Rating: 
Summary: Really Good
Review: I found this to be book to be an exciting and sometimes hysterical read. The only problem was that in some places it slowed to a crawl. Cryptonomicon traces families and how they and their decescendents are linked through common bonds. Namely, crptology. One half of the book takes place during WWII, showcasing aspects of the war that I never really thought much about. One of the major character (Lawrence Waterhouse) is in the Navy, working out how to keep the Germans from figuring out that we've broken their codes. His plots are then carried out by Bobby Shaftoe, a marine raider who writes haikus. In the present, the descendents of these characters work at creating a new high-tech company, and are led through a complex maze leading to Nazi gold and secret plots. A great read, if you have the time.
Rating: 
Summary: An amazing book!
Review: This is an extraordinary book. 100 pages in, I found myself regretting it is *only* 900 pages long. It's filled to the brim with puzzles, insights, mathematical formulas, etc. The characters are vividly realized. There are some incredibly funny situations and events, and Stephenson manages to tell two separate stories in two separate times (WWII and Now) which intertwine and bounce off of each-other without being too confusing or difficult. If you work with computers or the Internet, this book points you to THE NEXT BIG THING. Warning: the content could be confusing at times for those unfamiliar with computers or the internet, though even taken as an adventure story, it's great good fun.
Rating:
Summary: Cryptonomicon--A Great Read!
Review: Stephenson has always been a brilliant writer; in Cryptonomicon he handles his most ambitious and serious work to date with aplomb. How do I start? I read Cryptonomicon while I was travelling through Japan and Southeast Asia, and Stephenson has definitely hit the nail on the head in describing the people, the landscapes, and the atmosphere. It would also be easy to write a review focusing on the depth of the technical details, the intricate weaving of history and the present, perhaps even the imposing size of the book itself. However, every potential reader should know that this is a very humorous book. It is one of the funniest novels I've ever read--that rare book that doubles you over in the middle of the night laughing out loud (to the dismay of your partner/roommate/neighbor). Books like these don't come by often, and I say with certainty that this book is worth a 5-star rating. After reading it, I immediately missed it--the heft of it, the breadth of it, and the familiarity of it (again after all, it is 900 pages!). I urge you to give it a try.
Rating:
Summary: Great Summer Fun
Review: This book fantastic, thats the short version. When I first read in the newspaper that Stephenson was writting a historical fiction but as the article revealed some of the guidlines of the plot I became very excitited. Nazi Gold, Data Havens, and World War II all in one, by the time I finished the article I regretted reading it at all because I knew that I would'nt be able to get if for amonth. It's a bit heafty, but well worth it. The most interesting aspect of this book was that if you dont have any previos background in World War II history it can be a little difficult to tell exactly where the fact and the history leaves off.
Rating:
Summary: One of the best books I have ever read
Review: I have read all of Neal Stephenson's books and this is by far his best.
Rating:
Summary: Fan-Freakin-Tastic
Review: Finally, a book that actually enters a new realm. I am so tired of the same plots being revampd over and over. Stephenson writes a book with clearly dilineated plots and characters and most of his techinical discourse should be readable, if not understood, by the non-technical. Speaking as a highly technical person myself, it was refereshing to read a story that was technically accurate. None of this psuedo-"I own a computer so that makes me technically literate" junk that many other writers use to pass for technical-literacy. Stephenson obviously either knows his stuff or found someone who does. Aside from that, the book was a page turner. He did a greate job of keeping the two stories separate, but related, and I never got confused as to which plot was being described at any given time. Definitely gonna check out his other stuff.
Rating: 
Summary: Another overrated mess
Review: Another book with critical acclaim making a great deal of noise and signifying nothing. I'm a computer nerd myself and frankly by about 1/2 way through the book, I stopped caring about any of the characters. When you stop being impressed with Stephenson's wealth of knowledge, you're left feeling like you've been had. The ideas are old sci-fi mixed with every second rate espionage thriller you've seen in the movies over the past four years. I read through it, but frankly....the author tries too hard, and it's too long. The whole thing could have been done in 200 pages. And this is only the first part?! Please, spare us.
Rating:
Summary: Good, but confusing.
Review: If you haven't read any Neal Stephenson, this is not the book to start on. Go read Snow Crash, which is better (and a lot shorter). As for Cryptonomicon...half fantastic novel, half math book. There were times when i though i'd accidentally picked up a textbook instead of a novel. It makes sense to try to explain the mechanics of essential parts of the story, but i think this book could have done without the descriptions of the various cryptographic methods. Some were done well, with explanatory sentences stuck in as we read about someone encrypting a message. But most seemed to be just wedged in to the story to make it more technical. Stephenson probably could have edited a good 500 pages out of this book and made it much more accessible. It's not that the mathmatical parts were too complex, they just weren't very interesting to me. There were also a few things that just didn't make sense. One character dies, and later shows up again. It seems to be the same person (rather than another with the same name), and I didn't see anything that explained this apparent contradiction. If you're a Stephenson fan, then this book is probably worth the time. However, if you're looking for a quick read, this isn't it (900+ pages).
Rating: 
Summary: Great 3/4s of a book!
Review: This is such a long book that I'll keep this short: it is a great book for the first quarter, a good book by the time you hit the halfway point, an interesting book at three quarters, and a terrible dissappointment at the end. Mr Stephenson should get a better editor, because at over 900 pages, this is no way to end a book.
Rating:
Summary: Easily Stephenson's Best
Review: ... This book is easily Stephenson's best. Based on previous works, many people assume it's going to be about SF-ish things, but this isn't. It's partly historical fiction, partly a glimpse into modern hacker culture, and partly a treatise on cryptography. The depths to which Stephenson explores this last part is astounding. He does a wonderful job of describing cryptography in terms a layperson could understand and, around it, he builds a story that's both engaging and entertaining. His characters come alive and are not mere placeholders that serve to move the plot along. Stephenson has really done his homework on this one and it shows. Anyone who has any interest in hacking, in World War II, in cryptography or in action-adventures would love this book. Highly recommended.
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