One would think, after I had read Quicksilver, the precursor to this novel, and felt bored that I wouldn't go and slog into the next 1,000 pager in the series, but somehow I did. I like Stephenson's mix of cerebral and banal in general, so I figured I'd give it another round. This one still felt somewhat boring to me, but I did get into it a wee bit more than I did Quicksilver. I think the characters felt somewhat less thin this time around, and it seemed to help that it stuck more consistently with the main characters mostly throughout. Sorry that this review ain't exactly deep or probing, but there you go.