Cryptonomicon

Rating:
Summary: One of My Alltime Favorites
Review: Why was this book one of my alltime favorites? A few reasons:

1) Attention to Detail - This is not a light read or one for the faint of heart. It shifts time periods, places and characters at the speed of light. On the other hand, great detail is given to each time period, location and character as they are developed.

2) Great plot - The book weaves together a great plot of intrigue...including murders, mysteries, great adventures and a tangled weave of relationships.

3) Great writing - The writing is superb...as long as you can keep everything straight.

4) Great character/character development - The author does a great job of introducing characters and developing them without spending all of his words telling us what the character is thinking. Development happens in the flow of the story and creates a web of characters who are all related, even across generations and the globe.

5) Geek factor - There is some math and technology in here that may throw off the 'non-geek' reader. However, if you're not a geek, just ignore the math and move on. If you are a geek, get out some paper and play with the equations a little. There's no new ground covered here; it's pretty simple.

My only regret is that there's not a followup...which would probably ruin it anyway. :-)