What Shall I Do?

Help! I've finished "The Baroque Cycle"! This 3-volume cornucopia of wit, history, swash-buckling adventure and bawdiness by Neal Stephenson was given to me for my Birthday. As you can see, it was also a superior set of special edition, slip-cased and signed by the author books. Not so much bedtime reading, more a piece of furniture. It has been my companion in the mornings and evenings for nearly 3 months, and despite trying to go really slowly towards the end, it is finished! I read the acknowledgements this morning - unwilling to finally close the last lovely volume. What shall I do now? I could go back to "Cryptonomicron" and remind myself of what the descendants of Daniel Waterhouse and his Logic Mill get up to, or I could see what else the wonderful Mr Stephenson has penned. Yes! Not only does he write fabulousy witty and convoluted historically based things, he also writes science fiction and crazy thrillers. I like the sound of "Zodiac" - here's what the blurb says: "Sangamon Taylor’s a New Age Sam Spade who sports a wet suit instead of a trench coat and prefers Jolt from the can to Scotch on the rocks. He knows about chemical sludge the way he knows about evil — all too intimately. And the toxic trail he follows leads to some high and foul places. Before long Taylor's house is bombed, his every move followed, he's adopted by reservation Indians, moves onto the FBI’s most wanted list, makes up with his girlfriend, and plays a starring role in the near-assassination of a presidential candidate. Closing the case with the aid of his burnout roomate, his tofu-eating comrades, three major networks, and a range of unconventional weaponry, Sangamon Taylor pulls off the most startling caper in Boston Harbor since the Tea Party. As he navigates this ecological thriller with hardboiled wit and the biggest outboard motor he can get his hands on, Taylor reveals himself as one of the last of the white-hatted good guys in a very toxic world. "

Sounds like my kinda book. Amazon, here I come.

Comments

[Ardbeg Dashper-Hughes]

So glad you enjoyed the Baroque Cycle. It comprises some of the most engaging, intelligent and entertaining books I have ever had the pleasure of reading. His latest 'Reamde' is apparently wonderful too - it is sitting in the 'to read' pile next to my bed. I have the audio book of 'Zodiac' but haven't started it yet, so I can't tell you what that one is like. 'Anathem' is brilliant, but of course you've already read that one. 'Snow Crash' is an early work and is a genre cyber-punk sci fi novel. It's good, and very witty. Reads a bit like Michael Marshall Smith with more computer know-how, and some very cool ideas about pizza delivery.