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Reamde: A Novel Paperback – May 15, 2012
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“Stephenson has a once-in-a-generation gift: he makes complex ideas clear, and he makes them funny, heartbreaking, and thrilling.”
—Time
The #1 New York Times bestselling author of Anathem, Neal Stephenson is continually rocking the literary world with his brazen and brilliant fictional creations—whether he’s reimagining the past (The Baroque Cycle), inventing the future (Snow Crash), or both (Cryptonomicon). With Reamde, this visionary author whose mind-stretching fiction has been enthusiastically compared to the work of Thomas Pynchon, Don DeLillo, Kurt Vonnegut, and David Foster Wallace—not to mention William Gibson and Michael Crichton—once again blazes new ground with a high-stakes thriller that will enthrall his loyal audience, science and science fiction, and espionage fiction fans equally. The breathtaking tale of a wealthy tech entrepreneur caught in the very real crossfire of his own online fantasy war game, Reamde is a new high—and a new world—for the remarkable Neal Stephenson.
- Print length1056 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherWilliam Morrow Paperbacks
- Publication dateMay 15, 2012
- Dimensions1.82 x 5.38 x 7.8 inches
- ISBN-100062191497
- ISBN-13978-0062191496
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Editorial Reviews
Review
“Stephenson’s REAMDE: perfectly executed, mammoth, ambitious technothriller...a triumph, all 980 pages of it.” — Cory Doctorow, boingboing.com
“Noir futurist Stephenson returns to cyberia with this fast-moving though sprawling techno-thriller...Who’ll prevail? We don’t know till the very end, thanks to Stephenson’s knife-sharp skills as a storyteller. An intriguing yarn―most geeky, and full of statisfying mayhem.” — Kirkus Reviews (starred review) on REAMDE
“Stephenson...delivers a sprawling thriller that shows him in complete control of his story.” — Publishers Weekly on REAMDE
“In less masterful hands, this pile-up of implausible coincidences, madcap romance, technological mayhem and nail-biting suspense might have been a train wreck, but Stephenson pulls it off. REAMDE has one of the most satisfyingly over-the-top endings of anything I’ve read in years. ” — Washington Post Book World
“Nobody else writes like Stephenson” — Press Association (England) on REAMDE
“Neal Stephenson has guts, a killer story, and―for the first time since Cryptonomicon―a thriller I can thoroughly recommend to any reader....With REAMDE we have a very smart page-turner―a global chess game expertly played.” — Mental_Floss on REAMDE
“REAMDE is...one big, carefully choreographed, jet-set square-dance of mayhem.” — Bloomberg News
“Sometimes when you’re reading Neal Stephenson, he doesn’t just seem like one of the best novelists writing in English right now; he seems like the only one.” — Lev Grossman, Time magazine
“There’s an intellectual pill buried deep in Mr. Stephenson’s narrative candy, one powerful enough that he deserves to be classified as a major national and international resource.” — Wall Street Journal on REAMDE
“[Stephenson] makes reading so much fun it feels like a deadly sin.” — International Herald Tribune on REAMDE
“Reamde is an entertainment, an enormous, giddily complex one. There’s no telling what Stephenson might be planning for his next novel, but now’s the time to dive into a first-rate intellectual thriller without fear of being overwhelmed by its virtuosity.” — San Francisco Chronicle on REAMDE
“Expertly crafted and often gorgeously written.” — Boston Globe on REAMDE
“Even at a thousand pages, Reamde is sprightly enough to jump between 9 or 10 plot threads without getting tangled up in itself.…[A]n addicitve reading experience. You don’t so much read the book as tear whole hundred-page chunk out of it with your eyes.” — Stranger magazine on REAMDE
“It’s hard to sum up a 1,000 page tome in a short review, so if you don’t feel like reading this rather long one, I’ll boil it down to three words: I loved it.” — Tor.com on REAMDE
“After a decade of novels set in 18th century Europe and in alternate universes, Neal Stephenson triumphantly returns as a bestselling author to contemporary America.” — www.fantasyliterature.com
“Stephenson, best-known for his genre-hopping novels, tackles tech-terrorism in Reamde.” — OakPark.Patch.com
“A story that, despite its gargantuan heft, speeds along like a bullet train....The depth of the story, the attention to detail, the interlocking narratives and fine characterizations mark REAMDE as an immersive literary experience.” — Pittsburgh Tribune on REAMDE
“REAMDE combines meticulous observation of the stranger socioeconomic effects wrought by technology with rousing fusillades of adventure.” — The Guardian on REAMDE
“Stephenson somehow makes his crazy setup entirely plausible and tons of fun.” — Knoxville News-Sentinel on REAMDE
“[REAMDE] is, without a doubt, one of the smartest, fastest-moving, and most consistently enjoyable novels of the year, a book with the rare distinction of being one this reviewer wishes he had written.” — Irish Examiner on REAMDE
“[A] rip-roaring race through computer hacking and guns, China and North America, virtual reality and terrorism. ” — Sunday Times (London) on REAMDE
From the Back Cover
From the extraordinary Neal Stephenson comes an epic adventure that spans entire worlds, both real and virtual.
The black sheep of an Iowa farming clan, former draft dodger and successful marijuana smuggler Richard Forthrast amassed a small fortune over the years—and then increased it a thousandfold when he created T'Rain. A massive, multibillion-dollar, multiplayer online role-playing game, T'Rain now has millions of obsessed fans from the U.S. to China. But a small group of ingenious Asian hackers has just unleashed Reamde—a virus that encrypts all of a player's electronic files and holds them for ransom—which has unwittingly triggered a war that's creating chaos not only in the virtual universe but in the real one as well. Its repercussions will be felt all around the globe—setting in motion a devastating series of events involving Russian mobsters, computer geeks, secret agents, and Islamic terrorists—with Forthrast standing at ground zero and his loved ones caught in the crossfire.
About the Author
Neal Stephenson is the bestselling author of the novels Reamde, Anathem, The System of the World, The Confusion, Quicksilver, Cryptonomicon, The Diamond Age, Snow Crash, and Zodiac, and the groundbreaking nonfiction work In the Beginning . . . Was the Command Line. He lives in Seattle, Washington.
Product details
- Publisher : William Morrow Paperbacks; Reprint edition (May 15, 2012)
- Language : English
- Paperback : 1056 pages
- ISBN-10 : 0062191497
- ISBN-13 : 978-0062191496
- Item Weight : 1.85 pounds
- Dimensions : 1.82 x 5.38 x 7.8 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #331,660 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #979 in Cyberpunk Science Fiction (Books)
- #6,684 in Thriller & Suspense Action Fiction
- #6,817 in Science Fiction Adventures
- Customer Reviews:
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About the author

Neal Town Stephenson (born October 31, 1959) is an American writer, known for his speculative fiction works, which have been variously categorized science fiction, historical fiction, maximalism, cyberpunk, and postcyberpunk. Stephenson explores areas such as mathematics, cryptography, philosophy, currency, and the history of science. He also writes non-fiction articles about technology in publications such as Wired Magazine, and has worked part-time as an advisor for Blue Origin, a company (funded by Jeff Bezos) developing a manned sub-orbital launch system.
Born in Fort Meade, Maryland (home of the NSA and the National Cryptologic Museum) Stephenson came from a family comprising engineers and hard scientists he dubs "propeller heads". His father is a professor of electrical engineering whose father was a physics professor; his mother worked in a biochemistry laboratory, while her father was a biochemistry professor. Stephenson's family moved to Champaign-Urbana, Illinois in 1960 and then to Ames, Iowa in 1966 where he graduated from Ames High School in 1977. Stephenson furthered his studies at Boston University. He first specialized in physics, then switched to geography after he found that it would allow him to spend more time on the university mainframe. He graduated in 1981 with a B.A. in Geography and a minor in physics. Since 1984, Stephenson has lived mostly in the Pacific Northwest and currently resides in Seattle with his family.
Neal Stephenson is the author of the three-volume historical epic "The Baroque Cycle" (Quicksilver, The Confusion, and The System of the World) and the novels Cryptonomicon, The Diamond Age, Snow Crash, and Zodiac. He lives in Seattle, Washington.
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Reamde by Neal Stephenson
I give "Reamde" about a hundred stars and ten thumbs up--i.e. I really liked it. But with one caveat: Here's the message I posted to the author's Google+ profile
November 2nd, 2011
Dear Mr. Stephenson:
My name is Chris Dunn and I live in the suburbs north of NYC. During our 3-4-day power outage, your "Reamde" provided the only pleasure through the cold, TV-less nights. I thank you for this and all your books--I've loved every one.
But I bought the hardcover edition from Amazon and, in case you don't already know, the book stops at page 250, repeats the preceding 32 pages (219-250), and then returns to page 283! By my count, there are 33 pages missing.
I kept on reading, of course, but I felt badly that all the unfamiliar stuff that followed was a reminder that I'd missed 33 pages. I Googled this subject and I saw many postings referring to an 'incomplete e-reader edition' but no one else mentioned the hard copy.
It must be frustrating to present this great, 1000+-page adventure--only to have the publishing gremlins mar the event with this customer service snafu. But don't worry--1000 pages from you (give or take thirty) is worth 10,000 from a lesser author.
'Nuf Said,
Chris Dunn
I have not heard back, but I didn't really expect to.
One of my top ten favorite authors, Neal Stephenson, is one of those tricky types of authors--one thinks one is being disappointed by each successive publication, until one sees that the newness is a good thing. This awareness comes slowly to me. (Never was another so snap-judgmental.) In the case of "Zodiac" (1988) I'd read the entire book, grumbling to myself that it wasn't as hi-tech as "Snow Crash" (1992). I had just finished "Snow Crash" and was wild to find something else by the same author and so was reading "Zodiac"--a previous book that had slipped under my radar.
After I'd finished the book, barely understanding the story, some of the things I'd read began to come back to me. The protagonist's rant against Chlorine, in any and every industrial form, it's dangers as a gas, as a liquid in the ground water, and it's use in laundering and cleaning products--this bit of "Zodiac" I still hear in my mind every time the word (or should I say element) arises.
Also, a part of the book is a digression on the inflatable dingy--the modern day equivalent of a row-boat, but you could never squeeze a row-boat into a hiker's backpack and schlep it around single-handedly. I'm still not too sure what the plot was, though. This was the beginning of my tradition of reading all Neal Stephenson books twice--once to enjoy it, and a second time to understand it!
And then came "The Diamond Age: or A Young Lady's Illustrated Primer" (1995). I was back in the future with Stephenson again--and no one makes the future so attractive--and the story was about a waif who accidently gains access to a digital nanny, an I-Pad of sorts that teaches the little girl about etiquette, education, and more in an AI program that is meant to help rear a young lady of privilege. It was a signal book for me--when I regretfully read the last page I felt that this book was one of the best I'd ever read. I immediately re-read it--I have read this one four times as of this writing.
Then "Cryptonomicon" (1999) felt disappointing again, at first. It wasn't set in the far future, it was speculating on possibilities only a decade or so ahead, maybe even possible right then. But then the story became a sort of history lesson about mathematics, logic, cryptography, code-breaking (and how that complex but repetitive activity begat the nascent digital machines of WWII) and early electronic computers. It was fascinatingly difficult reading--but it's like I always say--if it's hard to understand, just think of how difficult it must have been to write! Authors such as Stephenson are the rebuttal to the Evelyn Wood Speed-Reading Technique--in his books, the speed limit is set by the comprehensibility of the words, not the speed with which one can scan the page. And, ask any Sci-Fi reader, a novel that doesn't challenge ones pre-conceptions and generalizations is just a Space Opera.
Then (drum roll please) "The Baroque Cycle" (2003-2004) was published and I sat down, thinking I'd really got the hang of this, and I find myself reading a story set in the 16th century! Do you know, I read the first 200 or more pages of "Quicksilver" (Vol. I - 2003) before I realized that there would be no electronics or time travel or space travel or aliens--nothing! But as I got further into the book, I realized that even when writing historical fiction, Stephenson is writing Sci-Fi. As I finished that book and the subsequent ones, I grew fonder of the author's universe than my reality (the reason I love a really good book). And, perhaps more than ever before, my heart broke when the last page of "The System of the World" (Vol. III - 2004) was read and the cover closed on a beautiful vision of that part of history.
I've already reviewed "Anathem" (2008) for Amazon
see: [...] so I will only add that, as ever, I was lost and a little ticked off as I began the book and, once again, found that sticking with it was richly rewarded.
So, now, I'm finally reading "Reamde" (2011). I haven't even finished it yet--which is lucky for you--I'm often guilty of being a spoiler--if I get excited telling about a book I read, I'm pitiful. But I'm nearing the end and I don't need to finish reading it to tell you it is of the same quality of all its predecessors--set in China, the Pacific Northwest, and an Internet virtual MPG world with specie translatable into actual money in the real world, this is a sprawling story of tomorrow (and a lot of today). When reading Sci-Fi, I'm often seized by an urgency to learn more about the world, about astronomy, and about science and computers--about the whole universe around me. Stephenson inflicts the sharpest of such rebukes, not only by writing of so many new, fascinating things and ideas, but also by having his protagonists always win the day simply by being well-informed, `polyglot'-tal, or just plain expert in their field.
To all of us with financial fears nowadays, a hero whose power is derived from intelligence and education is an uplifting character. Wealthy characters in Stephenson's books are always on the look-out for the real valuable people, creative and capable, professional and professorial.
So I recommend "Reamde" to all my fellow geeks and space-cadets--another great Stephenson-world awaits.
Books by Neal Stephenson:
The Big U (1984)
Zodiac (1988)
Snow Crash (1992)
The Diamond Age: or A Young Lady's Illustrated Primer (1995)
Cryptonomicon (1999)
Quicksilver (2003), volume I:The Baroque Cycle
The Confusion (2004), volume II:The Baroque Cycle
The System of the World (2004), volume III:The Baroque Cycle
Anathem (2008)
The Mongoliad (2010-) [avail 4 pre-ord]
Reamde (2011)
===
Interface (1994) with J. Frederick George, as "Stephen Bury"
The Cobweb (1996) with J. Frederick George, as "Stephen Bury"
The book moves slowly at first, mostly revolving around Richard and his past, and delving deeply into the mechanics, history, and construction of the fictional game at the heart of the story, T'Rain. It's intriguing material, and to call it a page-turner is to undersell this book. Unfortunately, the beginnings may turn off some readers, as Reamde is what seems like several different genres mixed, and the first chapters are very much about video gaming and business acumen. Those who stick with it though are rewarded as events take a turn, and the story picks up dramatically.
It's been said that some stories "can't be made up", but Reamde is proof that some of them can. The smallest and seemingly innocuous plot threads end up being central to the story. For example, Zula's boyfriend, Peter, borrows a USB drive from her uncle Richard, which is unknowingly infected with the Reamde virus. Peter's use of it during a questionable business transaction causes the buyer's files to be encrypted--including the ones Peter just sold him--and being held for ransom. The buyer is understandably upset, showing up at Peter's home for an explanation. Things quickly grow more complicated, as the creator of the virus is requiring payment in the game T'Rain, which can then be extracted for real profit anonymously. As attempts are made to pay the ransom within the game, the buyer's boss arrives, demanding explanations, not liking what he's hearing. He decides to take a more direct approach, and flies everyone to China--Zula included--to find the virus creator and extract some vengeance. Things go off the rails, and Peter and Zula's lives are threatened at every turn.
And that's just the beginning.
Reamde hosts a cast of characters that's almost obnoxiously vast, and yet the author does an excellent job of making them not only believable, but memorable as well. Where many books might introduce a character, only to have them forgotten by the next page turn, Stephenson breaths life into each voice, and gives them their very own purpose in the story--from Richard and Zula, all the way down to the woman who offers her services in navigating them around in China. The lives of each of these characters is so true-to-life, it's hard to imagine that they're fictional characters at all. Their actions, opinions, mannerisms, and even accents all match perfectly their history, so that they're practically four-dimensional; it's rare that an author can make characters so believable, that the reader could actually imagine them stepping off the page, and holding a conversation with them.
Spanning over a thousand pages, Reamde is no book for the casual reader. In a way, it's almost too long, and does have sections that drag by--kind of like a long movie with slow scenes. Yet it's still a page-turner, even in the slower chapters--a tribute to the skill of the author. The story weaves and dodges, and as the characters split up, their stories aren't yet over, as they impressively and--most importantly--believably collide into a climax that's both suspenseful, and cathartic.
There's not much to complain about in this book. Yes it's long, and sometimes feels a little repetitive, but Neil Stephenson should be commended for penning a tremendously entertaining novel (and he has been). There are a couple plot threads that seem to be left aside, but aren't particularly important to the outcome of events in the book. Perhaps the only disappointment would be that there's not much of an epilogue. We're shown where the characters end up, but not much more. After spending a thousand pages with this cast, caring whether they lived or died, fell in love, or not, readers are left with a very brief glimpse of life after the pages run out. It would have been nice for a little bit more.
Top reviews from other countries
Reamde is a virus that takes computers hostage, linked to a massive multiplayer online game called T'rain, which was created as a way of using the virtual coinage inside the game for far more than simply buying a new sword. We follow various characters as we trace the source of the virus and things turn deadly in the virtual and real world.
This is a long book and it took me a while to read, mainly because I never really got into it. I struggled a bit with the large number of points of view; I found this tedious and there didn’t seem to be any main character. We switch around from person to person, in game and out of game and it’s a lot to keep up with, this isn't my favourite style of writing. I was also a bit confused with all the different gun references and level of detail, maybe this is because I am British and have no interest in guns but there was an unhealthy level of gun excitement I thought.
I think that if you are interested in computer gaming, the parts of the story that revolve around the game are brilliant and it’s a bit different that the virus results in an organised crime gang trying to track down its creator. I was a bit disappointed that there wasn’t more action in T’Rain in the book as I enjoy the game play element and virtual worlds. I did have to suspend my disbelief as various characters ended up in unlikely situations again and again and survived against the odds and as all the main characters managed to converge in one place for the final action but I guess it’s just a bit of creative licence.
Overall, a good plot but with an over complicated number of characters and about 400 pages more than there needed to be.
Z.B. (Spoiler Alert für diesen Absatz): Ein Einsatzkommando beauftragt von russischen Mafia-Leuten, um einen Hacker zu fangen, platzt irrtümlich in das Hauptquartier einer Terrorzelle; die Terrorzelle radiert daraufhin alle bis auf einen (den Kommando-Chef natürlich, der eigentlich moralisch gar nicht mit der russischen Mafia zusammenpasst) aus. Dann kidnappen die Terroristen die weibliche Hauptfigur, karren diese nach Kanada, bis zur amerikanischen Grenze und laufen dann ausgerechnet einem Haufen Waffen-Narren und dem Kommando-Chef in die Arme, der sich wohl in seiner Ehre gekränkt fühlt oder so und daher die weibliche Hauptfigur, die er zuerst für die russische Mafia als Geisel hielt, wieder befreien möchte. Achja eine britische Spionin chinesischer Herkunft, die mit dem Kommando-Chef zufällig zusammentrifft spielt auch noch eine Rolle (wobei die beiden die unvermeidliche Liebesgeschichte einbringen).
Hört sich verwirrend an? Ist es auch ein wenig.
Ein spannendes Lese-Erlebnis ist es durchaus, aber die vielen unwahrscheinlichen Wendungen machen die Geschichte leider irgendwann unglaubwürdig. Bezüglich virtueller Welten gibt es meiner Meinung nach bessere Bücher. Wenn's ein Stephenson sein soll, kann ich Snow Crash empfehlen. Sonst eventuell Ready Player One von Ernest Cline (wenn man 80er/90er Fan ist, ist letzteres ein Muss).














