yellowstone's Journal: SF Signal Meme: what book are you reading right now?

I just came across this (nearly month-old) post over at SF Signal. Instead of replying over there were no-one will see it, I thought I would post something here (where no-one will see it). Anyway...

• What Book Are You Reading Now?

  System of the World by Neal Stephenson.

• Why did you choose it?

  Stephenson has been on my read-on-sight list since I discovered Snow Crash and The Diamond Age 15 years ago.

• What's the best thing about it?

  Well, it's Stephenson. Interesting characters, unique situations, and one-of-a-kind prose style.

• What's the worst thing about it?

  A couple things. First, the 17th-century politics of England and France are an important back-drop to the story. I knew virtually nothing of this era of history before I began reading the Baroque Cycle, and it made it tough going. This is actually my second attempt to read through it, I just got bogged down in the details of history I didn't know the first time.

  Second, System of the World (at least as far as I've got) hasn't featured some of the most interesting charcters of these stories (Eliza, Jack Shaftoe, Enoch Root). Eliza has made an appearance, and I suppose the story will eventually get back to Jack and Enoch, but for now its focusing on Daniel Waterhouse, who (for me) has been one of the least interesting major characters of the series.

  Update: finally finished The System of the World 4/2/10. Final verdict: the Baroque Cycle is definitely worth the time and effort to read, especially if you enjoyed Cryptonomicon.

Here's mine with less detail:

[ak3ldama]

Reading:
Dune Messiah - because several years back I read the first Dune book and liked it. This one is going much slower.
The Art of Computer Programming Volume 3 - skipped volume 2 because I'm not ready for that much math.
Recently finished Guns, Germs and Steel.

Re:

[yellowstone]

I've read all the original (i.e. by Frank Herbert) Dune books (including the first four recently). Dune Messiah can be a tough read, but is short enough to make through just on sheer determination. In my experience, Children of Dune is much better (and an easier read), while God Emperor of Dune is mostly a long slog through a lot of talk and not much action.

I remember liking the last two (Heretics of Dune and Chapterhouse Dune) quite a bit when I first read them, but it was a long time ago (I'll probably