1851 England
The Great Exhibition at London's Crystal Palace has opened, celebrating the rise of technology and commerce. With it the power of magic - in decline since the industrial revolution began - is completely snuffed out. The existence of magic begins its gradual devolution into mere myth.
21st Century America
Magic has faded from the minds of mankind, until an encounter between Melisande Stokes, linguistics expert at Harvard, and Tristan Lyons, shadowy agent of government, leads to the uncovering of a distant past.
After translating a series of ancient texts, Melisande and Tristan discover the connection between science, magic and time travel and so the Department of Diachronic Operations - D.O.D.O. - is hastily brought into existence. Its mission: to develop a device that will send their agents back to the past, where they can stop magic from disappearing and alter the course of history.
But when you interfere with the past, there's no telling what you might find in your future...
Written with the genius, complexity, and innovation that characterize all of Neal Stephenson's work and steeped with the down-to-earth warmth and humour of Nicole Galland's storytelling style, this exciting and vividly realized work of science fiction will make you believe in the impossible, and take you to places - and times - beyond imagining.
--This text refers to an alternate
kindle_edition edition.
"There's a lot going on here--stylistic flourishes, comedic pratfalls, romance and science--but it's handled deftly. Those familiar with Stephenson will recognize his humor and ideas, while Galland (author of Stepdog, Crossed, Revenge of the Rose and others) brings a fresh and irresistible voice to this ambitious novel." --Washington Post
"[The Rise and Fall of D.O.D.O.] explores the boundary between magic and science with wit, intellectual intensity and panache."--Financial Times
"The Rise and Fall of D.O.D.O. is a high-stakes techno-farce with brains and heart."--San Francisco Chronicle
"The Rise and Fall of D.O.D.O. reflects the familiarity of authors comfortable in their respective genres and who trust the change of style the other brings. The book is more than the sum of its authors' parts."--The Straits Times
"[An] enticing speculative thriller . . . a complex and engaging what-if tale that blends technology and history."--Booklist (starred review)
"[An] immense and immensely entertaining genre-hopping yarn. . . . A departure for both authors and a pleasing combination of much appeal to fans of speculative fiction."--Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
"An intoxicating and worthy read . . . the collaboration provides both Stephenson and Galland a freeing atmosphere where ideas are explored and abandoned, measured and scattered, inflated and sent sputtering into the sky - an exhilarating place for a reader."--Winnipeg Free Press
"Glorious."--Cory Doctorow, Prometheus Award winning author of Homeland
"Quantum physics, witchcraft, and multiple groups with conflicting agendas, playfully mixed with vernacular from several centuries and a dizzying number of acronyms, create a fascinating experiment in speculation and metafiction that never loses sight of the human foibles and affections of its cast."--Publishers Weekly
"Stephenson and Galland, full of zest and brio, have expertly assembled...a delicious soufflé of adventure, laughter, hubris, and mind-twisting diachronic paradoxes."--Locus
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
About the Author
Neal Stephenson is the bestselling author of the novels Reamde, Anathem, The System of the World, The Confusion, Quicksilver, Cryptonomicon, The Diamond Age, Snow Crash, and Zodiac, and the groundbreaking nonfiction work In the Beginning . . . Was the Command Line. He lives in Seattle, Washington.
Nicole Galland's five previous novels are The Fool's Tale; Revenge of the Rose; Crossed; I, Iago, and Godiva. She writes a cheeky etiquette column for the Martha's Vineyard Times. She is married to actor Billy Meleady and owns Leuco, a dog of splendid qualities.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From the Back Cover
When Melisande Stokes, an expert in linguistics and languages, accidently meets military intelligence operative Tristan Lyons in a hallway at Harvard University, it is the beginning of a chain of events that will alter their lives and human history itself. The young man from a shadowy government entity approaches Mel, a low-level faculty member, with an incredible offer. The only condition: she must swear herself to secrecy in return for the rather large sum of money.
Tristan needs Mel to translate some very old documents, which, if authentic, are earth-shattering. They prove that magic actually existed and was practiced for centuries. But the arrival of the scientific revolution and the Age of Enlightenment weakened its power and endangered its practitioners. Magic stopped working altogether in 1851, at the time of the Great Exhibition at London's Crystal Palace--the world's fair celebrating the rise of industrial technology and commerce.
Something about the modern world "jams" the "frequencies" used by magic, and it's up to Tristan to find out why. And so the Department of Diachronic Operatives--D.O.D.O.--gets cracking on its real mission: to develop a device that can bring magic back, and send Diachronic Operatives back in time to keep it alive . . . and meddle with a little history at the same time. But while Tristan and his expanding operation master the science and build the technology, they overlook the mercurial--and treacherous--nature of the human heart.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
![The Rise and Fall of D.O.D.O. (The Rise and Fall of D.O.D.O., Book 1) by [Neal Stephenson, Nicole Galland]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51J+EtAV8gL._SY346_.jpg)
