Neal Stephenson
AUTHOR

Neal Stephenson

Fiction | Crime & Thrillers | Sci-Fi & Fantasy

Neal Town Stephenson (born October 31, 1959) is an American writer, known for his speculative fiction works, which have been variously categorized science fiction, historical fiction, maximalism, cyberpunk, and postcyberpunk. Stephenson explores areas such as mathematics, cryptography, philosophy, currency, and the history of science. He also writes non-fiction articles about technology in publications such as Wired Magazine, and has worked part-time as an advisor for Blue Origin, a company (funded by Jeff Bezos) developing a manned sub-orbital launch system. Born in Fort Meade, Maryland (home of the NSA and the National Cryptologic Museum) Stephenson came from a family comprising engineers and hard scientists he dubs "propeller heads". His father is a professor of electrical engineering whose father was a physics professor; his mother worked in a biochemistry laboratory, while her father was a biochemistry professor. Stephenson's family moved to Champaign-Urbana, Illinois in 1960 and then to Ames, Iowa in 1966 where he graduated from Ames High School in 1977. Stephenson furthered his studies at Boston University. He first specialized in physics, then switched to geography after he found that it would allow him to spend more time on the university mainframe. He graduated in 1981 with a B.A. in Geography and a minor in physics. Since 1984, Stephenson has lived mostly in the Pacific Northwest and currently resides in Seattle with his family. Neal Stephenson is the author of the three-volume historical epic "The Baroque Cycle" (Quicksilver, The Confusion, and The System of the World) and the novels Cryptonomicon, The Diamond Age, Snow Crash, and Zodiac. He lives in Seattle, Washington.

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Best Sellers

  • Fall; or, Dodge in Hell cover art

    • Fall; or, Dodge in Hell

    • A Novel
    • By: Neal Stephenson
    • Narrated by: Malcolm Hillgartner
    • Length: 31 hrs and 48 mins
    • Unabridged
    • Overall
      4 out of 5 stars 78
    • Performance
      4.5 out of 5 stars 76
    • Story
      3.5 out of 5 stars 76

    Fall; or, Dodge in Hell is pure, unadulterated fun: a grand drama of analog and digital, man and machine, angels and demons, gods and followers, the finite and the eternal. In this exhilarating epic, Neal Stephenson raises profound existential questions....

    • 3 out of 5 stars

    • Toooooooo long by half

    • By Len on 13-06-19

    Regular price: £27.49

    Free with 30-day trial
  • Snow Crash cover art

    • Snow Crash

    • By: Neal Stephenson
    • Narrated by: Jonathan Davis
    • Length: 17 hrs and 3 mins
    • Unabridged
    • Overall
      4 out of 5 stars 985
    • Performance
      4.5 out of 5 stars 789
    • Story
      4 out of 5 stars 792

    Only once in a great while does a writer come along who defies comparison - a writer so original he redefines the way we look at the world...

    • 5 out of 5 stars

    • A Perfect Blend

    • By R on 23-09-10

    Regular price: £32.09

    Free with 30-day trial
  • Reamde cover art

    • Reamde

    • By: Neal Stephenson
    • Narrated by: Malcolm Hillgartner
    • Length: 38 hrs and 29 mins
    • Unabridged
    • Overall
      4.5 out of 5 stars 1,042
    • Performance
      4.5 out of 5 stars 831
    • Story
      4 out of 5 stars 837

    Richard Forthrast created T’Rain, a multibillion-dollar, massively multiplayer online role-playing game. But T’Rain’s success has also made it a target of hackers....

    • 5 out of 5 stars

    • This virus really infected me!

    • By Samuel on 08-11-11

    Regular price: £27.49

    Free with 30-day trial
  • Seveneves cover art

    • Seveneves

    • By: Neal Stephenson
    • Narrated by: Peter Brooke
    • Length: 32 hrs and 40 mins
    • Unabridged
    • Overall
      4 out of 5 stars 781
    • Performance
      4 out of 5 stars 724
    • Story
      4 out of 5 stars 723

    The astounding new novel from the master of science fiction. What would happen if the world were ending? Find out....

    • 3 out of 5 stars

    • Mixed feelings

    • By Chris on 24-07-15

    Regular price: £26.99

    Free with 30-day trial
  • The Diamond Age cover art

    • The Diamond Age

    • By: Neal Stephenson
    • Narrated by: Jennifer Wiltsie
    • Length: 18 hrs and 32 mins
    • Unabridged
    • Overall
      4 out of 5 stars 329
    • Performance
      4 out of 5 stars 214
    • Story
      4 out of 5 stars 212

    In Snow Crash, Neal Stephenson took science fiction to dazzling new levels. Now, in The Diamond Age, he delivers another stunning tale...

    • 3 out of 5 stars

    • Worth the time - if you can deal with the quality

    • By Ian on 08-07-13

    Regular price: £32.09

    Free with 30-day trial
  • Cryptonomicon cover art

    • Cryptonomicon

    • By: Neal Stephenson
    • Narrated by: William Dufris
    • Length: 42 hrs and 44 mins
    • Unabridged
    • Overall
      4.5 out of 5 stars 787
    • Performance
      4.5 out of 5 stars 557
    • Story
      4.5 out of 5 stars 554

    Cryptonomicon leaps forward and back between World War II and the World Wide Web, hinting all the while at a dark day-after-tomorrow....

    • 4 out of 5 stars

    • Probably the best way to tackle this behemoth!

    • By Simon on 06-08-14

    Regular price: £55.89

    Free with 30-day trial
  • The Rise and Fall of D.O.D.O. cover art

    • The Rise and Fall of D.O.D.O.

    • By: Neal Stephenson, Nicole Galland
    • Narrated by: Laurence Bouvard, Shelley Atkinson, Laural Merlington, and others
    • Length: 24 hrs and 27 mins
    • Unabridged
    • Overall
      4 out of 5 stars 466
    • Performance
      4.5 out of 5 stars 434
    • Story
      4 out of 5 stars 434

    You think you know how the world works? Think again. Magic has faded from the minds of mankind, until an encounter between Melisande Stokes, linguistics expert at Harvard...

    • 4 out of 5 stars

    • The DODO may not be extinct just yet!

    • By Simon on 18-06-17

    Regular price: £26.99

    Free with 30-day trial
  • Solomon’s Gold cover art

    • Solomon’s Gold

    • Book Six of The Baroque Cycle
    • By: Neal Stephenson
    • Narrated by: Simon Prebble, Kevin Pariseau, Neal Stephenson (introduction)
    • Length: 14 hrs and 9 mins
    • Unabridged
    • Overall
      4.5 out of 5 stars 115
    • Performance
      5 out of 5 stars 74
    • Story
      4.5 out of 5 stars 73

    The year is 1714. Daniel Waterhouse has returned to England, where he joins forces with his friend Isaac Newton to hunt down a criminal gang attempting to blow up Natural Philosophers....

    • 5 out of 5 stars

    • London for the imaginary tourist

    • By Christopher on 01-12-10

    Regular price: £22.89

    Free with 30-day trial
  • Anathem cover art

    • Anathem

    • By: Neal Stephenson
    • Narrated by: Oliver Wyman, Tavia Gilbert, William Dufris, and others
    • Length: 32 hrs and 26 mins
    • Unabridged
    • Overall
      4.5 out of 5 stars 262
    • Performance
      4.5 out of 5 stars 243
    • Story
      4.5 out of 5 stars 244

    Before the week is out, both the existence Erasmus abandoned and the one he embraced will stand poised on the perilous brink of cataclysmic change....

    • 5 out of 5 stars

    • Really impressed

    • By Anonymous Coward on 18-04-16

    Regular price: £45.99

    Free with 30-day trial
  • Quicksilver cover art

    • Quicksilver

    • Book One of The Baroque Cycle
    • By: Neal Stephenson
    • Narrated by: Neal Stephenson (introduction), Kevin Pariseau, Simon Prebble
    • Length: 14 hrs and 43 mins
    • Unabridged
    • Overall
      4 out of 5 stars 341
    • Performance
      4.5 out of 5 stars 215
    • Story
      4 out of 5 stars 213

    In which Daniel Waterhouse, fearless thinker and courageous Puritan, pursues knowledge in the company of the greatest minds of Baroque-era Europe....

    • 5 out of 5 stars

    • Ambitious and entertaining

    • By Iain on 09-09-10

    Regular price: £23.49

    Free with 30-day trial

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