Neal Stephenson has been a ‘buy on sight’ author for me since Cryptonomicon. His ability to meld intricate scientific and historic themes into works of literary significance, and keep them accessible to the masses was only proved further with Cryptonomicon’s ‘prequel’, the Baroque Cycle.

With his latest door stopper of a novel, Stephenson has left historical fiction for a tour of the multiple cosmi theory of quantum mechanics, and delved deeper than ever into a fantastically realised world. Such is the depth of the immersion that the book contains a preface to explain things such as that it is not set on Earth. A little over the top for my liking, but if it helps to gain the book a wider readership, then it can’t hurt. Of course, not everyone likes this level of immersion…

His publishers appear to have spared no expense at promoting the book, the trailer above bearing remarkable resemblance to one that would be produced for a major motion picture.

The story itself is set on Arbre. Some 3000 years ago, civilisation was in a golden age, not unlike our own. After a series of catastrophic events, scholars were split from the everyday populace, and secluded themselves in strict communes, only having contact with civilisation for ten days once every year, ten years, 100 or 1000 years, depending on the order. Secure in their studies, civilisations have risen and fallen around them while they maintain knowledge.

The Protagonist and teller of the story is Erasmus, a young scholar in a Decenarian order. (One that only has contact with the outside world once every decade). Stephenson uses the the fact that Erasmus is both student and teacher to hide vasts amounts of info-dump, and the story never bogs down. In places the work refers to calca in the appendices to enable some of the more theoretical maths to be broken out, but even these are easily readable, and the story is no worse off if you miss them out.

Mixing philosophical discussions, the aforementioned maths and physics, and a gripping storyline could not have been easy, but Anathem pulls it off. One of Stephenson’s biggest weaknesses from my point of view is his writing of endings. I have not been fully satisfied with any of his books in this respect – but even here I am pleasantly surprised.

****1/2. A most definitely worthy candidate for a Hugo. A must read. If you can find a copy.