Fall, Or Dodge in Hell

English language

ISBN:: 978-0-06-245871-1

(2 reviews)

Fall; or, Dodge in Hell is a 2019 speculative fiction novel by American author Neal Stephenson. The book explores mind-uploading to the Cloud, from the perspective of Richard "Dodge" Forthrast, a character introduced in Stephenson's 2011 Reamde.

2 editions

Stephen reviewed Fall, Or Dodge in Hell by Neal Stephenson

Some nice bits, but too long

3 stars

I'd put off reading Termination Shock and this based on falling out of love with Stephenson's books. However I really liked TS, and the Kindle free sample was about 150 pages so enough to get me hooked.

I would concur with the other reviews that said "this book is far too long, and the end isn't really worth it". I mean, it's Stephenson, his endings are frequently unsatisfyingly short. This reminds me of the Dreaming Void sequence by Peter F Hamilton. This book contains a separate book inside it which unfortunately feels like a terribly slow fantasy story, although at least with some good jokes. Removing at least half of it would improve everything else.

However I really enjoyed the first half. It has some interesting/amusing ideas of what some bits of society would be like a few decades down the road. I could entirely believe an alt-right religion based …

I'd put off reading Termination Shock and this based on falling out of love with Stephenson's books. However I really liked TS, and the Kindle free sample was about 150 pages so enough to get me hooked.

I would concur with the other reviews that said "this book is far too long, and the end isn't really worth it". I mean, it's Stephenson, his endings are frequently unsatisfyingly short. This reminds me of the Dreaming Void sequence by Peter F Hamilton. This book contains a separate book inside it which unfortunately feels like a terribly slow fantasy story, although at least with some good jokes. Removing at least half of it would improve everything else.

However I really enjoyed the first half. It has some interesting/amusing ideas of what some bits of society would be like a few decades down the road. I could entirely believe an alt-right religion based on thinking Jesus' crucufixion was a conspiracy. I would probably read the first half, and the last chapter again. The end wouldn't make much sense, but it didn't for me this time either!

Aaron reviewed Fall; or, Dodge in Hell by Neal Stephenson

Review of 'Fall; or, Dodge in Hell' on 'Goodreads'

2 stars

I think I see what Stephenson is trying to do here, but I just can't.

Like not even.

It's slow, plodding, and introduces new characters so often that it feels like a G.R.R Martin spin off.

The central idea is somewhat interesting, but, look Neal, if you want to write a fantasy book, write a fucking fantasy book, don't tack on some weird contrivance that just confuses everything!

Anyway, I gave up about the 700 page mark, because I realised that having this monstrosity hanging over me was hurting my desire to read anything at all.