Rating: 
Summary: Feels Like It Was Written Specifically for Me
Review: Three reasons you need to read this book: 1) Rich, fleshed-out characters with distinct motivations and traits - you will admire Goto Dengo as both a Nipponese soldier and as a corporate patriarch; 2) Humor - Stephenson does not pander to Tom Clancy readers with stone-faced patriots and static one-note antagonists, these characters actually screw up and laugh at themselves, while key plot points and twists will have you rolling on the floor; 3) Take-it-or-leave-it primer on the origins and development of modern cryptography - History Channel and National Geographic fans beware, you will be sucked helplessly into the intoxicating vortex of arcana. One more reason if these aren't enough: Join an ever-shrinking clique of people who seek to understand recent world history, preserve its memories, and relate it to the present. You will want to visit every place Stephenson describes, in the hope that you might sense an echo of the atmosphere - 1940s or 1990s - or see one of these characters incarnate. I can still smell the diesel fumes inside the scuttled submarine. I shiver thinking about standing outside in the winter parting out the effects of a dead relative. ***Who will NOT like this book: T-crossers and i-dotters who loathe inventive structure and depth of imagery. You may note, many low-star reviews come from the pocket-protector old-school-IBM I-use-exactly-four-squares-of-toilet-tissue crowd, claiming geekhood as sole qualification to critique a veritable roller coaster of a tale that is about much more than just crypto or WWII.
Rating:
Summary: Stellar Vonnegut-like romp thru events and ideas!
Review: ... This is as clever and as detailed as
it gets in modern fiction! Not since Umberto Eco's
"Name of the Rose" have I found a book that so seamlessly
interlaces concepts both abstract and prosaic, with events historical.
The wealth of detail is "boring" only if you
are, for some reason, unable to enjoy the adventure of exploring
so many tangents of thought opened to the reader by such
a panopoly of ideas. Everything from Randy's wisdom tooth
odyssey to the high finance shenanigans of the fledgling
"datacrypt" company is there for a reason. What other book
has found a way to plot the mathematics of horny single guys
in a such socially reponsible way? Complete with graphs yet!
This is a book that revels in the chaos that is modern life
while methodically linking cause and effect.
Rating: 
Summary: Solid writing, almost always interesting, funny
Review: Good plot, writing and characters. Terribly funny (one of the best I've read in awhile). A bit contrived at points.
Rating:
Summary: Cool but a bit long.
Review: As with all his books, Stephenson shows a vast knowledge of several subjects and the imagination to meld these subjects into an interesting plot. He goes off on several tangents, but there tends to be enough humour and payoff to make each of his books worth the read. 900 pages is a bit long, but an interesting subject.
Rating:
Summary: Awesome
Review: A book featuring cryptography, war, looted treasure, computer hacking, techno-geeks, jungle expeditions...what more could a boy want?
This book is so full of rich detail, humor and even interesting characters that I didn't want it to end. The author must have done an incredible amuont of research. The pace never lags, with multiple story lines and subplots (which unbelievably ultimately tie together).
There are few authors whose books I would immediately read when released without regard to subject matter or reviews. After Cryptonomicon, Neal Stephenson is on that list. I'm waiting for his next one.
Rating:
Summary: Captivating, Thrilling, Historical Accuracy!
Review: While some of the events of history have been altered for the book, it is amazing how much more interesting the PBS (educational station in the USA) special was the following weekend on cryptography and WWII. Not only does this book show a real side to the challenges faced in the past, but also in the future. It is ironic, if not a catalyst, that the book came out and a few months later Seal Island became an island soverenty trying to be a data haven. Our real world, whether predicted, history being told, or present being reviewed, is brought to life in a real way. I've read Snow Crash, The Diamond Age, and he just keeps getting better. Don't think one night's reading will get you through this book, because it won't. But what a mind-altering experience! Wow!
Rating:
Summary: Give this man a cigar. Make that two!
Review: With a current number of 518 reviews, further additions are not really necessary.
Yet, since the self-pitying sourness of the most recent reviews might keep potential readers away from this book, I simply can't help but stand up for the man. A lot of these negative reviews remind me of the initial reviews that Schwarzeneger's/Cameron's Terminator II got, when it appeared in theaters. They went like this. OK, you've got great special effects, you even have got a story line, Arny was perfectly cast, Cameron directed masterfully. But, Shakespeare it is not! SO WHAT!! By combining "Revenge of the Nerds" with "Indiana Jones saves the world with his laptop" Stephenson provides the reader with a 900+ page ride in a theme park. It's simply a lot of fun, especially for those that have been successful in programming their vcr. Is this book perfect? Of course not. To quote the world's most desirable nerd Fabio, when describing his $500K stereo from "Planet Krell": "Only God is perfect". I have no doubt that Stephenson would be able to write the kind of book that would appease many of his detractors. By cutting some of the fluff and expanding in a focused way on codes in the various levels of human communication, this book could have gained some focus. At moments, you get the impression that Neil probed a little into this direction, to later be distracted by a comic book lying on his coffee table. Big Deal. I doubt whether such a more academic approach would have been half as entertaining as this book Fellow Nerds/Geeks, rejoice! We had to wait a while, but to paraphrase Feuerbach: if the Nerds would have a god, it should be Neil Stephenson.
Rating: 
Summary: The book that tried... but failed.
Review: Now, as an avid user of computers, networks, cryptology, and have an enthusiastic interest in technical explorations, I searched bookstores trying to find this book. I had to have it because I read Stephenson's undersea pipe-line article in a Wired issue and was intrigued by his writing. I searched reviews and discovered that Cryptonomicon was favored by many. .... I started reading this book when I was traveling recently and I made it up to around page 300 when I realized, "Wow, this is really boring." Jumping back and forth in time from World War II and the present became slightly confusing as I was trying to remember what happened in a chapter that was in the World War II time and then the next chapter being the present. I was almost willing to write it all down, but I figure it was not that important. Something I noticed in reviews was that it was hilarious. If someone who saw the humor in this, please highlight it, because I either missed it or it wasn't there. I was most interested in the passing back and forth of the encrypted mail between Randy and Avi, but the World War II experiences were *yawn* tiring. I must have fallen asleep at least 20 times in the time of reading this book. I understand that some authors love detail and want to give the most realistic image and Stephenson doesn't hold back. The details are exhaustive and most times, unnecessary. The number of metaphors are virtually endless when nearly everything is related to something. I am amazed at how the characters hair were not mentioned as being related to blades of grass or some other related material/organism. There are, however, many pages of technical detail. Some explaining mathematical functions and explanations of breakfast food (3 pages on how to eat Cap'n Crunch; I know the background fame behind of Cap'n Crunch cereal, but please, it's a breakfast cereal; don't take things so seriously). There is even a 3 or 4 page mathematical explanation of a bicycle chain revolution. What relevancy did this have to the "story?" None. I hate stopping in the middle of something, whether it be a home project, computer report, or a book, so I forced myself to somehow finish it. It was a struggle, believe me. I believe I might have ended up scanning lines and lines of rambling babble. Also, in the end, Bruce Schneier provided a detailed Solitaire algorithm and said he developed it (it meaning either Solitaire or the algorithm, wasn't really clear; however, Bruce, you did not develop Solitaire, we know that much). It seems that this 900+ page feat seemed like Stephenson's chance to make his book stand out (having people think, "Wow, if it's THAT big, it MUST be good!"). Sorry Neal, you are not fooling anyone. If you have a TV or desk on a bad angle, this book is for you. If you love to read every character of the alphabet repeated in useless gibberish, this book is for you. If you want a good story with an actual storyline that doesn't make you fall asleep, this book isn't for you. I ended up taking mine to college and putting it on my desk in my apartment in hopes of a fellow classmate nerd to see it and want it, myself gladly giving it away free of charge. Some books you remember, some you don't. This book will be remembered by its size, not by it's story. Stephenson says he is writing his next book completely in pen. Might want to get a second-job to pay for all those pens, because your sales obviously won't support it.
Rating:
Summary: Technical, Historical and Down Right Interesting
Review: Stephenson has developed a book which tells the early beginnings of the computer, the ins/outs of cryptography, and a character story with adventure. What more could you want?? But beware if technical details make your head spin, because this book is full of them!
Rating:
Summary: I never could stand Cap'n Crunch
Review: Really. Maybe the reason is because I never tried the super-duper Cap'n Crunch munching methodology described in excruciating detail. Frankly, it sounds like too much work. Stephenson's writing is very much about the details. His memorable explanations of all the different situations facing several characters over two different timelines and three different settings allowed me to pick up and set down this book over nine months. At about 100 pages a month, it's difficult to become attached to the characters involved, but I never lost my way in the story. Frankly, not coming to grips with the character is not that big of a problem with this book. Character definition is not Stephenson's best skill, especially [...] the female characters. Nevertheless, most of the story is told from nerd-centric points-of-view, so the portrayals of women as mysterious and objects of desire is maybe not that inappropriate. Still, Stephenson might have done better to develop a female lead. Also, fans of his work are probably familiar with and reconciled to his crashing endings, but new readers could easily be put off with a conclusion that ends as abruptly as an action movie. Issues of sexism, academia, cryptography and military intelligence, and the contemporary global distribution of techno-wealth are covered glibly, but in far greater detail and with much more thought than in just about any other novel, and most of this stuff is handled in a very entertaining fashion. Stephenson only pulls a few cheap shots, so that the final tone for the book is enlightening, sophisticated with a philosophical underpinning that he spells out rather too-clearly at the conclusion. It is hard to recommend Stephenson's book to just anyone. Anybody that has heard good things about him but doesn't like science fiction should check this out. I would also recommend this book to anyone with a passing interest in at least two of the four topics described above. CRYPTONOMICON was fun read, a refreshing well that I could dip into for almost an entire year, and I'm kind of sad that I won't be able to savor it the same way again.
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