Anathem

Anathem (2008) is a standalone science fiction novel by Neal Stephenson — not part of a connected book series. It won the Locus Award for Best Science Fiction Novel and was nominated for the Hugo, Arthur C. Clarke and John W. Campbell Memorial awards. Set on the fictional planet Arbre, it follows Fraa Erasmas, a scholar living in monastic seclusion, after his mentor's discovery of an alien spacecraft draws him out into a wider crisis.