Anathem
by Neal Stephenson
★ Top 25 book of 2008 · #18 on Best Books of 2008
Fraa Erasmas is a young avout living in a sanctuary for mathematicians, scientists and philosophers, walled off from the outside world. As the once-in-a-decade Apert opens the gates, he looks forward to seeing family and landmarks he has not seen since being collected.
Best for: Readers who enjoy ambitious, idea-rich novels set in a strangely inverted world
Anathem is #18 on BookWard's Best Books of 2008, out of 46 2008 books that cleared our data bar.
What Anathem is about
On the planet Arbre, thinkers long ago withdrew into walled monastic communities called concents, hoping to keep knowledge safe if society fell apart. Their descendants, the avout, live apart from the Sæcular world, barred from most advanced technology and watched over by the Inquisition. Fraa Erasmas, who narrates, is an avout at the Concent of Saunt Edhar, where his quiet routine of study is upended when his teacher, Fraa Orolo, spots an alien spacecraft in orbit. The authorities try to bury the discovery, and Orolo pays dearly for looking too closely.
From there the story follows Erasmas and his companions on a long journey across the frozen pole in search of Orolo. Along the way, Stephenson turns big ideas into live questions: the many-worlds interpretation of quantum mechanics, the old dispute between Platonic realism and nominalism, and what happens when scholars are kept apart from the people who hold power. It suits readers who enjoy science fiction that asks them to think.
Anathem on the Best Books of 2008
Anathem came out in 2008. Of the 46 books first published in 2008 that met BookWard's data bar, it ranks #18 on our Best Books of 2008 list.
Why it made the list: 298 readers have shelved it on Open Library; readers rate it 4.3 out of 5 (75 ratings). The list ranks each year’s books on how many readers have picked them up, how highly readers rate them, and how many are reading them right now.
Nearby on the 2008 list
- The Tales of Beedle the Bard J. K. Rowling, #16
- Duma Key Stephen King, #17
- I Love My New Toy! (Elephant and Piggie) Mo Willems, #19
- Fast Food Nation Eric Schlosser, #20
See all Best Books of 2008 Best books by year
More years: Best Books of 2007 Best Books of 2009.
The numbers behind it
- Readers: 196 want to read it, 5 are reading it now and 97 have read it, according to Open Library.
- Ratings: 4.3 out of 5 from 75 Open Library ratings.
| Signal | This book (0 to 100) | Weight |
|---|---|---|
| Reach | 59 | 55% |
| Reader love | 87 | 25% |
| Being read right now | 13 | 20% |
Questions about Anathem
When was Anathem published?
Anathem by Neal Stephenson was first published in 2008.
Was Anathem one of the best books of 2008?
Anathem is #18 on BookWard's Best Books of 2008, out of 46 2008 books that cleared our data bar. 298 readers have shelved it on Open Library; readers rate it 4.3 out of 5 (75 ratings).
Why is Anathem on the Best Books of 2008 list?
298 readers have shelved it on Open Library; readers rate it 4.3 out of 5 (75 ratings).
More of the best books of 2008
- The Hunger Games Suzanne Collins, #1
- End of Days Sylvia Browne, #2
- The Last Straw Jeff Kinney, #3
- Amulet Kazu Kibuishi, #4
- Outliers Malcolm Gladwell, #5
- Michelle Obama in Her Own Words Michelle Obama, #6
See the full Best Books of 2008, the Top 100, or new books on Rising.
How we know
This page uses public data: Open Library reader counts and ratings, and Wikipedia page views for recent years. The description is paraphrased from real source text. Rankings reflect reading interest, not quality or sales, and can be affected by data gaps. Lists update monthly.
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