An award-winning writer best known for his works of speculative fiction, Neal Stephenson's most recent books are Reamde, Anathem and the Baroque Cycle – Quicksilver, The Confusion and The System of the World. Stephenson, who lives in Seattle, just published Seveneves, which follows the descendants of the survivors of an apocalyptic event on Earth as they return to their ancestral home 5,000 years later.
Why did you write your new book?
My new book is an idea that was banging around inside of my head for seven or eight years. Every so often I would feed it a little love. Finally it grew big and strong enough to kick its way out.
What question do you wish people would ask about your work (that they don't ask)?
My favourite questions are the ones where the questioner has become so involved in the fictional world of the book that they have actually joined in on the creative process. They usually start with words like "Did it occur to you that…" or "Wouldn't it be interesting if …" Frequently, I don't know the answers to such questions, which is part of what makes them interesting.
Which historical period do you wish you'd lived through, and why?
"Lived through" is a pretty important part of that question, since it implies I would survive the dangers of tetanus, plague, fire, predatory beasts and random violence that would be part and parcel of any journey into the past. My answer may not strike you as terribly original, but I would like to have seen Rome at its peak. Not necessarily Rome itself. I'd settle for an outlying city that was part of the empire. It was, in many ways, an odious culture, but extremely good at getting things done and I'd like to have a better understanding of how that worked.
What scares you as a writer, and why?
I am worried that trends in the publishing industry may lead to a situation in which writing is no longer even remotely viable as a livelihood, except for a few lucky people. You could say that this has already been true for a while, but it seems to be getting more so.
What's a book every 10-year-old should read, and why?
Whatever's near to hand, fun to read, and as much of a guilty pleasure as possible. I'm not a fan of grownups telling youngsters that they "should" read this or that Great Book. Better to get in the habit of reading – you can find great books later just by following your nose.