I recently re-read this novel from Neal Stephenson on Kindle. I’d originally read this in the summer of 2016 as a holiday read alongside another Stephenson title called Anathem.
In the years since the book was conceived, space technology has moved forward greatly – Spacex’s Falcon rocket boosters are now re-used routinely and at a much higher launch cadence. Spacex’s Starship programmed didn’t exist at that time and is now coming to fruition with the potentially for dramatically increased mass to orbit at a low cost due to full reusability of the booster and upper stage.
Surprisingly little mention of China and its space program given how prominent it has become since then. Even in the mid 2010’s China had a vibrant space programme. Now, they have a sizeable permanently manned space station and a developing interplanetary exploration programme that demonstrates their deftness in robotics. The novel has some fascinating technical concepts such as the application of knotting whipping topologies for weaponry, robotics and orbital mechanics. I haven’t seen any other sci-fi / science-based novel that explores these like Stephenson has done. The book also explores anthropology and how different behaviours and personalities could drive future human evolution and society. I’ve always enjoyed Neal Stephenson’s novels (Fall or Dodge in Hell) and this is no exception.