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Neal Stephenson's "Anathem" Due In September
Alexander Rose writes "Neal Stephenson's new novel, ANATHEM, germinated in 01999 when Danny Hillis asked him and several other contributors to sketch out their ideas of what the Millennium Clock might look like. Stephenson tossed off a quick sketch and promptly forgot about it. Five years later however, when he was between projects, the idea came back to him, and he began to explore the possibility of building a novel around it. ANATHEM is the result, and will be released on September 9th, 02008." Read Rose's complete posting for more information about the release of the book, which he describes as set "in a genre bending alt-future-retro world where mechani-punk technology meets space opera in a blend of the best of Snow Crash and the Baroque Cycle."
But much like a parachuting bear with a bazooka, that sounds really awesome to me.
Will he write an ending for it, or will it just sort of stop in mid-page?
"Seven Deadly Sins? I thought it was a to-do list!"
"a genre bending alt-future-retro world where mechani-punk technology meets space opera in a blend of the best of Snow Crash and the Baroque Cycle." Sounds horrific.
I read Cryptonomicon and Snow Crash and thought both were great, except for the endings. I thought the endings were rushed, as if he spent a years carefully writing each novel until his publisher suddenly showed up at his door and said "Dude, you've got 24 hours to finish this novel." I'm waiting for a specific review of the ending of this one before I decide whether to buy.
No, obviously since it starts with a zero it's in octal. Mmmmh.. except for some reason calc.exe doesn't like 8s and 9s when I try to punch these as octal numbers...
You just got troll'd!
Read Rose's complete posting for more information about the release of the book, which he describes as set "in a genre bending alt-future-retro world where mechani-punk technology meets space opera in a blend of the best of Snow Crash and the Baroque Cycle."
My god, I've gone cross-eyed.
He's smoking pole. If you want some, just go to the men's room and tap your foot 3 times.
Do you even lift?
These aren't the 'roids you're looking for.
I got two jokes for that one.
By the time you're done reading a book by Neal Stephenson, you're going to need that extra digit.
and
You think that's overkill, you should see how many IP Addresses are in IPV6.
Anthropic principle: We see the universe the way it is because if it were different we would not be here to see it.
prefixing a zero onto the date is GENIUS!
and so very very cool.
when will mySQL start storing dates in MMDDYYYYY format?
or is it more properly 0MMDDYYYY?
I want my iPhone to display years this way, because it's sooooooo cool
No, it makes perfect sense, the guy is just a visionary.
Currently we only think of 4 digit years, but the guy thinks out the box and has foreseen that one day, sooner or later, probably in a few millenniums, we will have 5 digit years, and that then just like we already put a bunch of zeros for years before the year 1000 we will one day put zeros for years before the year 10000!
And allow me to blow your mind by predicting that one day we will reach 100000 and that therefore we might as well start right now writing it 002008!
You just got troll'd!
The Long Now Foundation:
10,000 Year Membership
We now offer a millennial opportunity for a non-transferable 10,000-year membership to The Long Now Foundation. This Membership costs ten thousand dollars and the first 7 10,000 Year Members receive a unique signed and numbered print from Brian Eno.
Actually I understand they're preparing for the next software/overflow bug.
* so that would be cocaine ?
"Kill 'em all and let Root sort 'em out"
Why would we? We don't prefix years before 1000 A.D. with a 0.
So yes, it's looking forward to avoid problems based upon our experiences with Y2K. What I want to know is: What about the centamilleniall approximately 98,000 years from now? Should be 001999 and 002008. Talk about short-sighted...
Won't somebody think of the great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-[...]-great-grandchildren?
"Trolls they were, but filled with the evil will of their master: a fell race..." -- J.R.R. Tolkien on Olog-hai
The problem of Y2K wasn't that we didn't have enough extra digits reserved, but the fact that we were lopping off significant ones and storing the year incorrectly (e.g. as "99" when the actual value was 1900 off from that).
Padding years with a leading zero isn't forward-looking, it's naively self-centered, assuming that people will still be using our silly "Anno Domini" year-counting system eight millennia from now. (I mean... don't you people even watch Star Trek?)
http://alternatives.rzero.com/
But the Baroque Cycle was nearly flawless.
Having enjoyed Snow Crash and Cryptonomicon, I really wanted to like the Baroque Cycle. After trudging through the first 200 pages that practically dared the reader to continue, I gave up on it. Where was the hook that made Snow Crash and Crypto such page turners?
(and don't say page 201)
Where does the school board find them and why do they keep sending them to ME?
its the Y10K bug
mod me funny
Why would we? We don't prefix years before 1000 A.D. with a 0.
WHOOOOOSH! Oh shit, and there we go again! Now I'm going to have to explain a dozen times again how I was being sarcastic.
You just got troll'd!
in a genre bending alt-future-retro world where mechani-punk technology meets space opera in a blend of the best of Snow Crash and the Baroque Cycle."
Wow. I'm already bored.
1) Nobody talked about Y2K. It was all in your head.
2) *sigh* whoosh..
You just got troll'd!
...which he describes as set "in a [...] world"
There, that's better.
Slashdot Burying Stories About Slashdot Media Owned
Don't worry. It's just an in-joke for those who read _and_ understood the summary.
sudo ergo sum
Stop wooshing. If that many people didn't get 'it', you had to be clearer.
Will all the leading-zero whiners please take 0.5 fucking seconds to think about what a "millennium clock" might be?
Seriously, get your act together, people. This is supposed to be news for nerds, here.
sudo ergo sum
Sadly, there wasn't one.
The books really did come together as a positive literary experience in System of the World but more in the sense that the many threads come together and tie in with Cryptonomicon rather than being an actual page turner.
For that matter, shouldn't it be September 09, 02008? I mean, there will come a time when we need to use days higher than 9, people!
For that matter, shouldn't it be 0September 09, 02008?
There, fixed it for you!
You just got troll'd!
Stop wooshing. If that many people didn't get 'it', you had to be clearer.
Sure, if by "be clearer" you mean "stop being even the slightest bit subtle and sarcastic".
You just got troll'd!
Alas, I didn't win one.
While you're there, sign up for a lifetime membership, or, if you're cheap or broke, a free membership. It's only fair, since my posting this might cause all their bandwidth to be eaten up.
But this problem has already been solved in a backwards-compatible way.
See RFC 2550 - Y10K and Beyond.
Why doesn't the gene pool have a life guard?
Er...the submitter is the one using the extra 0. The submitter is not the author.
Your brain is not a computer.
Of course, some systems consider the leading 0 to be a notation that the number's in base 8, so both of those would be invalid dates. 02007 is actually 1031 CE ... and then it jumps to 02010 for 1031 CE.
2008 CE would then be 03730, and 1999 CE would be 03717.
Build it, and they will come^Hplain.
Stephenson! Big fan :)
I usually get his books in hardback, but do publishers still release first editions, or limited runs of books with special bindings. If so, how do you get hold of these?
PS That US cover is awful (again). UK one is slightly better
And allow me to blow your mind by predicting that one day we will reach 100000 and that therefore we might as well start right now writing it 002008!
I will take that bet. I don't see us getting to 9999.
WHOOOOOSH! Oh shit, and there we go again! Now I'm going to have to explain a dozen times again how I was being sarcastic.
000012 times??!
And allow me to blow your mind by predicting that one day we will reach 100000 and that therefore we might as well start right now writing it 002008!
No one now writes 100 A.D. as 0100 A.D. Why do you predict they'll change this in the future?
I see you're one of slashdot's many elitists. I'm sorry we don't get your 'humor'.
In Star Trek they in fact did use the Gregorian Calendar, as well as stardates
The days of the digital watch are numbered.
The Diamond Age had the same problem.
Reading a Neal Stephenson novel is like strapping yourself into the back seat of a converted jet trainer to tour the Grand Canyon. For a lot of people, by the time they've gotten used to dodging pillars of rock at half the speed of sound and they're really enjoying the view the pilot flips over the rim and... that's all, tour's over.
I get used to the view pretty quick, and I've come to accept the endings, so I'll be picking up ANATHEM anyway.
"in a genre bending alt-future-retro world where mechani-punk technology meets space opera in a blend of the best of Snow Crash and the Baroque Cycle."
Geek crap.
And allow me to blow your mind by predicting that one day we will reach 100000 and that therefore we might as well start right now writing it 002008! No one now writes 100 A.D. as 0100 A.D. Why do you predict they'll change this in the future?
Good Lord how bloody obvious must a sarcasm be so that I don't get a dozen such remarks?? I mean look at the first half of the very line you quoted, how serious do you think that sounds for God's sake?!?
You just got troll'd!
Middle Endians, I spit upon thee for using the system that makes the least amount of sense. The only correct date format is 09092008.
Les Miserables Volume 1 now up with my reading of
..."ATALAS SHRUGGED." It was very good, but not quite on par with his first novel, "THE FOUNTAINAHEAD."
Any technology distinguishable from magic is insufficiently advanced.
I found out all I wanted to know from Amazon -- the book is 960 pages long. The guy still doesn't have an editor with the balls to say no. Until he finds one, I can't get too excited about a new Neal Stephenson novel.
Snow Crash was great. Cryptonomicon would have been great if he'd cut at least 300 pages of fluff. I didn't even bother with the Baroque books.
He's very self-indulgent as a writer.
Long term planning is nothing new. The Antikythera Mechanism, for one, was designed long before computers and had the task of calculating(very accurately in fact) the exact paths and positions of the local celestial bodies. However, while the mechanism itself withstood enough chronological decay to allow current epoch researchers to piece it back together, it's unlikely that it was constructed with forethought, and no documentation or preparation seemed evident in its discovery. As Hillis mentions in his essay:
"I think of the oak beams in the ceiling of College Hall at New College, Oxford. Last century, when the beams needed replacing, carpenters used oak trees that had been planted in 1386 when the dining hall was first built. The 14th-century builder had planted the trees in anticipation of the time, hundreds of years in the future, when the beams would need replacing. Did the carpenters plant new trees to replace the beams again a few hundred years from now?
I wonder if other current builders use this practice, or if our "Now Now Now" attitude precludes it's usefulness?
Fiction explores this concept often. The Kwisatz Haderach in Frank Herbert's Dune is a great example. The Babylon 5 series and it's undercurrents of recursive history is another. Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time. The Lexx series - the original movies, not their child series that has been recently run.
Those things you're doing with that stuff you just bought? That's not what it's for! -
here I just assumed that there was a typo and the x was missing, as in 0x2008, or, the year 8200 in decimal, fits with the typical sci-fi future thing.
But Will It Blend?
Those things you're doing with that stuff you just bought? That's not what it's for! -
Isn't it a bit presumptuous to think the human race will still exist in the year 100000?
it doesn't have to be obvious, but it can at least be funny.
You don't have to find it funny, but you can at least realise it's not serious
Oh and it's at +5 Funny, the invisible hand of moderation has spoken, or rather, laughed.
You just got troll'd!
A sarcasm detector, that's a real useful invention.
The butler did it. There, I said it.
"Good news, everyone!"
I hope this catches on so I finally can say I have a 6 digit salary ($000,460).
If you want a 6 figure salary THAT bad (or close), ask for a raise. A few cents would do it.
You just got troll'd!
What did it for me was 20 hours in various airports over the course of a week and a half. Having spent the money I trudged through it, and started to like it about 2/3's of the way through. AFter that "The confusion" and "System of the world" were bonus.
After trudging through the first 200 pages that practically dared the reader to continue, I gave up on it.
The first half of Quicksilver is something of a slog. Not Stephenson's finest work. However from the second half onward it gets MUCH better. The Baroque Cycle is overall well done (if overly long) and I quite enjoyed it but the series takes a while to get going.
Do you always feel this neurotic need to control what other people talk about? You must be lots of fun at parties. "No, I wasn't talking about The Hobbit, I was talking about The Lord of the Rings! Stop introducing your own thoughts and respond only to mine! You can make a joke, but only if it's a direct continuation of mine and makes exactly the same point (whatever it was)!"
Bruce Sterling (coined the term "cyberpunk" for associate William Gibson's SF style that he imitated) promoted the Millennium Clock (Clock of the Long Now, from the Long Now Foundation) on his "eco-future design revolution" Viridian movement mailing list. We discussed it at length, but everyone missed the point.
The #1 design problem in a Millennium Clock is how to be sure that people 10,000 years from now (and along the way) will be able to "read" the clock, make sense of the clock's striking. Knowing that it's a "clock", knowing that it struck before at regular intervals, that it will strike again. "How to tell the time?" is a problem more for the uncontrolled people the clock is designed to signal, than it is for a clock that can at least theoretically be controlled from its beginnings across millennia.
Mechanical failures or 100% success is irrelevant if people as far in the future from now as we are from shortly after the end of the last Ice Age, twice as distant as the people whose ancient Egyptian and Sumerian writing is decipherable only by the most learned experts, can't recognize the clock enough that they know it's marking time.
So I proposed that we concentrate on that problem. After all, we've already got a giant, maintenance free, frictionless and durable clockwork flying around the sky every day. The Sun, Moon, Earth, planets and stars are all marking time every day. Their alignments at each year, century and millennium are evident to everyone on Earth, distinctive, and already "built". What we need to do to ensure our descendants can read any clock through the next 10,000 years is exactly the same task for inventing a mechanical clock we build and encode with time symbols, and for discovering how to use the existing "clock" (that humans have already used as timekeeper for our whole history).
Maybe we should indeed build some monuments pointing at the "clock". Maybe to indulge our current fetish for precision matter engineering in the service of information manipulation, we sould build precise models of the sky at each time the clock strikes. Maybe we should spread thousands of Volkswagen sized synthetic diamonds, into which glowing radioactive doped renderings of the sky at each "gong" are obvious to everyone. Perhaps with a "Rosetta Stone" embedded inside, showing how we presently represent those times at those gongs (eg. "00:00 January 1, 2000 AD") also embedded in there, the privilege of the builders. Perhaps we should launch satellites (redundant - 10,000 years is a long time, even in the near-vacuum of orbit), powered by solar panels, that laser down to some such markers, burning away debris that might cover them, but passing through the readable, transparent monument. Perhaps we should carve the sequence of images into a circle on the face of the Moon, so anyone can glance up and compare the century/millennia arrangements in the Lunar pictures to the sky framing it.
But building a clock that can be stolen, lost or broken, and which could easily become an unreadable enigma even if still available and moving in 10,000 years, is a distraction. In fact, our obsession with building that clock, rather than learning how to communicate with our distant descendants, shows just how important such a project is to its real goal: changing our naive approaches to longterm thinking. The failure of Version 1 of this Millennium Clock is a perfect expression of why we need to learn to devise a clock that succeeds.
We missed the 2000 AD launch of a clock that people will recognize striking in 12,000 AD (or whatever they call it then). Lucky for us, we have 992 years to figure out how to do it right before the next deadline for what could become its first consecutive strike, that 10 millennia hence people will still know was a "clock" that started "now".
--
make install -not war
In Star Trek they knew about the Christian calendar, and it used it in reference to the past, but I never heard them say "It's the year 2378" (or whatever), unless maybe they were talking to someone from the latter half of the 20th century.
http://alternatives.rzero.com/
That doesn't sort chronologically, so no it's not correct. The correct ISO 8601 format is 2008-09-09. Which would be big-endian, but I think that's an incorrect use of the term.
Win a signed Stephen Carpenter ESP Guitar from the Deftones: http://def-tag.com/?r=0008781
You talk about The Lord of the Rings at parties?? When's the last time someone invited you to one?
You just got troll'd!
IMO discussion boards aren't a good means of conveying sarcasm. It is often expressed in tone of voice, or facial expression, etc.
Maybe the anonymous coward has asperger's or something, maybe he's unable to pick up on it.
But yeah, the parent posts were clearly sarcastic. And this post is not, btw. :)
Does this mean it will suck half as bad or twice as bad as Snow Crash and the Baroque Cycle? Or will the degree of suckage be determined by a formula based on a sequence of primes that can only be fully understood by an improbably hot woman?
I quite liked it (but I like almost everything else by Stephenson, though I couldn't abide Quicksilver). Yes, the book is long, in that it has nearly 1000 pages (probably over, if you include the glossary and a handful of math proofs / dialogs at the end). But it didn't _feel_ long to me. You only even get a hint at what the plot is, maybe 200 pages in. Everything up until then was basically world exposition and character development. But again, it didn't feel slow-paced to me (like Quicksilver did).
It does, however, include some similar ideas as Snow Crash, with one group of people arguing that symbols have inherent meaning, and another group arguing that symbols are only given meaning by context. If you don't like meandering thoughts and discussions, then you probably wouldn't like Anathem (or anything else by Stephenson for that matter).
TZ
Stephenson's detractors are just pissy because Stephenson stops right after the climax and doesn't bother with a denouement. They're like women who complain that the guy just leaves them after he's gotten his rocks off, and doesn't stick around to cuddle so they can pick the pimples on his ass while he's dozing.
I write sci-fi for metalheads
I just finished reading the 900-or-so pages of my "advanced reader's copy."
There's definitely a clear end. It might be nice to have a bit more denouement, but it's not like some of his other books. It's a reasonably satisfying ending.
They did occasionally refer to the present as the Xth century, though.
Which actually doesn't make that much sense if you think about it, since why would two Klingons use a human calendar when speaking to each other? The elegant solution to this problem, of course, is not to think about it too much.
I don't see what the isssue is here.
"Little is much when little you need."
I said it above... I just finished the review copy.
I think there's a pretty decent finish. Depending on how you count it, maybe 40-50 pages worth. I won't spoil the ending to say much more, but I doubt it was written in 24 hours and it wraps up a number of questions.
If that many people didn't get 'it'
How many was that exactly? I got it.
"Little is much when little you need."
lol, nope, I had no idea
I seem to remember a good sig on the subject. Think '~'
"Little is much when little you need."
Or you can ask your mom for a dollar fifty a day for a bag of Doritos and a can of Mountain Dew.
We will be LONG GONE by the year 10000.
What makes you think we will make it off this rock. Havent you realized that evolution and competition, so embedded in our the flavor of Life that goes here on earth, will not let us survive under restricted resources?
We have no future. Except, perhaps, getting off this rock (the dreaded tech. "singularity") and/or evolving (maybe one needs the other?).
So.... no need to make much fuss bout whats gonna happen in 8 milleniums: we will either be dead or otherwise not here.
NO SIG
The saddest thing is that you actually said "just like we already put a bunch of zeros for years before the year 1000" in the middle of your post. I guess not reading isn't just for articles anymore.
Rob
Is that a threat :)
Which actually doesn't make that much sense if you think about it, since why would two Klingons use a human calendar when speaking to each other? The elegant solution to this problem, of course, is not to think about it too much.
It does considering Worf was brought up by humans.
I've restrained myself from correcting Star Trek factual errors on here for years and this is what baits me out? Sheesh...
Bullish Machine Tzar
Donaldson? The man who snorts the uncut Thesaurus most would have to be Gene Wolfe.
I've read Donaldson, but not Gene Wolfe.
I write sci-fi for metalheads
It picks up at the end and does have a nice denouement. I agree that the first hundred or so pages is a bit slow, but I think that's intentional.
My only complaint would involve a spoiler. Let's just say that it's hard to get into some of the minor characters -- they're not as fleshed out as I'd like. But what would that take, another hundred pages?
My guess is it started as a stupid bar-bet kind of discussion: "how would you get the gold out of the middle of a rock? Heat the stone, and melt the gold!" And Neal replied, "Hey, I bet I can write a story where that's the ending."
Later, he was reading Ross Anderson's page and came across his Van Eck stuff and said, "hey, I just figured out a clever way to defeat this. I bet I can add this to my story!"
Finally, he was reading Schneier's Cryptogram, and discovered the Solitaire cryptosystem. The light came on, and he said "I know exactly where to put this in my story!"
So now he's got three tricks, which he calls a "plot". He throws in a handful of random historical Nazis, some computer geeks, a beautiful girl, a GPS unit, and then starts writing. When he gets to page 915, he stops writing and calls his publisher.
Did I miss anything?
John
Don LaFuckingFontaine to read the voiceover.
you had me at #!
Neal Stephenson and his work generally leaves me cold. Not my favorite. However there is a new David Weber novel called By Schism Rent Asunder just out today which is the second of a series and involves a space faring Humanity that is beat down by an advanced race bent on exterminating man and now exists only as one hidden colony of religiously run anti-technology folks. One person's mind wakes up hundreds of years later in a robotic/computer mind and body and is left with the task of 'becoming Merlin' and bringing the factions back up from a pretechnology mindset. The first book brought massive sailing ship battles and a fine Machiavellian story, I've no idea where the second book goes, just picked it up today. I have a couple Neal books but they just aren't real page turners, in my opinion that is.
Enjoy your Karma, after all you earned it. Feel your Karma Joe, feel it burn.
Actually, it would probably be "Y"
(Damnit, that's "Yↂ" but the ROMAN NUMERAL TEN THOUSAND is not showing up for me in preview! Here's hoping it does in the final page...)
Why doesn't the gene pool have a life guard?
I read an advance copy of Anathem last weekend. I can say that it's one of Stephenson's best novels to date.
CfkRAp1041vYQVbFY1aIwA== RV/hBCLKKcSTP5UFK3kqsg==
Shit does that mean I need to count 01, 02, 03? Or is it 001, 002, 003? Or maybe. Well shit, how high do these number thingies go anyways? How many leading zeros would that be?
I've got two responses to this. 1. I'm sarcastic, heavily so. It causes unfortunate public situations, I deal with it. Some folks don't get it AND may feel insulted. Here's a question, did you watch tv as a kid? 2. the excersize is simple, plan out further in the future. I think it's basically, a method for visualizing how we came to the y2k bug. Essentially, we reverted to our grandparents' style of writing the year. We weren't supposed to, but computers came along and caught us being lazy with our math. I don't know, but after a little contemplation - it fits quite well. I've been introduced prior to reading this. It's really just the thought of long term planning rather than short term. They want to build a clock that will put things in a longer period of concept. Visually this is a fantastic thing that they want to build. The idea that the hands will move in time frames too large for the naked eye, is an astounding thought. As far as computers go, they intend on building a device that offers itself as a secondary system for keeping math with computers.
Under the influence of Post-Cyberpunk Gonzo Journalism
i got it, but im not agitated either way
Under the influence of Post-Cyberpunk Gonzo Journalism
What is this Start Rek you speak of?? We have the the Doctor....
"Never underestimate the power of very stupid people in large groups" seen on someone's blog...
That's why I prefix my salary with 5 zeroes on my resume.
Build a man a fire, he's warm for one night. Set him on fire, and he's warm for the rest of his life.
You must be new here
Thats what the <sarcasm>... </sarcasm > tags are used for!
Automation - The Car Company Tycoon Game
Yes, I know Worf was raised by humans, and no, it still doesn't make sense in context.
Worf was pretending that he was the captain of the Enterprise to convince the captain of the Klingon ship, who had been in stasis for 70 years, that the war was over (and presumably that the Klingons had won). So it would have made sense to refer to the date in Klingon terms, which would have been the year of Kahless or something. A Klingon who had been at war with the Federation his entire life would presumably have no idea, much less care, what century humans considered it to be.
Just sayin'.
We've been here for a few million years, why should we be gone in 8,000?
You just got troll'd!
I've always found that you either like a writer's style or you don't, and the subject is almost irrelevant. If I've read and genuinely enjoyed one book by an author, it's extremely unusual for me to really dislike or struggle with any of their other ones.
It's only with something like an Agatha Christie book that the plot has to be perfect for me to want to read it, as you wouldn't read her for her style alone.
To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it
Ii>Currently we only think of 4 digit years, but the guy thinks out the box and has foreseen that one day, sooner or later, probably in a few millenniums, we will have 5 digit years, and that then just like we already put a bunch of zeros for years before the year 1000 we will one day put zeros for years before the year 10000!
No, it's just arrogant, not visionary, and what's more it's fourth-grader "out-of-the-box" thinking. Our current calendar is less than 2000 years old and is based on a date of religious significance. It is culturally arrogant to think that there will not be some other ascendant religion or religious date, or that our political order will not be superceded by some super-dictator with a penchant for re-doing the date thing.
Remember, no one has ever thought THEIR god was going to go out of style.