Fall; or, Dodge in Hell

In a sci-fi thriller set in parallel universes in the near future, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Seveneves, Anathem, Reamde, and Cryptonomicon makes a triumphant comeback. Think of it as Paradise Lost meets Philip K. Dick.

Richard "Dodge" Forthrast became a multibillionaire after founding Corporation 9592, a gaming corporation, while he was just a young man. Dodge, who is currently in his middle years, enjoys his easygoing lifestyle, taking care of his several business ventures, and hanging out with his cousin Zula and her little daughter Sophia.

He is having a standard medical procedure one lovely fall day when something goes horribly wrong. Dodge's shocked family and close friends must make difficult decisions after he is declared brain dead and placed on life support. In a previous will, written when Dodge was considerably younger, he specified that his remains should go to a cryonics business that is currently run by mysterious tech mogul Elmo Shepherd. Despite their reservations, Dodge's family is legally required to comply with the order and has his brain scanned. The data structures are then uploaded and kept in the cloud until the day it is possible for it to be revived.

Technology will make it possible to switch Dodge's brain back on in the upcoming years. This accomplishment is equivalent to the actual disruption of death. It creates the Bitworld, an eternal afterlife where people live on as digital souls.

However, this fearless, everlasting universe is not what it seems at first.

A huge tale of analog and digital, man and machine, angels and demons, gods and followers, the finite and the eternal, Fall, or Dodge in Hell, is pure, unadulterated joy. Neal Stephenson tackles important existential issues and briefly mentions the ground-breaking discoveries that are reshaping our future in this gripping epic. By fusing the intellectual, spiritual, and technological into one big tale, he creates an incredible work of modern-day speculative fiction.