Personally I thought Seveneves was pretty good ... the most recent Neal Stephenson novel I read was "The Rise and Fall of D.O.D.O." and I loved it. As with Snowcrash, it'd make an awesome movie (if done right)!
The last third is actually not that bad ... if you just accept that it's more or less a separate novel loosely set in the same universe. But about 5000 years later. The first two parts are pretty awesome. I enjoy the last bit as well. It gets better on re-reading.
Fun thought experiment. If you haven't read Seveneves[1], the book details what happens when the moon inexplicably explodes (spoiler alert, it's not pretty). It's a crazy Neal Stephenson novel, and I highly recommend it. Allegedly they'll make it into a movie, but I don't see how. It's too out there.
Neal Stephenson says it's because his books are too long.
Although, allegedly, Amazon is making Snow Crash into a miniseries, and again allegedly, Tom Howard is directing a Seveneves movie. Weird, that, because I didn't think Seveneves was "finished." All that just to set the stage for Elves, Dwarves, and Man, but no followup stories of Elves, Dwarves, and Man? Weird.
Oh, yeah.
As amazing as the Baroque Cycle Movie or series could be, or Cryptonomicon, or Diamond Age, etc... I'd vote for Seveneves over everything else.
Is the Radiolab account off? That the impact basically fried the surface of the entire planet at > 1000 degrees? Wasn't that also kind of the premise of Seveneves? That a bunch of particulate matter gets into the atmosphere and rains down, on reentry it burns like the space shuttle but with so much of it around the entire planet it basically bakes the entire earth
In the Radiolab episode they claimed the entire planet is covered in the baked layer. That you can dig anywhere on the planet and find it.
I've thought a lot about how Seveneves could be adapted, and man ... it's going to be a tough thing to pull off. A movie trilogy might be able to cover half of it. Were I to do it myself, I'd probably go for a three-season TV series, with each season being one of the parts of the novel. I have no doubt that there's a ton that can be cut from an adaptation, but I'd be hard pressed to cut much, personally. I'm very bearish on any potential adaptation to a single film, as much as I'd love to see one happen.
I love Cryptonomicon but I don't think it would be adaptable in any way that bears more than a superficial similarity to the book. Though actually I feel the same way about Snow Crash, so we'll see.
As far as adaptability of Stephenson goes, I could see Zodiac, or maybe REAMDE, that would work in a way that resembles the books. Maaaybe Seveneves, though you have to deal with the significant separation between Part 2 and Part 3.
The rest of his books, including Cryptonomicon and Snow Crash, are too intertwined with "theoretical" concepts to make much sense in an adaptation. I mean, yes: you can have a show or movie about a pizza deliverer/hacker named Hiro Protagonist who swordfights in the metaverse; or Jack and Eliza's Adventures in Enlightenment Europe; or whatever. But the real underpinnings of the story aren't going to make it in and that's what makes Stephenson's books interesting.
I haven't heard anything since the announcement. IMDB's last update was in January. It's not just Ron Howard though--it's also a bunch of the people who worked on the Apollo 13 film, which seems like a very good fit.
Unlike a lot of folks, I liked the second part of Seveneves, but I won't miss it if they cut it from the film. I don't even know how they'll fit the whole first part in without a 3.5 hour running time.
It exposes me to viewpoints, warnings, or subjects I wouldn't have learned otherwise.
For example, I've never given time to reading about gene editing, but after reading Change Agent I've been reading about gene editing and Crispr. I also have some minor understanding of the dangers and benefits of where that could take civilization.
I hadn't thought about what would happen in doomsday scenarios, like a large virus outbreak or an EMP blast, but Holding Their Own and One Second After exposed me to that.
Reading Seveneves exposed me to space travel and Lagrange points, I had no idea about these otherwise.
Authors like John Fante are great story tellers and he's such a joy to read instead of watching a tv series.
Hacker Cinema
14 comments on Hacker News
Personally I thought Seveneves was pretty good ... the most recent Neal Stephenson novel I read was "The Rise and Fall of D.O.D.O." and I loved it. As with Snowcrash, it'd make an awesome movie (if done right)!
The last third is actually not that bad ... if you just accept that it's more or less a separate novel loosely set in the same universe. But about 5000 years later. The first two parts are pretty awesome. I enjoy the last bit as well. It gets better on re-reading.
In related news, they apparently are working on a TV series of Seveneves: https://deadline.com/2024/08/legendary-tv-adapt-seveneves-sci-fi-novel-1236030236/
It will be interesting to see if it progresses all the way to production.
Fun thought experiment. If you haven't read Seveneves[1], the book details what happens when the moon inexplicably explodes (spoiler alert, it's not pretty). It's a crazy Neal Stephenson novel, and I highly recommend it. Allegedly they'll make it into a movie, but I don't see how. It's too out there.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seveneves
There’s been talk of a Seveneves movie or mini series for years….
Seveneves features O'Neill habitats. Can't wait to see the movie version.
I would love to see the last section of seveneves picked up as a TV series. There's so much to explore there.
I think Seveneves could work as a movie, and actually be good. I don't know how they'd handle the story "transition" though.
Neal Stephenson says it's because his books are too long.
Although, allegedly, Amazon is making Snow Crash into a miniseries, and again allegedly, Tom Howard is directing a Seveneves movie. Weird, that, because I didn't think Seveneves was "finished." All that just to set the stage for Elves, Dwarves, and Man, but no followup stories of Elves, Dwarves, and Man? Weird.
Oh, yeah. As amazing as the Baroque Cycle Movie or series could be, or Cryptonomicon, or Diamond Age, etc... I'd vote for Seveneves over everything else.
Is the Radiolab account off? That the impact basically fried the surface of the entire planet at > 1000 degrees? Wasn't that also kind of the premise of Seveneves? That a bunch of particulate matter gets into the atmosphere and rains down, on reentry it burns like the space shuttle but with so much of it around the entire planet it basically bakes the entire earth
In the Radiolab episode they claimed the entire planet is covered in the baked layer. That you can dig anywhere on the planet and find it.
https://www.wnycstudios.org/story/dinopocalypse/
at about the 10 minute mark
or visual
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZYoqtBEzuiQ#t=15m
Is that still a valid theory?
I've thought a lot about how Seveneves could be adapted, and man ... it's going to be a tough thing to pull off. A movie trilogy might be able to cover half of it. Were I to do it myself, I'd probably go for a three-season TV series, with each season being one of the parts of the novel. I have no doubt that there's a ton that can be cut from an adaptation, but I'd be hard pressed to cut much, personally. I'm very bearish on any potential adaptation to a single film, as much as I'd love to see one happen.
I love Cryptonomicon but I don't think it would be adaptable in any way that bears more than a superficial similarity to the book. Though actually I feel the same way about Snow Crash, so we'll see.
As far as adaptability of Stephenson goes, I could see Zodiac, or maybe REAMDE, that would work in a way that resembles the books. Maaaybe Seveneves, though you have to deal with the significant separation between Part 2 and Part 3.
The rest of his books, including Cryptonomicon and Snow Crash, are too intertwined with "theoretical" concepts to make much sense in an adaptation. I mean, yes: you can have a show or movie about a pizza deliverer/hacker named Hiro Protagonist who swordfights in the metaverse; or Jack and Eliza's Adventures in Enlightenment Europe; or whatever. But the real underpinnings of the story aren't going to make it in and that's what makes Stephenson's books interesting.
I haven't heard anything since the announcement. IMDB's last update was in January. It's not just Ron Howard though--it's also a bunch of the people who worked on the Apollo 13 film, which seems like a very good fit.
Unlike a lot of folks, I liked the second part of Seveneves, but I won't miss it if they cut it from the film. I don't even know how they'll fit the whole first part in without a 3.5 hour running time.
It exposes me to viewpoints, warnings, or subjects I wouldn't have learned otherwise.
For example, I've never given time to reading about gene editing, but after reading Change Agent I've been reading about gene editing and Crispr. I also have some minor understanding of the dangers and benefits of where that could take civilization.
I hadn't thought about what would happen in doomsday scenarios, like a large virus outbreak or an EMP blast, but Holding Their Own and One Second After exposed me to that.
Reading Seveneves exposed me to space travel and Lagrange points, I had no idea about these otherwise.
Authors like John Fante are great story tellers and he's such a joy to read instead of watching a tv series.