I finally finished Seveneves last night. I’ve been a fan of Neal Stephenson’s writing for years, going all the way back to Snow Crash. Seveneves did not disappoint.
If you’re familiar with Stephenson’s other work then you already know this is a dense, thick book. It’s 850+ pages filled with dizzying details about current and future technology. Stephenson does his homework. He deals with everything from robotics and orbital mechanics to nuclear power and even genetics. All of these complex subjects are seamlessly interwoven with a compelling story.
The book is divided into three parts. It might be better to think of it as a trilogy rather than a single book. Especially when you learn that part three starts with “Five thousand years later.” It’s here that Stephenson’s imagination runs wild and his talent really shines. His vision of the far future is fantastical, but explained so precisely and thoroughly that it is somehow still believable.
This is not a book to be undertaken lightly. It will take a while to finish, even for the fastest readers. But if the idea of an adventure spanning generations with a believable cast of characters and amazing settings sounds intriguing, you can’t go wrong with Seveneves.