09.21.06
Cryptonomicon Sequels?
From a Neal Stephenson interview from back in August, 1999:
Originally, I planned to have storylines in Cryptonomicon set in the present, past, and future, but I pulled out the one set a couple of generations in the future – more the kind of stuff that people are accustomed to seeing from me. Though it previously looked as though it was going to be kind of sparse, now it was looking like it could stand on its own, but it would take a lot more time and work. And yet the WWII and present-day timelines were done, and it seemed crazy to hold up the entire thing any longer for the future one to get done, so we could bring that out first. So we decided to take this approach. Besides, the book was already at the limits of size! The future scenario will be a later book.
I have two sequels to Cryptonomicon planned, but they’re in different time lines. I’m trying not to give the idea that it’s a tightly locked together set of books. They’re supposed to work as stand-alones. There are always a few strange little corners of the story that may not make sense outside of the context of the full series, but 99% of it can stand on its own reasonably well, I hope. It’s kind of a wink to the science fiction readers out there: ‘See, it really is a science fiction book!’
Jason G. said,
September 19, 2006 at 10:44 am
The disjointed sequel is in the style of WIlliam Gibson with his Cyberpunk trilogy — Neuromancer, Count Zero, and Mona Lisa Overdrive. Some of the characters make appearances across books, but the individual books and stories stand on their own.