Philosophy! Theology! Global catastrophe! Adventure!
A telling moment comes early in "Anathem," Neal Stephenson's latest mind-bogglingly ambitious epic saga. On the planet Arbre, mathematicians and philosophers have been segregated from the rest of humanity for a very, very long time. They live in "concents" -- an intentional conflation of the words "concentration camp" and "convent." As the story begins to unfold, our hero, Fraa Erasmus, is giving… » Full Story on Salon.com
