Stephen reviewed Termination Shock by Neal Stephenson
Calmer Stephenson
5 stars
I enjoy most of Neal's books, with the 10 page asides of scientific theory, the guillotine abrupt endings, and the hilariously messy sex scenes.
This book seems much more mainstream and less Stephenson-like. The book still ends without much hanging around though. In some ways it's a little sad, he's lost a bit what made him fun for me. On the other hand, much better than Reamde and DODO.
The book is set in the near future, with worse climate, and slightly better tech. It was written in 2021 so features the US politics up til then and COVID.
The plot feels a bit like his Interface book of "what if some countries fought over how to fix the climate". It feels surprisingly slow until it isn't.
