Termination Shock
by Neal Stephenson
Rating: 4.0 / 5 · Read · Finished 2022-10-02
It’s what I like about Stephenson. Detailed, sprawling, technical. Like his other books, there’s one storyline I really like, and one storyline that didn’t do anything for me until the very end when it paid off.
Reading this was weirdly close to home. I recently visited places in the book (Waco, Austin, New Orleans). My Grandma’s Dutch and I’ve visited the Netherlands. I started reading the book during a heat wave that caused a power outage. Lots of references to current events (covid, Trump, deepfakes). And some of the events seem oh-so plausible. Unforeseen consequences at every level. Like migrating ants destroying air conditioners, causing a shortage in RVs.