One of the characters, Zula, is just as badass (if not more) as some of the best female characters in modern literature. She deals with the most insane ordeals throughout the book, yet she remains stoic and makes wise decisions, which align perfectly with her backstory. I love clever storytelling.
Other characters, such as Dodge, Sokolov, Csongor, and Seamus are lovable, witty, mysterious, smart, and intriguing. However, that can't be said about the Jihadists, Ivanov, and Yuxia, who are two-dimensional, predictable, and boring.
Here is my main issue with this book:
Having said that, I still enjoyed the heck out of Reamde. It's a fantastic ride, full of surprises, thrills, and endearing characters. It's 1,100 pages of pure joy... as long as your suspension of disbelief is solid as a rock!
Reamde has a wonderful set of characters whose storylines intertwine in the most amazing/improbable ways imaginable. One of the characters, Zula, is just as badass (if not more) as some of the best female characters in modern literature. She deals with the most insane ordeals throughout the book, yet she remains stoic and makes wise decisions, which align perfectly with her backstory. I love clever storytelling.
Other characters, such as Dodge, Sokolov, Csongor, and Seamus are lovable, witty, mysterious, smart, and intriguing. However, that can't be said about the Jihadists, Ivanov, and Yuxia, who are two-dimensional, predictable, and boring.
Here is my main issue with this book:
Spoiler
There are WAY too many conveniences in Reamde. A few examples: Sokolov gets on a boat, finds himself in the city where it all started, and where many other characters are? Some of these characters surely can bypass immigration very easily, in several countries... Oh and, most importantly, the hackers JUST HAPPEN to live one floor below the Jihadists? Gimme a break. My suspension of disbelief has limits. Also, I usually trust Stephenson on research accuracy... but he translated Arabic words wrong. Using a human translator as opposed to Google Translate goes a long way!Having said that, I still enjoyed the heck out of Reamde. It's a fantastic ride, full of surprises, thrills, and endearing characters. It's 1,100 pages of pure joy... as long as your suspension of disbelief is solid as a rock!
revisins's review
5.0
Tech Thriller Geo Caching
Good god! The experience of reading and listening to this book is highly recommended. It will for one thing, cut down the reading time.
Entertaining as all get out. Fastest reading g 1000 page door stop. Let the wacky plot work you over. Day 4 is worth the book price alone.
Take s chance. Download Reamde now.
Good god! The experience of reading and listening to this book is highly recommended. It will for one thing, cut down the reading time.
Entertaining as all get out. Fastest reading g 1000 page door stop. Let the wacky plot work you over. Day 4 is worth the book price alone.
Take s chance. Download Reamde now.
kuranes's review
4.0
So good. I had to stay up late to finish it because I knew I wouldn’t get any work done until I did!
joshhall13's review
5.0
Does Neal Stephenson want fanboys? Because writing Snow Crash, Seveneves, and Reamde is how you get fanboys!
Great storytelling in this book. Very different voice than SC and SE, and still amazing. The only complaint I have is that every character in Reamde was a little too prescient. There was rarely a wrong guess about other characters' intentions.
Also, there were many details that lengthened this read... but unlike other books, I didn't get book fatigue. It was all interesting and he made it fun.
Great storytelling in this book. Very different voice than SC and SE, and still amazing. The only complaint I have is that every character in Reamde was a little too prescient. There was rarely a wrong guess about other characters' intentions.
Also, there were many details that lengthened this read... but unlike other books, I didn't get book fatigue. It was all interesting and he made it fun.
redshoeson's review against another edition
4.0
I loved this book - though it gets off to a slow start, the build is beautiful, leading to the insane climax. It starts with the founder of a WoW-esque MMORPG and his concern for his adopted Eritrean niece. When a virus known as Reamde enters the picture, things go gangbusters. Even though it's long, it's well worth the read. Recommended if you enjoyed READY PLAYER ONE (Cline) and are interested in something a little darker and a lot more developed.
geoffdgeorge's review against another edition
Bit off small chunks of this late at night over the course of the pandemic, on those occasional evenings when my mind wasn't overwhelmed by thoughts of everything else going on around the world. Because of that, and because I subscribed in quarantine to five or six additional magazines and journals that stole a lot of my reading time, and especially because of the book's exhausting attention to detail, the going was slow.
Did I really need so much background on the origins and formulation of the fictional MMORPG where the novel's inciting incident and just one other critical interaction take place? No. Other information dumps were more interesting, though, at least. I enjoyed learning more about the geography, history, and nautical culture of the city of Xiamen than I ever expected to, for example.
I finally found the energy/will/desire to dive back into the book full-tilt a couple of weeks ago. Knocked out the last few hundred pages by reading while following along with the audiobook. Whatever I pick next, it's gonna be short.
Did I really need so much background on the origins and formulation of the fictional MMORPG where the novel's inciting incident and just one other critical interaction take place? No. Other information dumps were more interesting, though, at least. I enjoyed learning more about the geography, history, and nautical culture of the city of Xiamen than I ever expected to, for example.
I finally found the energy/will/desire to dive back into the book full-tilt a couple of weeks ago. Knocked out the last few hundred pages by reading while following along with the audiobook. Whatever I pick next, it's gonna be short.
brianb71's review against another edition
4.0
I truly enjoyed this book more than I thought I would have. The only thing that took away from how good this book could have been is that it contained a lot of filler materials. Shave this book by 250 and it would have been a 5 star review.