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Try: The Diamond Age: Or A Young Lady’s Illustrated Primer

A data-and-nanobot-heavy dystopia may be a little redeemed when a fairytale-themed education package winds up outside of its elite. Is it possible for a book to be spicy and dispassionate at the same time? If it is, it’s The Diamond Age. This tale is part of why steampunk was cool for over a decade, and it’s got the colonial awareness a lot of later steampunk lacked. Warning for sexual violence and assault.

Also consider: The Rise and Fall of D.O.D.O, with co-author Nicole Galland and magical overlap.

Academia-core, worldbuilding, gentle demi protagonists

You like: Becky Chambers and Ursula LeGuin, Star Wars, Dune, and A Canticle for Liebowitz.

Try: Anathem

This book is both loved and hated. It’s a deep favorite of mine and IMHO the sleeper in Stephenson’s bibliography. This story's math monks are here for friendship and mentoring and found family and human curiosity – and saving a couple of worlds. Longread warning: it’s 900 pages and one of the themes in the book is differing perspectives on long-term time.

Gritty, action-packed wartime and history

You like: the Marvel universe – specifically, its fandom – and spy movie tropes.

Try: Cryptonomicon

When this came out it blended history (WWII) and the future (late ‘90s programming) in a hunt for WWII gold – now both narrative streams are history. Another galloping read by Stephenson standards. Warning: the weakest female character representation in this bibliography.

Deep history nerdery

You like: pirate movies and Our Flag Means Death and Pratchett’s Making Money.

Try: The Baroque Cycle: Quicksilver, The Confusion, The System of the World.

In the same ‘verse as Cryptonomicon, in mostly the 18th century. A handful of intellectuals and adventurers ride the tides of conflict, heresy, politics, and currency, with acres of swashbuckling along the way. I lost an entire month of my life to devouring these three tomes. Eliza/Jack 4eva! Longread warning: this makes Anathem look short. The Silmarillion is an accessible standard narrative compared to this. And, also, warning for sexual violence and assault.

Hopepunk and romances

You’re old-school-fandom enough to respect a good Mary Sue.

Try: Termination Shock

Solar engineering to try and undo climate change, subtle international warfare, and deepfakes undoing royalty are the three plot streams here. Also, will a dispossessed aristocrat find love and passion again? Very accessible for Stephenson.

Hard queer sci fi

You like: The Locked Tomb series and fandom.

Try: Seveneves

Moon’s broken! And that means the end of life on Earth as we know it. After a series of “space is hard” misadventures, it's up to the parthenogenetic space queers to preserve humanity. Another one that is loved or hated. I don’t love - but other Tumblerites give it a five-star rating.