Polostan

Volume One of Bomblight

by

303 pages

English language

Published Sept. 24, 2020 by HarperCollins Publishers.

ISBN:
978-0-06-233452-7
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(3 reviews)

The first installment in Neal Stephenson’s Light cycle, Polostan follows the early life of the enigmatic Dawn Rae Bjornberg. Born in the American West to a clan of cowboy anarchists, Dawn is raised in Leningrad after the Russian Revolution by her Russian father, a party line Leninist who re-christens her Aurora. She spends her early years in Russia but then grows up as a teenager in Montana, before being drawn into gunrunning and revolution in the streets of Washington, D.C., during the depths of the Great Depression. When a surprising revelation about her past puts her in the crosshairs of U.S. authorities, Dawn returns to Russia, where she is groomed as a spy by the organization that later becomes the KGB.

4 editions

reviewed Polostan by Neal Stephenson

Basically Classic Stephenson Historical Fiction

No rating

I loved Cryptonomicon, which was waaaay longer than this one (which is the beginning book in a series), but for some reason Cryptonomicon was much more interesting and engrossing to me. I'm not sure if my lukewarm response to this book was about me and my disjointed attention at the beginning of a semester or about the book. However, I did find a lot of moments in this book where Stephenson seemed to be showing off all the research he did. Personally, I wanted more Russian Revolution and communist drama. The narrative sometimes took a backseat to the historical setting.

reviewed Polostan by Neal Stephenson

A blast of historical fiction

Great characters romp in strange pockets of early 1930's history. I even became curious about polo, which I began the book with no interest in.

reviewed Polostan by Neal Stephenson

Review of 'Polostan' on 'Goodreads'

A young (American) women growing up in the aftermath of the Russian revolution to become a spy/agent for the soviet secret service with some historical figures appearing on her way. Nice read, but nothing exciting. I might have had too high expectations for a Neal Stephenson novel....