Anthem is my favorite Stephenson book, by far. My copy is the only book I own with a broken binding because I've read it too many times. I don't think that one gets enough attention, especially from a world building and technical perspective.
yes, give it a try and try to get past the first few chapters. The first time I read it, the world building almost put me to sleep. Somehow I decided to give it another try on a long flight, and this time I grok'd the world building, and thoroughly enjoyed it all the way through to the end.