NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER!Goodreads Choice Awards Semifinalist!From bestselling author Neal Stephenson and critically acclaimed historical and contemporary commercial novelist Nicole Galland comes a captivating and complex near-future thriller combining history, science, magic, mystery, intrigue, and adventure that questions the very foundations of the modern world.When Melisande Stokes, an … foundations of the modern world.
When Melisande Stokes, an expert in linguistics and languages, accidently meets military intelligence operator Tristan Lyons in a hallway at Harvard University, it is the beginning of a chain of events that will alter their lives and human history itself. The young man from a shadowy government entity approaches Mel, a low-level faculty member, with an incredible offer. The only condition: she must sign a nondisclosure agreement in return for the rather large sum of money.
Tristan needs Mel to translate some very old documents, which, if authentic, are earth-shattering. They prove that magic actually existed and was practiced for centuries. But the arrival of the scientific revolution and the Age of Enlightenment weakened its power and endangered its practitioners. Magic stopped working altogether in 1851, at the time of the Great Exhibition at London’s Crystal Palace—the world’s fair celebrating the rise of industrial technology and commerce. Something about the modern world “jams” the “frequencies” used by magic, and it’s up to Tristan to find out why.
And so the Department of Diachronic Operations—D.O.D.O. —gets cracking on its real mission: to develop a device that can bring magic back, and send Diachronic Operatives back in time to keep it alive . . . and meddle with a little history at the same time. But while Tristan and his expanding operation master the science and build the technology, they overlook the mercurial—and treacherous—nature of the human heart.
Written with the genius, complexity, and innovation that characterize all of Neal Stephenson’s work and steeped with the down-to-earth warmth and humor of Nicole Galland’s storytelling style, this exciting and vividly realized work of science fiction will make you believe in the impossible, and take you to places—and times—beyond imagining.
more
Neal Stephenson is one of my very favorite authors, and this book provides everything I’ve come to expect from him — a fast-moving plot with intriguing characters, and lots to think about after you finish the last page.
Co-written with historical novelist Nicole Galland, this is lighter than Stephenson’s usual fare. If you love Stephenson’s combination of balls-to-the-wall action and information-packed scientific exegesis, you’ll still love this: it has all the action but with fewer infodumps to slow down the story, making for a fast and wildly entertaining read. The plot hinges around witches and time travel. Yes, really, and no, it’s not fantasy. Read it and find out!
I lost interest in the characters about half way through.
I love Neal Stephenson’s imagination. He and Nicole Galland (Who I wasn’t familiar with before) have created a well fleshed out alternate US and the small changes that occur with huge impact in his alternate history left me wondering. Do read this!
Debated between 2 and 3 star s.Book has an original premise with interesting characters and a mix of”hard science” fiction with fantasy. However, it reads more like a series proposal written by a committee than a smoothly integrated collaboration between two authors. There were too many subplots which left me uninterested in following the story line as it developed and totally uninterested in a second book in the series, if one should be published.
One of his best
I loved this book! I was very familiar with Stephenson’s books, but was not yet aware of Nicole Galland’s, but I’d have to say they are an incandescent combination. My two favorite genres, historical fiction and fantasy, have come together in a time travel novel that is a sheer delight from beginning to end. This book is so completely original that I almost don’t know what to say about it, except read it – you’ll be glad you did. It is enormously good fun!
Kept me involved throughout, and surprised me a few times along the way. Good characters, and nice development.
This is vintage Neal Stevenson; not an easy read but makes one think. If you have ever worked for the government (including the military), there are exchanges with acronyms turned to full volume that will make you laugh out loud. It is definitely structured to accommodate a sequel, but I’ll wait a while before jumping on it.
I think that starting the new year with an 800 page book was quite ambitious in retrospect, but overall I enjoyed the book. The book does seem to be more about the bureaucracy of a government organization than magic and time travel, which I was not expecting. Part 1 of the book was a quick read and really drew me in. I struggled to continue with the book once it began repeating the plot with the emergence of strands. The book did pick back up at the end with the plot twist. This is the first Neal Stephenson book i’ve been able to finish. Woohoo! *pat on the back*
I enjoyed this book. I hope there’s more to come
Time travel presented in a way I’ve never seen before. Loved it! Could not to read more each night.
The read was a bit jarring at first, but keep at it. The whole thing is put together nicely at the end.
I thoroughly enjoyed this. Very tongue-in-cheek. Appealed to my need for detail and nerdiness. Tho’ not a big fantasy fan, I like it combined with tech/sci-fi.
I’ll recommend anything written by Stephenson. this was a delight.
Starts out with an interesting time travel scenario and some interesting humorous characters, but then gets bogged down in a story line that is slow to develop.
Enjoyed this book very much. Great characterization of academia and government agencies. Hope there’s a sequel.
A bit too whimsical for its own good and a lot of the period dialogue is not authentic . Nevertheless I remain a huge Neal Stephenson fan
A very original concept with marvelous character development.
A satirical look at government and science with a magical connection. It was funny (laugh out loud) and challenged many old saws about time travel at the same time.