A couple of thoughts/brainstorms:

1) When the Erasmas/Jad/Valer/etc. cell was drifting through space, it became utterly, completely disconnected from the “main” Narrative’s of both Arbre and the Geometers. Jad destroyed the transmitter. The Cold Dark Mirror prevented the Geometers from observing them. This made me think of a Shrodinger’s Cat-type of set up. Unobserved, they entered a state of quantum flux.

Note: This is when they (the various cell members) all started having “weird dreams” or, I think more likely, tapping into alternate Narratives. Perhaps Jad and the Thousanders are able to explore these Narratives even when “observed”, whereas a common Tenner or Unarian starts to glimpse the possibilities when isolated.

One flaw, among many, I can see with this is that whole group (each individual consciousness of each group member) is observing the other during this time. So, they are not completely unobserved. Yet, this might be consistent with their various fates being tied together/entangled.

Any thoughts?

** I just read the rest of the original article and realized that Lev Grossman talks about this in the article. Oh well, the Lorites were right!!! **

2) Echoes of the Foundation Series…
Jules Verne unveiling. Totally reminded me of when one of the Second Foundationers is “unmasked”.

3) Fraa Lodoghir – I agree, this was unexpected. It’s a fun surprise, but I don’t know that there was anything earlier in the book to make us think that he was in on the whole thing. I guess we could reason out that he is really, really smart (as demonstrated in the dialog with Erasmas and the messal) and has motives within motives within motives.

4) My wife (and friends at work) also think I am crazy when I talk about the book. How many other authors could use the passage of undigestible alien food through the main character’s GI tract as a plot device to introduce one of the main climaxes of a 1000 page book?! Genius…

About them not discussing Fraa Jad, I thought they didn’t discuss because of the listening devices on the ship. They spoke a little more freely once the scramblers were introduced, but I was really hoping for one last dialog among the key players back on earth going into depth about what happened.

But when they started getting odd questions from Arb, was that because that Jad was already shifting them through Narratives and destroyed the transmitter to keep them from getting confused or was Sammon’s explanation about Reticule problems correct?

As for the ending, my theory is that Jad took Erasmus on a tour of multiple Narratives, looking for one that ended well for Arb and the ship. Erasmus remembered some of them, but not all. Unfortunately for Jad that Narrative was one where he ‘died’, but you have to think he might have just left the others in the Narrative with a happy ending and kept searching himself.

One more thought about the question of why they sent Jad and the others into space. I thought it hinted that the Lineage, which had power in both mathic and saeculer worlds, adopted Ala’s plan and pulled the strings specifically to get Jad into orbit, knowing that he’d shift through the various Naratives.

As usual with Stephenson, I’ve got more questions than answers, but I can’t wait for what he does next.

Greg Egan wrote ‘Permutation City’ and wove in some of quantum concepts – as did Ian McDonald in ‘Brasyl’. Tucked into Brasyl is a little bibliography that might help readers of Anathem looking for a few accessible quantum physics books.

I’ve not read the Baroque cycle. Looks like thanksgiving reading. Woo hoo.

Of course, even the Bible ends awkwardly…

I thought it was a fascinating book, but I’m an admitted Stephenson fanboy!