Books

New York: Avon Books, 1999. First edition. First printing (with full number line including 1). Hardbound. Very Fine in a very fine jacket. A pristine unread copy, purchased new and opened only for author signature. (A tiny bit of wear at head of spine.) Publisher's price intact on front jacket flap ($27.95). SIGNED BY AUTHOR on title page (name only). Comes with archival-quality mylar jacket protector. Smoke-free. Amy Halperin(Jacket Designer) (illustrator). According to Stephenson, the title is a play on Necronomicon, the title of a book mentioned in the stories of horror writer H. P. Lovecraft. Stephenson's subsequent work, a trio of novels dubbed The Baroque Cycle, provides part of the deep backstory to the characters and events featured in Cryptonomicon. Set in the late 17th and early 18th centuries, the novels feature ancestors of several characters in Cryptonomicon, as well as events and objects which affect the action of the later-set book. Hugo Award Nominee for Best Novel, 2000. Arthur C. Clarke Award Nominee, 2000. Locus Award Winner for Best Science Fiction Novel, 2000. Winner, Mir Fantastiki Award for Best Foreign Sci-Fi Novel, 2005. Winner, Prometheus Hall of Fame Award, 2013.

Cryptonomicon weaves together multiple narratives spanning different time periods. The book follows the complex stories of the Waterhouse family and their involvement in World War II codebreaking and present-day software development, and the Shaftoe family, whose members include a World War II Marine and a present-day treasure hunter. Interlacing mathematics, cryptography, philosophy, and technology, Stephenson crafts a complex and engaging tale.