Here’s Neal Stephenson’s latest 900 pages behemoth in only a few words:

Fall is Eschatology as New Creation

In Fall, Stephenson follows the life of Dodge, a gaming corporation billionaire who died unexpectedly and is raised to new (electronic) life about a third of the way through the book. From there, the book explores two worlds: meatspace (the world as we currently experience), and the afterlife populated by Dodge along with the myriad of ‘souls’ who follow in his wake.

The afterlife quickly becomes the most fascinating part of the story as the recently deceased create a world that overlaps in fascinating ways with the Biblical creation story. Creation, the fall, the tower of babel, and even hell are recreated in bitspace. For Stephenson, we humans cannot shake our origin story in this life or in the next.

Yes, the book was too long and some parts could have been edited down to size, but this isn’t my first experience with Stephenson! In the end, the slow parts add to the whole and make the story that much richer.

One more note for people who have read some of Stephenson’s other works. Enoch Root (unsurprisingly) makes an appearance you will not want to miss. I’m hoping one of these days Stephenson will devote an entire book to this character. He’s now more fascinating than ever.

Stephenson, Neal. Fall; or, Dodge in Hell. Harper Collins, 2019.