I'd say Snow Crash to get the flavor of his early work.
Xander: Just once I'd like to run into a cult of bunny worshippers. Anya: Great. Thank you very much for those nightmares.
'Sleeper'
Literary Buffistas 3: Don't Parse the Blurb, Dear.
There's more to life than watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer! No. Really, there is! Honestly! Here's a place for Buffistas to come and discuss what it is they're reading, their favorite authors and poets. "Geez. Crack a book sometime."
Jessica - May 14, 2010 8:09:53 am PDT #11440 of 28344
And then Ortus came and said "It's Ortin' time" and they all Orted off into the sunset
DawnK - May 14, 2010 8:11:15 am PDT #11441 of 28344
giraffe mode
I vote Snow Crash 'cause I loved it tons. Cryptonomicon was good but I liked Snow Crash better. Although if you liked Anathem, you might like Cryptonomicon better. It's win-win frankly. I didn't like The Diamond Age as much but it was the 4th or 5th Stephenson book I'd read in a row and it could have just been fatigue.
Steph L. - May 14, 2010 8:12:03 am PDT #11442 of 28344
this mess was yours / now your mess is mine
Dawn! Did you read Skulduggery yet???
Jessica - May 14, 2010 8:12:50 am PDT #11443 of 28344
And then Ortus came and said "It's Ortin' time" and they all Orted off into the sunset
I didn't like The Diamond Age as much but it was the 4th or 5th Stephenson book I'd read in a row and it could have just been fatigue.
It was probably because The Diamond Age is unbelievably boring.
DawnK - May 14, 2010 8:14:13 am PDT #11444 of 28344
giraffe mode
NO!!!! The youngest has left it in his locker at SCHOOL! I told him if he didn't bring it home today, he was going to be grounded (I was only half kidding - almost 14 year old boys are a trial!). It's killing me. I am rereading Good Omens for the millionth time instead.
P.M. Marc - May 14, 2010 8:15:20 am PDT #11445 of 28344
So come, my friends, be not afraid/We are so lightly here/It is in love that we are made; In love we disappear
It was probably because The Diamond Age is unbelievably boring.
I am the Anti-Jess in this. Diamond Age is my favorite of his works.
DawnK - May 14, 2010 8:15:33 am PDT #11446 of 28344
giraffe mode
It was probably because The Diamond Age is unbelievably boring.
Jess, thanks! I always thought it was me that didn't "get" it.
-t - May 14, 2010 8:18:53 am PDT #11447 of 28344
I am a woman of various inclinations and only some of the time are they to burn everything down in frustration
I love The Diamond Age!
I wouldn't recommend it to anyone, though, because I know my love for it is not shared by many.
It's hard to recommend a follow-up to Anathem at all, since Anathem is just the best thing Stephenson's done. Snow Crash is a good choice. I'd be interested to know how it reads to someone who has read other Stephenson, actually; a big part of my enjoyment of it was how different it was from anything else I'd read up to that point.
Steph L. - May 14, 2010 8:19:42 am PDT #11448 of 28344
this mess was yours / now your mess is mine
NO!!!! The youngest has left it in his locker at SCHOOL!
Truly, you have a demon child. You may want to consider leaving him out of your will.
DawnK - May 14, 2010 8:27:44 am PDT #11449 of 28344
giraffe mode
You may want to consider leaving him out of your will
I told him that I was spending his half of the inheritance on travel when I retire now!