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Reamde

Reamde

CyberpunkScience Fiction
Pages
1044
Published
2011
Language
English

Synopsis

In Neal Stephenson's Reamde, a programmer's virtual world collides with brutal reality when his family is taken hostage. To save them, he must navigate a dangerous global chase involving hackers, terrorists, and the Russian mafia, all while dealing with the fallout from his massively multiplayer online role-playing game. It's a high-stakes thriller where digital and physical worlds blur.

Prose complexity
7/10

Published in parts

2 books
Book cover of Le Réseau
#1.00
Le Réseau
Book cover of La Frontière
#2.00
La Frontière

Vibe

TenseDarkAdventurousThought-Provoking
QuestSurvival

Genres

Cyberpunk Science Fiction Thriller Suspense

About the author

N
Neal Stephenson

Neal Town Stephenson (born October 31, 1959) is an American writer and game designer known for his works of speculative fiction. His novels have been categorized as science fiction, historical fiction, cyberpunk, postcyberpunk, and baroque. Stephenson's work explores subjects such as mathematics, cryptography, linguistics, philosophy, currency, and the history of science. He also writes non-fiction articles about technology in publications such as Wired. He has also written novels with his un...

Characters

Abdallah JonesAntagonist

Welsh-born, Al-Qaeda-affiliated terrorist leader who takes Zula hostage and drags her across the globe toward the U.S.-Canada border.

Olivia Halifax-LinSupporting

MI6 operative of Chinese descent pursuing the terrorist cell tied to the REAMDE virus.

SokolovSupporting

Former Russian military officer turned security consultant, drawn into the pursuit across China and North America.

All characters in Reamde

Frequently asked questions

  • What does the title "Reamde" mean?

    REAMDE is the name of a ransomware virus within the novel — a misspelling of "readme," the file name it uses to demand payment. It infects a laptop connected to Richard Forthrast's MMORPG T'Rain, setting the novel's global chase in motion.

  • Is Reamde part of a series?

    Reamde is written to stand alone, but Neal Stephenson returned to Richard "Dodge" Forthrast in a loose sequel, Fall; or, Dodge in Hell (2019).

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