Anathem - Softcover

"Anyone who has read Stephenson's Baroque Cycle will be familiar with his ingenuity when it comes to mixing science, sociology and satire with swashbuckling adventure, and ANATHEM duly marries extensive dialogues on quantum mechanics and the nature of consciousness to literal cliffhangers, high-tech warfare and general derring-do."--The Examiner (Ireland) on ANATHEM

"[R]iveting idea porn."--Details on ANATHEM

"In Anathem, Stephenson creates a religion for skeptics and nerds."--Austin American-Statesman on ANATHEM

"A sprawling disquisition...[a] logophilic treat for those who like their alternate worlds big, parodic and ironic."--Kirkus Reviews on ANATHEM

"What ever happened to the great novel of ideas? It has morphed into science fiction, and Stephenson is its foremost practitioner. A-"--Time magazine on ANATHEM

"Clever and intricate...truly ingenious...it's brilliance is undeniable."--Locus, Gary K. Wolfe on ANATHEM

"[O]ne of Stephenson's best novels...a captivating blend of culture clash, deductive reasoning and pure action."--Columbus Dispatch on ANATHEM

"He mashes up genres with the flair of Thomas Pynchon and the intellect of William Gibson."--Winnipeg Free Press on ANATHEM

"Anathem duly marries extensive dialogues on quantum mechanics and the nature of consciousness to literal cliffhangers, hi-tech warfare and derring-do."--Leicester Mercury on ANATHEM

"The world Stephenson builds is richly visual, its complicated social politics are convincingly detailed, and its cool and conflicted heroes struggle with thrilling intellectual puzzles while they are tested in epic physical adventures."--Slate, Best of 2008 List, on ANATHEM

Having lived in a monastery since childhood away from the violent upheavals of the outside world, Raz becomes one of a group of formerly cloistered scholars who are appointed by a fear-driven higher power to avert an impending catastrophe. Reprint. A best-selling novel. 200,000 first printing.