Reamde

Conflicted about this one. I came into this only having read [b:Snow Crash 830 Snow Crash Neal Stephenson https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1477624625s/830.jpg 493634] by Neal previously, and a long time ago at that. He has a digressive style of providing oodles of backstory in a convoluted way only to arrive, a few pages later, at the actual point. I think I loved this in the beginning of the book, when we are meeting characters and want to get to know them; it felt like a real understanding of the characters and a unique and fun way of showing who they were and why they do what they do. However, especially at the end it started to bog down the pacing. At a point in a thriller I think I want to just move along and reach a conclusion, but we still get exposition late in the game and it becomes overwhelming. This is despite having so much backstory, the characters still end up following the plot lines in a slightly contrived way, and it isn't clear to me at least why certain pairings or actions are taken except to ensure that everyone is where they needs to be for the book to conclude.That said, the central sequences were brilliant and I enjoyed it mostly because of them. The twists there were great. I wish they had extended through to the end.