Not bad, not great. As twisty as an Iowa highway and contains just about every Stephenson trope. Still, it's not like it wasn't enjoyable.

Slow start but very exciting at the end. Dated because it's about the first Gulf war. Not really an alternate history, but a possible behind-the-scenes intrigue.

Stephenson’s fantastic character work and scenarios are as robust as ever, but unfortunately they’ve been tangled in a web of directionless plot with a bizarre action scene at the climax. I welcome the collaborations with the brilliant George Jewsbury, I wish there were more. However, this lacks the structure and purpose of their earlier collaboration: Interface.

Classifying the first Gulf War as 'historical' just seems a bit wrong to me, but that is one of the appropriate shelves I suppose. And that is also my main problem with this book. I can remember these events happening fairly clearly... and so I had a fairly hard time getting into the book. This is the first Neal Stephenson book I didn't love immensely. On the other hand, it does have its good moments, and wraps things up in an acceptable manner.

Even worse than Reamde; still fun to read. Not terribly technical and pretty dated. But still has Stephenson's sense of humor baked in and some interesting history about intelligence agencies.

[Imported automatically from my blog. Some formatting there may not have translated here.]

Back in the mid-1990s, writer Neal Stephenson teamed up with his uncle, George Jewsbury, to write a couple of books. (The pseudonym they used at the time was "Stephen Bury". Recent editions de-pseudonymize Mr. Stephenson, while inventing a new pseudonym, J. Frederick George, for Mr. Jewsbury. I don't know why.) I read the first book, Interface, back in 2012. I liked it fine, but I enjoyed The Cobweb even more. Ostensibly a thriller, with heavy comic overtones. Think Carl Hiaasen, without Hiaasen's mean-spiritedness.

It is mostly set in the leadup to the 1990/91 Gulf War; the primary action is centered around the fictional twin cities of Nishnabotna and Wapsipinicon, Iowa, home to Eastern Iowa University. (Stephenson lived in Ames, Iowa during some of his Formative Years.) A secondary location is the Washington, D. C. environs; there are also side trips to Kennebunkport and … well, I'd tell you, but it would be a spoiler.

The joint protagonists are Clyde Banks and Betsy Vandeventer. Clyde is a salt-of-the-earth Iowa county policeman, who's married to his formidable childhood sweetheart, Desiree, and who's looking to displace the current sheriff in the upcoming election. Betsy's in the CIA, where her hard work and honesty has begun to attract the attention of her superiors. Which is not an unmitigated blessing, because of the honesty bit.

Coincidentally, Betsy's brother, Kevin, is at Eastern Iowa U, struggling to get his Ph.D. in the massive (but corrupt) agricultural research organization run by Dr. Arthur Larsen. When offered a lucrative opportunity to jump up in the hierarchy—all he has to do is cut some major ethical corners, not ask any inconvenient questions, and not look too closely at some of the Middle Eastern students coming in, or what they're up to—he grabs it. To his eventual regret.

Now if you check out the book cover over there (you may have to disable your ad blocker, which you should, it's just an Amazon ad, nothing obnoxious or clickbaity), you'll see biohazard symbols and a gas mask. And if you remember the Gulf War, you'll recall the concern that Saddam Hussein might be willing to deploy bio-WMDs to avoid a certain loss. Could the mysterious doings in Wapsipinicon have anything to do with that? Hint: yes, but let's not go into details.

There are plot twists and turns, as Clyde and Betsy battle their respective bureaucracies and struggle to uncover the truth. There's a pulse-pounding climax.

A wonderful book, readers, highly recommended if you're into this sort of thing at all.

Without getting too mushy or overanalytical, what I've noticed in Stephenson's work over the years is: his books, through the actions of his characters, seem to champion the same values I hold dear. You'd think that would be more common than it is. It's not. So when it happens, it's worth pointing out.

So Stephenson writes two different kinds of novels. Way out there Sci Fi and action thriller. This is of the thriller variety and I liked it. I have not liked the books of his that take place in a universe that is far different from ours. I have liked enough of his work that I keep getting them. This is the beauty of the library, I am will to check out books that I might not like. Netflix is like that also, it is not unusual for us to get 30 min into a movie and bail.

Great book based on biological warfare and American government; Funny, hard to put down.

One of the books that I could read again. Beyond the enthralling cloak and dagger it gets right the background - very right. The academic research world (a Stephenson favourite), the American midwest and the political machinations of government bureaucrats. The last one is done so well and insightfully that Cobweb could be described as a political thriller first and a cowboys v indians caper second.

"Watch out for the iguanas," Larkin had told her. Betsy hadn't understood the reference until recently. But now she saw iguanas all over Washington, people who sat sunning on their rocks, destroying anything or anybody who came within tongue's reach, but doing nothing.


The book centers around several situations in the time just before the first Gulf War, detailing a few different plot lines: DC intel analysts and insiders, a smarter-than-expected deputy sheriff in a big small town in Iowa, and a grad-student-nigh-PhD in that same small Iowan town. The plot revolves around the same basic fulchrum, the secret development of a biological weapon, but takes many different vantages to how things play out.

There's a lot of good DC-specific intrigue snarkiness, which is what I enjoyed most. The authors use both the agency web as well as the physical layout of the greater DC area as "characters" in a way. Anyone who lives in the DC area will be able to picture what the authors have in mind as characters live and move around the area.

The book has the same feel as Interface, the other novel by Stephenson and his father. They did their basic homework on a lof the key plot points, and ones not so key: making botulin toxin, Olympic-style wrestling theory, the culture of Vakhan Turks, the plays of the CIA and FBI and all Intel groups as they jockey for positions and their own jobs, how federal-political meetings can be run, and what it's like to run a large business that is really a research group looking for more money to continue operating.

Another random book choice while waiting for others to come in off of holds. I didn't care one way or the other for the actual story in this one, but I really enjoyed the main characters. Clyde was great. Betsy was mostly great, though I have a beef with the authors about her. If you're going to make one of your characters declare themselves Mormon, you should at least have them play that role or explain why they're not playing it properly. Betsy claims to be Mormon and then acts nothing of the sort. It would have worked just as well to have her be a sheltered farm girl without needing the Mormon aspect. Just a not terribly accurate portrayal that lingered in my mind through the whole book. Other than that I was entertained.

Another early Neal Stephenson book - this one involves a national security issue that connects a strait-laced FBI agent, a midwestern agricultural university, and a smalltown sheriff who is unusally smart and competent. Although the subject is kind of serious, you can definitely hear Stephenson's distinctive voice. Especially in the sheriff character - his internal dialog is reminiscent of Waterhouse in Cryptonomicon. I thought the pieces of this story fit together better than "Interface" - a fun read. Especially if you have a background in agricultural college academia. Which I do.