If you're willing to invest in a book this long, Stephenson at least keeps it engaging. Some other reviewer described it as a "data dump", and boy was he right. The combination of data dump, backstories, and the weaving of a bunch of story lines together is an impressive feat. The best I can liken it to is if Tom Clancy were writing novels about international terrorists and MMORPGs instead of Cold War non-nuclear battle scenarios, you'd get something like /Reamde/.

An entertaining read, but it requires a commitment.

A long story weaving together WWII cryptography and modern-day gold. Interesting stuff.