Tomislav's Reviews > Fall; or, Dodge in Hell

I think Neal Stephenson must mean something different than the rest of us by the word “novel.” Always, his works are sprawling monstrosities, more akin to several braided novels in one. When it works, it is superlative, and well worth any diversions into side stories or obsessions with details.

The initial setting of “Fall; or, Dodge in Hell” is a familiar one of obsessive/compulsive software game developers, who have become rich as a side-effect of their uncontrollable geekiness. Then enter the profiteers. (view spoiler)[ Story 1 - Through the accident of neglecting to give attention to his advance directives, the unexpected passing of uber-rich Richard Dodge Forthrast instigates a monumental legal fight over the technological preservation of his mind. Along the way, there is a brief visit to Ameristan, an exaggerated right wing substate in the near future American Midwest. Story 2 – Egdod (Dodge) wakes up in a simulated afterlife, not knowing how he got there. As more and more other souls are transferred into his bitworld, he reinvents a way of life for all of them. A painfully slow creation story emerges, interwoven with references to the Christian Garden of Eden, the Greek and Roman Pantheon, and Mesopotamian mythology. Story 3 - His meatworld nemesis dies, is transferred into bitworld, usurps his godlike role, and exiles his allies and bitworld children. Story 4 – A band of characters embarks on a quest across a magical land, where they encounter a nearly endless parade of random magical obstacles. (hide spoiler)] It is several novels’ worth of set-up, whose purpose is apparently merely to enable the final magical quest story. For those of us who were expecting something the stature of Stephenson’s sophisticated “Crytonomicon”, that simplistic story is less interesting than the set-up itself.

Now, I'm well aware that there many readers who do enjoy magical quests. For such a reader, the idea that it is all built over the top of a technological platform mostly unseen by the participants, may be an intriguing one. Although, of course, it has been done before. Within that fantasy trope, I may not be a particularly discriminating judge, hence I am not warning away all readers by use of the lowest rating. But for readers like me, it will be a big disappointment.

With regard to the broader Stephenson canon, we have incidental contemporary representatives of the Waterhouse and Shaftoe families, and a significant appearance of the recurring character Enoch Root. I note the sudden disappearance of Enoch Root, implying that our “real” world could be a simulation created in some more foundational world, as yet unexplained.

I read Neal Stephenson’s latest novel “Fall; or, Dodge in Hell” in kindle format. I have previously read a half dozen of his other novels, and particularly liked Cryptonomicon and Anathem. While “Fall; or, Dodge in Hell” is set in time after Reamde, it is not a direct sequel. I have not read “Reamde.”