Can you review a book you've just begun?

I don't know, but I'm going to try, because I'm enjoying Anathem so much that I just can't wait any longer to start talking about it.

I've blogged about Neal Stephenson once before, recommending his cult classic Snow Crash in my Cyberpunk Superstars entry. From the moment I started reading Snow Crash, I knew I wanted to find more of Stephenson's stuff; but circumstances  conspired to keep me away from casual reading for awhile. It's taken me until just recently to buy another Neal Stephenson novel.

When I did, I chose Anathem because I'd already read several positive reviews of the book, and I could tell from the plot descriptions that it was right up my alley. The novel is set in a world where secular and sacred are basically reversed: logical thinkers segregate themselves in "concents" and devote their lives to the study of math and science; while the population at large lives in a blissful, superstitious ignorance enhanced by drugs and commercial media.

As the story starts, 18-year-old Fraa Erasmus, who hasn't seen the outside world since he was Collected ten years earlier, is preparing for the opening of the Decade Gate and a brief period of interaction with the outside world. The fraas and suurs of the concent have little idea what to expect from Saecular society since they've been cut off from it for ten years, but centuries of peace have made them complacent. They're curious and wary, but not fearful. On the other hand, Neal Stephenson has dropped plenty of hints about historical "sacks" of the concents, and there's a mysterious new "Warden of Heaven" out there who sends Inquisitors into the concent disguised as tourists. Clearly, Erasmus and his friends are in for some hard times.

All this, of course, really is right up my alley. The beatific, convent-like air of the concent brings back pleasant memories for me; and the description of the "extramuros" world is just barely a parody of the more dumbed-down elements of my own society. Yeah, if you haven't guessed it yet, Stephenson is engaging in some serious social commentary here. But our protagonist is already wondering if there's a way to bridge the two worlds; and my hunch is that by the end of the book, he'll have done just that - maybe founding a new order in the process. I don't think Stephenson is condemning religion in general, just the most irrational, exploitative forms of it. And I don't think he's promoting dry science as the end-all, be-all of life, either. I think he really is trying to find a bridge between these worlds; and if he is, then he and I have a lot in common.

But enough with the intellectual hoo-ha. I don't think too many people will buy Anathem because they're looking for a treatise on modern society. They'll buy it because it sounds like a fun read. And it is. It so is. Stephenson is extremely smart, but he's also extremely snarky. I find something to laugh about on almost every other page. Plus, the characters are such an interesting bunch (especially Lio, who I'm betting will become some kind of hilarious warrior monk in the end; and Cord, who should be a lesbian but apparently is just a really cool tomboy), and the work Stephenson has put into making Arbre a believable world reminds me of Tolkien and Middle-earth. I'm enjoying my chance to stroll around in it - and half anticipating, half dreading, the upheaval that's sure to come.

So there you go: a review of a book nearly 1000 pages long, of which I've read 141 so far. At least you can be sure I haven't spoiled anything for you; I couldn't if I tried. But I do hope I've piqued your interest enough that some of you will check it out for yourselves. As for those of you who have already read it, I'd love to hear from you - just please, don't spoil anything for me!