Fool's errand to try to summarize an 1200 page book with 1 sentence, but it's kind of like that one chapter from Heinlein's The Moon is a Harsh Mistress where the protagonist gets into the weeds about the 3D Serpinski structure of his conspiracy so as to ensure trustworthiness, but that's the whole book.

Similarly to a Stephen King novel, Stephenson takes you on the ride. He forces the story upon the reader via an opinionated narrator – unlike conventional narration, which seems rather flat or impartial by comparison, you get lore and exposition just from ..."the way things are described" doesn't convey what I'm trying to say. He lays it on thick, the asides are humorous and interesting, the characters seem real (like King's characters), and the concise explanation of how a character got to become how they are when we encounter them is so rich – god I forgot how much I fucking love this (both when King does it in e.g. The Langoliers and also Stephenson when he's sperging out. I can already tell I'm going to love this book

nits:

• weird to call quantum computing "otherworldly" even for a book written in '99

• weird to call software "the best in the world" because it can handle encryption keys of any length. Just an odd detail to elevate, as if its impressive, when it doesn't add any complexity to the algorithm. Maybe cool to discuss infinite stream of symmetric encryption keys, but this was like someone who doesn't know what they're talking about flexing, which Stephenson is not: he does know what he's talking about, so I'm holding him to a higher standard. There have already been cooler, more accurate technicalities that he's gotten correct, so why fudge the inconsequential stuff like a variable length argument list

• Same vein: a hash function does not make its input "more random." Diffusion ≠ randomness, entropy is constrained by the seed, and nothing else

• sort of redundant to call a number you're trying to factor –that you know can be factored– a composite number.

About ~300 pages or or 1/3rd of the way in so far and loving it. Same praise and same critiques as above. The density of the math doesn't jive with the amount of explanation of the jargon. Weird expectation that you'd understand the former but need "funny" analogies to explain the latter.

The characters are so funny though. Stephenson gives life to historical figures in plausible and hilarious ways. Turing being in bed with the guy who becomes his crypto rival, Reagan being a skinwalker when interviewing Shaftoe, and shaftoe being the most thick-headed, perfect Marine. Waterhouse being so deviously horny and finding himself in the zaniest covert operations, risking it all for German tail. I think it might be a painpoint for some readers, but because I'm such a fan of the King-esque style of narration/inner monolouge, the meandering trains of thought of the characters, detailing the mundane for the sake of character development and exposition is really enjoyable.

That being said, not a lot has happened yet 300 pages in, but it's been thoroughly enjoyable nonetheless which I attribute to good writing. Feeling 8.75/10 so far

Cool discussion of Van Eck phreaking ++

Submarine sequence with Shaftoe being all "where are my perkies" is really good combo of treasure hunting, military intel/espionage, combat, and humor

Bout 50% of the way through and I'm not at all bored. Weird because the plot is still relatively shallow as far as complexity goes. Simple story told in a simple way, with intriguing technical complexities, but the book is very accessible.

Tapping in at the 3/4s mark, still solid 8.75.

I was reminded to tap-in by a somewhat hamfisted exposition of Comstock/the NSA by the Pontifex character. Seemed like a break from the usual smooth dialogue, but it's literally the only instance across the 900 pages or so so far that it's happened, so I don't penalize the book on the whole for the necessary exposition.

On the whole, the progression of the book has been steady and tremendously enjoyable. There's not a ton of steep buildup, which I might expect for a novel of this length (rising action soon babe? rising action tn? rising action queen?). But maybe it'll come shortly. There's certainly plenty of plot drama, violence, espionage, fun crypto etc. – more of the same things that I've already given praise for in earlier sections, and it's just as enjoyable, so I'll lock in another 8.75 thus far

Touching ending, but again lacking a twist or climax which is a let down considering the duration of this book. Makes sense given the genre I guess. Very solid all throughout though

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