I like Neal Stephenson much better when he writes more contemporary fare. He's quite funny. I enjoyed this book pretty well. It reminded me of 'Q Clearance' by Peter Benchley. The book showcases the pettiness and idiocy of Washington bureaucracy in all its unintended, shabby glory.

I also found it interesting to read about the threat of Iraqi weapons of mass destruction, post 9/11 and post-2003 Iraq War.

Nicely written and very enjoyable.

Some books do not age well, and The Cobweb is one of them.

The story takes place in an alternate history around the time of the Gulf War, where Iraq and Saddam Hussein are actually competent bad guys who are actually developing biological weapons. After the whole, "no WMDs found" fiasco of the early 2000's, the plausibility of this plot plummeted to zero. In hindsight, this story looks silly.

Not only that, but the pacing is excruciating slow until right towards the end. All of the characters have a sort of robotic emptiness to them, and none of them stand out in the least.

Only hardcore Stephenson fans should pick this one up.

A hard slog to get through this story. Several characters in the FBI/CIA Governmental thread show little or no motivation for their actions yet have a big influence on the story direction. The small-town detective thread was more engaging.

I particularly enjoyed this book because so much of it is set in eastern Iowa where I am from.

*** 3.25 ***

I have to be honest, I did not enjoy this book very much and only finished it because I have an illness - a compulsion to finish every book or series I start, of go insane thinking about it with a feeling that I have something hanging over my head and it makes me feel twitchy!!!

I realize this is not a shining recommendation for the book, but I don't think I would recommend it to anyone I know anyway... I am not dissing the author - I adore most of his work and he is one of my all time favorite!!! I am only saying that this particular work was not for me. Than why did I give it the 3.25 stars? Because even in this not for me book Stephenson is still quite brilliant. The man can write and he is capable of delivering some of the most intricate stories put to print! And for a book written in the 90's he has an almost prophetic view of sleeper cells of terrorists in Democratically run societies... I just have an aversion to predominantly political plots - if I was interested, I only need to turn on one of the news TV channels... So, I rather stick with romance and Fantasy, or at the most, historical... And Stephenson has great books in those genres :-)

A great look at what could be (or is) happening with foreign relations right here on our own soil. How could one man, Deputy Sheriff Clyde Banks, get so tangled in local, national, and foreign authorities and politics? I dare you not to get wrapped up in... The Cobweb.

Excellent. Loved the way seemingly unrelated stories slowly wove a major story in international bioweapon espionage. Well worth the time.

It had an ending! :D

Classic Early Stephenson

This was a great read that I couldn’t put down. There are some great characters without giving away anything. Stephenson’s early books have a different style that I like. He is a great story teller. I highly recommend Cobweb.

I was looking for a fun escape and this did the trick. My last Stephenson romp, until he writes another one for me.

A very different sort of book by one of my favorite authors.
Little in the way of science fiction, but some interesting biology stuff.
I just enjoy Stephenson's characters so much, it made the book fun.
Also, the plot had good mystery in it, which Stephenson also does well!
Not sure what to make of the politics in the book.