[onosendai]

That's Stephenson in a nutshell: long winded openings and abrupt endings. I haven't read any of his stuff since Cryptonomicon (have them all lined up though) but the single glaring flaw I always found in his books was how rushed the endings were. I don't need all the loose ends neatly tied up, but always got the feeling he was using some sort of lossy compression scheme for the last few pages.

[elliottcarlson]

I think some of his books have had well rounded enough endings (for my tastes at least) - but the long winded openings are my only complaint. If you can make it past page 100, I have always enjoyed the rest of the book.

For those in NYC - he is making an appearance at the Barnes and Nobles in Union Sq. on Friday from 7pm to 8pm. I went last time and it was a pleasure hearing him talk about his methodologies behind his books - hoping this one will be as good.