and... we're behind

[fahye]

4423 / 30000 words. 15% done!

Dammit, life, how dare you get in the way of my wordcount!

Actually, this is 50% the fault of Life and 50% the fault of The System of the World, which combines the inconvenient properties of being FIENDISHLY LONG and being IMMENSELY ADDICTIVE. It's hard to concentrate on my own writing when I am racing towards the conclusion of the Baroque Cycle (and the dawning realisation that I will be compelled to reread Cryptonomicon, which also possesses both of the aforementioned qualities).

Ah well. In the brief periods of time when I am NOT fighting the urge to weep at the fact that I will never, ever, ever be as amazing a writer as Neal Stephenson, my Inception fic is nevertheless duly wandering towards completion -- only two scenes to go, now. I might even manage to keep it under the total wordcount of Quickening Days.

Comments

[skygiants]

System of the World remains my favorite Stephenson I have ever read. DANIEL WATERHOUSE!

[fahye.livejournal.com]

Daniel is AMAZING. And I loved that Isaac was such a prominent character in this one, too. Although I don't see why Stephenson hates us romance so much. SERIOUSLY. WOULD ONE TINY REUNION SCENE KILL YOU?

[ristrettoette.livejournal.com]

Should I read, or rather probably listen to the audiobook of the Baroque Cycle? I have tried two or three times to read the first book... and I loved Cryptonomicon, as well, but I just never made it through Quicksilver!

[fahye.livejournal.com]

Frustratingly, Quicksilver is a LOT harder to get through than either of the other two books -- it took me two attempts and a lot of grim forging onwards. The second one has a lot of highly enjoyable hijinks involving spying and piracy and crypography and gold (oh Stephenson, so predictable) and adventures in far-off lands and the crazy politics of the French court. And the third one features Daniel Waterhouse being a BAMF.

Basically: yes, try to fight your way through the first one, because the second two are like rolling around in gorgeous erudite pie. Plus then you can get all giggly about the characters in Cryptonomicon and who they're descended from.

Have you tried Anathem yet?

[ristrettoette.livejournal.com]

No... I think I thought it was part of the same sequence. Ought I to? I will probably pirate get one of them as an audiobook for when I am through listening to Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, since dense things are easier for me to process that way.

[fahye.livejournal.com]

No, it's a very different book! I loved it, I think I babbled about it here (http://fahye.livejournal.com/652094.html).

I'd be terrible at audiobooking dense things (or...anything) because I need to be able to reread paragraphs I like, or flick back to check against things mentioned previously, or tune out for a while and then blink my way back up to the top of the page.