This was a great book! So many unusual, and yet fully realized, characters, plus wild plot twists and lots of violent fun. Very different from Stephenson's other books (e.g. Cryptonomicon), but in a good way. I literally had trouble putting it down, and at 800+ pages, it got pretty heavy ;-) I hope he writes more like this one.

An excellent story! Lots of disparate characters come together for a final thrilling climax. Great stuff!

If you liked William Gibson's recent Blue Ant series you'll enjoy this as it seems very similar in style. If you're into WoW you'll love it for the online RPG angle (which incidentally even though I don't play any games like this I still thought it was pretty cool). If you're an out an out Stephenson fan you might find it lacks depth a bit compared to some of his other novels. It certainly doesn't have the innovation or scope of Anathem. As per the other comments it's fun, and progresses at a quicker pace then some of his other novels. Worth a read.

A very interesting and excellent adventure book. Worthwhile reading other books by this author

"To wreak havoc on international currency markets, mercenaries have hacked into the world's most popular MMPORG (massive multi-player online role-playing game)... but that's just for starters. Game designer and full-time geek Richard Forthrast lands in a real-life power struggle for world domination against an overwhelming horde of ruthless enemies - the Chinese, the Russians, and more. Can his intrepid, athletic, cheerfully violent niece (think Uma Thurman in Kill Bill) keep him alive long enough to save the world? Reamde gives nothing away until its violent end, while offbeat characters, superb pacing, plausible technology, and masterfully woven subplots make this amped-up techno-shocker all too short, even at 800+ pages." Next Reads Thrillers and Suspense October 2012 Newsletter http://www.nextreads.com/Display2.aspx?SID=5acc8fc1-4e91-4ebe-906d-f8fc5e82a8e0&N=556062

amusing Seattle-based techno thriller involving rich owner of gaming business fighting hackers, his niece's kidnapers, a Russian mob, etc etc etc.

gripping page turner, great characters, I didn't want it to end. Recommend.

if you know anything about Blizzard this is a must read as you work your way through all the Stephenson books. The first major review of this book threw me off massively because, I think, the reviewer never logged on to WOW, ever. If you don't know MMORPGs this will not be compelling, otherwise its a home run.

Not as dense as Cryptonomicon or Snow Crash but good as a page turning thriller.

Disappointing. Not nearly on par with previous works such as Cryptonomicon or Anathem. Not even close. Character development was weak, plot was lacking, no back-story, nothing. No intellectual stimuli whatsoever. I tried to push my way through it, hoping it would get better, but had to finally give up 1/2 way through.