Stephenson, Stoppard and Scalzi, with a Side of Collins
I contributed two reviews to the San Francisco Chronicle this week. On Friday, I finally got around to covering Neal Stephenson’s “Anathem.” That 900-page book was an uphill battle, let me tell you, and I considered giving up more than once. But I soldiered on and found inspiration once it hit me that Stephenson is to science fiction as Tom Stoppard is to contemporary drama…
In tomorrow’s Chronicle, I contribute a piece to the monthly children’s pages, spotlighting “The Hunger Games” by Suzanne Collins and John Scalzi’s “Zoe’s Tale.” Both are well-constructed page-turners and offer enough narrative meat to please adults.
December 22nd, 2008 at 4:16 pm
I’m circling around Anathem, not sure whether to try it. As a long-time Stephenson fan and the kind of reader who usually says “Bring it on. The longer the better,” I was completely routed by the Baroque Cycle. I made it halfway through The Confusion, then fell by the wayside, blinded by information overload.