I started readingAnathem with some hesitation, because I really didn’t get intoThe Baroque Cycle. It’s not that they were bad books, I just wasn’t into the time period they were set in. Thankfully, this is a return to his earlier style of spec-fic, and I found the world he invented absolutely compelling. The book is presented as a journal kept by the main character, and is basically divided into two parts. The first half introduces us to the world he lives in — a sort of inversion of our world, where scientists isolate themselves in monastic communities called Maths. These communities are built around Millenium Clocks, which only open the gates to the outside world at predefined intervals (1 year, 10 years, 100 years, and 1000 years, depending on the Math). Our story starts as a ten-year Math prepares for their gate to open. The second half of the book is the action story, describing a series of world-changing events. I can’t describe any further without ruining some surprises, but suffice to say that it’s a great story.