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The Day the Moon Blew Up

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Re: The Day the Moon Blew Up

#31

Post by j1vms »

360° video interview at the parent link (also works with mobile phone VR headsets - though didn't try it) is surprisingly pleasant, effective and amusing too. For example, when they are in the car, it's nice to be able to look elsewhere if you already get bored staring at the two of them.

The director was a bit quirky I guess: there is even a play sword battle between two anonymous dudes on the side of the road, early on in the video (!)

Edit: Someone did already post about the above.

Re: The Day the Moon Blew Up

#32

Post by p_eter_p »

blisterpeanuts wrote: post #22

I greatly enjoyed some of Stephenson's other works, but I was actually a bit disappointed with Seveneves. The narrative is well crafted, but unfortunately I just got stuck on the whole space ark concept and couldn't suspend disbelief enough to continue. Maybe someone else can explain why it made sense to focus on an orbiting refuge, right in the path of the Moon's fragments, rather than dig a bunch of underground cit…

You might like Hugh Howie's "Wool" series...

Re: The Day the Moon Blew Up

#33

Post by johnloeber »

eric_arrr wrote: post #8

A couple of fun things hidden (or not exactly) in this video: There's no missing a couple of Neal's swordfighting buddies at 1:07. Wondering where the camera stand is? Look for its reflection in the window behind Bill at 1:52. What car did Bill drive to the meet-up? Probably not the Model X. My money is on the Porsche 959 shown at 2:17. (It's also a safe bet that the meet-up actually began at the Burgermaster, since…

It looks like Bill drove that dark-blue Model S that you could see around 0:50. You can tell that it's not a Model X from the interior seat configuration.

Re: The Day the Moon Blew Up

#35

Post by haikuginger »

ef4 wrote: post #17

The first third of Seveneves is a real gut punch. The only other world-ending story that comes close in terms of emotional impact for me was Arthur C. Clarke's "Childhood's End". Stephenson manages to show humanity in all its realistic messiness but still leave you proud -- on balance -- that humans mostly get our act together in a desperate attempt to preserve a seed of life and culture.

For me, it had a touch of "Alas, Babylon" or "Earth Abides".

Re: The Day the Moon Blew Up

#36

Post by wrs »

bryant wrote: post #4

Seveneves is one of my favorites, even though it gets mixed reactions from a lot of others who've read titles like Anathem. I can't compare it to Anathem (the only other Stephenson book I've read so far is Cryptonomicon; looking to change that), but I can say I love the technical depth. Perhaps it's because it helps me suspend disbelief much more easily, though Bill's point that "if you’re the sort of reader who does…

Like all Stephenson, this book is full of ideas that are just...huge. The frustrating thing is the feeling that it should be merely the first book in a long, rich series, like Niven's Known Space. But the guy has so many ideas he just has to crank out this giant book and move on to the next one...

Re: The Day the Moon Blew Up

#37

Post by HCIdivision17 »

agf wrote: post #30
ef4 wrote: post #17

The first third of Seveneves is a real gut punch. The only other world-ending story that comes close in terms of emotional impact for me was Arthur C. Clarke's "Childhood's End". Stephenson manages to show humanity in all its realistic messiness but still leave you proud -- on balance -- that humans mostly get our act together in a desperate attempt to preserve a seed of life and culture.

I found Childhood's End an extremely unpleasant read, and so that comparison makes it hard for me to even think about reading Seveneves. It was just so depressing, taking the concept of isolation to such an extreme it felt abusive. Or maybe I shouldn't have read it while isolated myself (literally living and working in the middle of nowhere without transportation and minimal contact with anyone I was close to). Maybe…

I haven't read Childhood's End. I really enjoyed Seveneves, though. But there's just a lot of cool stuff in the story that is worth the exposition. As others note, the book is written in sections; if you really don't want to go through the triumph and heartbreak of the outplaying story, it wouldn't be awful to jump to a later section. I may be a bit heretical saying so, but some ideas later in the book are just wonderful. You'll lose out fast forwarding, but I'd recommend that over skipping it :)

Re: The Day the Moon Blew Up

#38

Post by huslage »

p_eter_p wrote: post #32
blisterpeanuts wrote: post #22

I greatly enjoyed some of Stephenson's other works, but I was actually a bit disappointed with Seveneves. The narrative is well crafted, but unfortunately I just got stuck on the whole space ark concept and couldn't suspend disbelief enough to continue. Maybe someone else can explain why it made sense to focus on an orbiting refuge, right in the path of the Moon's fragments, rather than dig a bunch of underground cit…

You might like Hugh Howie's "Wool" series...

I read this series right after I read Seveneves. The connections were impressive.

Re: The Day the Moon Blew Up

#39

Post by ido »

agf wrote: post #30
ef4 wrote: post #17

The first third of Seveneves is a real gut punch. The only other world-ending story that comes close in terms of emotional impact for me was Arthur C. Clarke's "Childhood's End". Stephenson manages to show humanity in all its realistic messiness but still leave you proud -- on balance -- that humans mostly get our act together in a desperate attempt to preserve a seed of life and culture.

I found Childhood's End an extremely unpleasant read, and so that comparison makes it hard for me to even think about reading Seveneves. It was just so depressing, taking the concept of isolation to such an extreme it felt abusive. Or maybe I shouldn't have read it while isolated myself (literally living and working in the middle of nowhere without transportation and minimal contact with anyone I was close to). Maybe…

It's been a couple yeas since I read it, but I recall it being a pretty interesting read that didn't trigger any of the above feelings (just as a counter experience, that I wouldn't suggest people avoid it).

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was it the guy's experience going to the alien planet that triggered you? I actually didn't realize that might have been the reason upon first reading your comment.

Re: The Day the Moon Blew Up

#40

Post by Jedd »

I believe I've read all of Stephenson's books (yes, even The Big U)

Seveneves is in the top 5, but only just -- the Baroque Cycle (though not sci-fi) takes up three of the first five spots.

In terms of can't-put-down-once-started, Reamde tops the list, but, again, not sci-fi.

People seem to want to compare the content to Anathem, even suggesting it may fit into the same universe - though I can't see it myself. For what it's worth, both his SF and non-SF works are enjoyed by my other half, who usually eschews anything SF - so despite the alleged 'science-heavy style', there's one data point that suggests it's not as problematic as some reviewers expect it would be.

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