It only took me three tries to get through this book, compared to seven for Quicksilver, so that's an improvement right there. I found this a fun fast nerdy read (for 950 pages), and with an actual logical ending (yay!) But it does bog down in talky bits quite a lot in the middle, and the conceit of a parallel universe with different names for familiar objects and events feels precious. A decent book but not Stephenson's best.