Anathem by Neal Stephenson

Anathem by Neal Stephenson

My review

rating: 4 of 5 stars
The society of the world of Arbre is strictly divided.

The mathematicians, scientists and philosophers live cloistered lives of quiet contemplation and study within the walls of monastic concents. Their contact with the saecular world outside the walls is strictly limited to the times of apert where the gates are opened for a brief interval every ten, one hundred and one thousand years. Fraa Erasmus, a young avout at the concent of Saunt Edhaar, suspects that his respected tutor Orolo has discovered something strange orbiting in the skies above Arbre. After Orolo is banished from the concent in the rite of Anathem, Erasmus must endeavour to find out exactly what his tutor had discovered and why it has made the saecular government so nervous.

This is a blockbuster of a novel, quite literally. It has a huge scope and discourses upon mathematics and philosophy in great detail, in much the same way as Stephenson's earlier novel 'Cryptonomicon' examined the science of cryptography. The mores and rituals of the mathic world of the concents are brought to life at a measured pace, and contrasted with the world outside, drawing obvious parallels with the tension between science and religion of our own world.

Some people have criticised the book for introducing a large number of new words for particular concepts or situations. I would say that the language makes sense in context, and is not difficult to follow. One good example is that noted philosophers from the past are honoured with the title of 'Saunt' which is a corruption of the word 'Savant', and is analogous to the way we would use the term 'Saint'. That wasn't too tricky, was it? Most chapters are preceded with a definition of a word, quoting from a mathic dictionary. There is a slightly patronising introductory note to anyone that has not read a science fiction novel of this sort before, but I suspect that this may have been included by a nervous sub-editor.

What may cause more trouble for the average reader are some of the passages dealing with some quite tricky concepts in the mathematics of parallel worlds, communication theory and geometry, but they are usually presented in the form of philosophical dialogues and should be reasonably easy to grasp if you pay attention. If the book has any faults, they are in the middle third which takes the form of an extended journey outside the walls of Saunt Edhaar and show that the saecular world is simply not as intriguing as the unique society of the mathic avout.

Highly recommended.

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