I would add this: You really have to be interested in the history he talks about to bother with the series. I enjoyed it enough to put in the effort, but I can only give it a half-hearted thumbs up.
If you find the history of science and economics interesting, go for it. If not, I'd say that even the good parts aren't enough to make it worthwhile.
And fwiw, you might want to check out Reamde. It gets relatively poor reviews compared to his other books, but I thought it was great. It's less about big ideas and more about just telling a great story. It has the same humor and brilliant writing as his others, just in a very accessible thriller format.
Reamde by Neal Stephenson has significant portions of it in Seattle.
The author lives in Seattle.
Reamde.
Sounds a lot like Neal Stephenson's Reamde novel.
I would add this: You really have to be interested in the history he talks about to bother with the series. I enjoyed it enough to put in the effort, but I can only give it a half-hearted thumbs up.
If you find the history of science and economics interesting, go for it. If not, I'd say that even the good parts aren't enough to make it worthwhile.
And fwiw, you might want to check out Reamde. It gets relatively poor reviews compared to his other books, but I thought it was great. It's less about big ideas and more about just telling a great story. It has the same humor and brilliant writing as his others, just in a very accessible thriller format.
p.s. Reamde IS available in US on Kindle.
http://www.amazon.com/Reamde-A-Novel-ebook/dp/B004XVN0WW/ref=ntt_at_ep_edition_2_1?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2
Sounds like Reamde