[Negative1]

As a huge fan of Neal Stephenson I found Seveneves to be one of his worst books. Cryptonomicon, Diamond Age, Snow Crash; some of my favorite books so the length of the book has nothing to do with it. The characters were flat, unbelievable and unlikable. The dialogue was weak and awkward. The scenario felt contrived and uninspired (the moon blew up, earth had to evacuate; yep, Cowboy Bebop already set a high bar for this story).

I listened to this one in the car (10+ hours for books a week thanks to my drive). Maybe it was a rough week but I had to stop halfway through because it completely lost me. Maybe it gets better but having read the spoilers I really can't imagine how.

But hey, your mileage may vary.

[jsolson]

With you on this one -- I've got all of his major works in first editions -- Seveneves is the only one I actively disliked. It's probably the only one I'll never read again. Beyond being intensely depressing (near future enough that everyone you know and love dies on the page... horribly), the plot felt about as strongly held together as an average episode of network television, and the characters managed to be both boring and unlikable.

[Sophistifunk]

Agreed. To me, it felt like three good books squashed awkwardly into one with jarring leaps forward in time, and entire viewpoints cut out. I also found the third act entirely unsatisfying.

[lttlrck]

I really struggled with it. Over a year I’ve been stalled at the start of the third act.

Hearing that others had similar experiences motivates me to give his other novels a chance.