Locus Interviews Neal Stephenson

Embedded Geek writes "Locus, the trade magazine of Science Fiction, has an interview with Neal Stephenson in their August issue. Excerpts can be found here. A teaser: 'The world of the 'Baroque Cycle' happens to be 99% factual history, or as close as I can come to it, but what readers of this kind of fiction are looking for is the ability to become immersed in a different world. That's why there is a big crossover between historical fiction and SF.' An interesting read for his long time fans or anyone just wondering what all the fuss is about." So this is a teaser for a teaser, but this makes me want to shell out the $8.

Comments

If you said, "Who?"

[zaxios]

For those who, like me, hadn't heard of this guy, a quick Googling turned this, this book page and this interview up. Also, an author profile.

Re:If you said, "Who?"

[jericho4.0]

I discovered him through /. Cryptonomicon was the best book I've read in years. Action, suspense, historical acuracy, math, and computers. The Diamond Age was also stunningly good. Quicksilver wasn't very good, and I havn't yet read Snow Crash, but I've heard good things.

Re:If you said, "Who?"

[Zerth]

Yes, about a gram or so
Here's a whole bunch on phosphorus

Heres a Copy (albeit a bad one)

[matz62]

August 2004

Neal Stephenson grew up in Iowa and graduated from Boston University in 1981 majoring in geography with a minor in physics. His first published novel The Big U, a college thriller with SF elements, appeared in 1984, followed by Zodiac: The Eco-Thriller (1988). Snow Crash (1992), a cyberpunk classic, made him a star in the SF field. He wrote two thrillers in collaboration with his uncle, George Jewsbury, under the name "Stephen Bury": Interface (1994) and Cobweb (1996), and published solo novel The Diamond Age, winner of the Hugo and Locus Awards, in 1995. Cryptonomicon followed in 1999; also a Locus Award winner, this massive, Pynchonesque novel of history and cryptography proved tremendously popular with SF fans. Later that year he
Photo by Charles N. Brown

www.nealstephenson.com published In the Beginning...Was the Command Line, a non-fiction commentary on computers and culture. The past seven years were spent on the vast three-volume "Baroque Cycle", beginning with Arthur C. Clarke Award-winning Quicksilver (2003) and followed by The Confusion (2004) and The System of the World (2004). These books, set in the 17th century and featuring historical characters like Leibniz and Newton along with the ancestors of characters from Cryptonomicon, are Stephenson's latest attempt to push the boundaries of SF. Stephenson lives in the Pacific Northwest with his wife (married 1985) and their two children.

Excerpts from the interview:

"One of the defining characteristics of SF is that it's about worlds. You create a world first, and then you tell one or more stories in that world. That's why so frequently in SF, people will go back again and again to the same world and tell additional tales. That's kind of what's going on here. The world of the 'Baroque Cycle' happens to be 99% factual history, or as close as I can come to it, but what readers of this kind of fiction are looking for is the ability to become immersed in a different world. That's why there is a big crossover between historical fiction and SF. For me, the world-building process is part and parcel of writing. It's the only way I really know how to play this game. I guess that's why I feel so firmly that I'm in the SF camp, no matter where my work is set.

"I had been working on a future storyline connected to Cryptonomicon, but in attempting to write it I realized I needed to go back instead. So I did that, and it ended up taking seven years! The 'Baroque Cycle' project was never envisioned to be as big and long as it turned out to be. There's a line from Tolkien where he says, 'This tale grew in the telling.' I'm reluctant to quote that directly because it sounds like I'm copping an attitude, but that's what happened with this: it started out smaller and got bigger. I never slogged. I enjoyed every minute of writing it. Of course, I badly wanted to get to the end, but when I did, I was sad it was over. At various points along the line, I tried various superstitious tactics; at one point I said, 'I'm not gonna cut my hair until this thing is done.' I finally wound up on Christmas Eve 2003. A couple of weeks later I felt this overpowering need to have short hair again, so I just kept whacking until there was nothing left. And I plan to keep it that way."

*

"People keep asking me why I think of the 'Cycle' as science fiction. When I was a kid I used to read these huge anthologies of science fiction stories, and there would always be some oddball stories that were set during the Crusades, or with cave men, or what have you. They weren't overtly science fiction, but there didn't seem to be any doubt in anyone's mind that they belonged. I ma

Add one pre-order

[Karellen !-P]

I just finished the second installment and was left wanting more. It may be somewhat long winded but, for the history-loving geek in me, there is no better. This is the first time I ever pre-ordered a book before it's release. Now I'm gonna wait it out by playing Europa Universalis II :-P

Re:Add one pre-order

[jea6]

I bought "The System of the World" on eBay. So far (200 pages in) it's been well worth the premium (paid <$40). Of course, I liked Quicksilver and loved The Confusion so I'm fairly (unfairly?) biased. Don't worry: I'll be buying the hardcover in October to make sure Mr. Stephenson earns his royalties from me.

Snow Crash was a fun read

[autopr0n]

And I'd bet that people who liked it would like his later work, but I'm not sure the inverse is really true. It's pretty goofy, certanly dosn't have the realistic edge that Cryptonomicon and the Baroque Cycle.

Advance Reader Copies

[Anonymous Coward]

Publishers hand out dozens of Advance Reader Copies or ARCs to industry insiders, other authors who might be willing to write a blurb, booksellers who have to decide if a book is worth stocking and in what numbers, and finally, perhaps most importantly, to book reviewers. Reviewers need to publish a review on or near the date of release so publishers will give them an advance copy.

So, any one of the aforementioned parties can put an ARC on ebay for a tidy profit.

MOD PARENT DOWN for SPOILER

[Scrameustache]

Geez dude, how' bout not blowing a damn spoiler on people like that huh?

The meaning of "baroque"

[Scrameustache]

I loved Snow Crash and Cryptonomicon, but the Baroque Cycle ... got 2/3rds into Quicksilver and put it away. I liked the story in the abstract and where he was going with it, but it was *way* too long at getting to the point.

Its not like he didn't warn you.
If the fact that it was a 900+ page "volume one of three" was clue one.
Naming the trilogy "baroque" was clue 2.

Main Entry: 1baroque
Pronunciation: b&-'rOk, ba-, -'räk, -'rok
Function: adjective
Usage: often capitalized
Etymology: French, from Middle French barroque irregularly shaped (of a pearl), from Portuguese barroco irregularly shaped pearl
1 : of, relating to, or having the characteristics of a style of artistic expression prevalent especially in the 17th century that is marked generally by use of complex forms, bold ornamentation, and the juxtaposition of contrasting elements often conveying a sense of drama, movement, and tension
2 : characterized by grotesqueness, extravagance, complexity, or flamboyance

It was really long.
Instead of complaining that it is very long, you should not buy very long books. I complain that it was a bit drawn out too, but I finished it, and the second one, and I'm waiting for the third one. I feel I'm getting my mony's worth, personally.
: )

Re:Good author

[freshmkr]

I think I'd read anything by a guy that is able to make a mathematical plot out of the main character's labido. (sic.)

Something Thomas Pynchon also did in Gravity's Rainbow. (Scroll to "Poisson Distribution"). Also google for "slothrop poisson" (no quotes). Pynchon is worthwhile reading, IMHO, though a little bit harder to get through than anything Stevenson wrote...

--Tom

Re:Baroque Cycle SPOILERISH

[Scrameustache]

Eliza was a totally one dimensional PerfectFemale.

I disagree.

She was also totally portrayed like a modern American Woman

She is neither fat nor ignorant of world matters.

very far from the reality at the time.

He repeatedly describes the reality of women in those times. Eliza is an extraordinary person who manages to navigate this society to her advantage despite it all.
I am normally the first to compain about one-dimentional "girl power" strong women stereotyped characters. She isn't one.

And one dimensional?
She has at least 2 dimensions: Buisness woman and slavery abolitionist.
Oh, and double agent spy... and socialite...etc.

Eighteenth century my arse!

Most of it was in the 17th century, actually.