Thank heavens...I was afraid I was the only one who hated Dodo.

More than any author I love, my history with Stephenson is mixed. Couldn't get past the first chapter of Anathem (though I plan to try again this year). Have tried twice to get through the first book of the Baroque Cycle (it's just a slog...a slog full of great writing, but a slog anyway). Those are huge pieces of Stephenson that are just blanks for me. I didn't finish Dodo, either (a minor piece). But the rest? Gems.

Anathem and The Baroque Cycle both took me two tries as well. The second half of Anathem is an action-adventure book mix of Zodiac and Seveneves, so it gets really engaging. The Baroque Cycle eventually sucked me in because I felt like I really got to know the characters, but it never gets fast-paced.

Interesting, I thought the second half of Anathem wend down hill. The first half reminded me of Hesse's The Glass Bead Game

You aren't alone -- that pretty much parallels my own opinions.

Not to take anything away from his masterpieces such as Snow Crash and The Diamond Age, which I adore beyond measure, but my favorite book is still The Big U. It's simpler than his later works, and he was still learning his craft when he wrote it, but it brings me such undiluted joy that none of that matters.

> Thank heavens...I was afraid I was the only one who hated Dodo.

Couldn't finish it.

I've read everything else he's written and between liked it and _loved_ it... including the nonfiction. Only RAFOD was unfinishable, and _Fall ODIH_ I finished but didn't find worth it.