The Rise and Fall of D.O.D.O.
author Neal Stephenson and critically acclaimed historical and contemporary commercial novelist Nicole Galland comes a captivating and complex near-future thriller combining history, science, magic, mystery, intrigue, and adventure that questions the very foundations of the modern world. When Melisande Stokes, an expert in linguistics and languages, accidently meets military intelligence operator Tristan Lyons in a hallway at Harvard University, it is the beginning of a chain of events that will alter their lives and human history itself. The young man from a shadowy government entity approaches Mel, a low-level faculty member, with an incredible offer. The only condition: she must sign a nondisclosure agreement in return for the rather large sum of money. Tristan needs Mel to translate some very old documents, which, if authentic, are earth-shattering. They prove that magic actually existed and was practiced for centuries. But the arrival of the scientific revolution and the Age of Enlightenment weakened its power and endangered its practitioners. Magic stopped working altogether in 1851, at the time of the Great Exhibition at London’s Crystal Palace—the world’s fair celebrating the rise of industrial technology and commerce. Something about the modern world "jams" the "frequencies" used by magic, and it’s up to Tristan to find out why. And so the Department of Diachronic Operations—D.O.D.O.
Stats for nerds
13recommend
31mentions
31people
2016–2026years
42% recommend45% neutral13% critical
Mentions per year
What Hacker News says
- I find his earlier works a bit too bizarre and quirky. Although Snow Crash is the essence of cool.
Seveneves is probably my favourite, I guess I prefer harder scifi. Fall; or, Dodge in Hell and The Rise and Fall of D.O.D.O. were pretty good too, although less so. I want to like the Baroque Cycle but I haven't managed to get into it so far.
- Personally I thought Seveneves was pretty good ... the most recent Neal Stephenson novel I read was "The Rise and Fall of D.O.D.O." and I loved it. As with Snowcrash, it'd make an awesome movie (if done right)!
- I haven't read Ra but if people like a mix of magic, fantasy, scifi, govt techno thriller, history and even romance, I highly recommend the Rise and Fall of D.O.D.O.
I think it's best read with no summary or introduction but if you are a Neal Stephenson fan, I think you would like it.
- I didn't like either of them very much, but I've really enjoyed other books of his.
- The Rise and Fall of D.O.D.O.
- Seveneves
- Cryptonomicon
- Anathem
- Reamde
- Fall; or, Dodge in Hell (Although the metaworld parts in that get a little tiresome)
- I think I've read every one of his books. My favourite is The Rise and Fall of D.O.D.O..
- This is funny, as I just finished a novel that had this as a large plot point. Talk about Synchronicity. It's Neal Stephenson and Nicole Galland's "The Rise and Fall of D.O.D.O". It's a pretty entertaining read, from the point of view of several characters.
I'm waiting for the sequel in the mail, "Master of the Revels: A Return to Neal Stephenson's D.O.D.O." by Nicole Galland herself. It appears Neal dropped off.
