I found this one to be engaging from beginning to end. The premise is solid, and while it comes across as a bit naive 25 years later, the story here is enjoyable enough to settle into. The main character and most of his friends/colleagues are aggressively likable and mostly well-written. You can see the pedal to the metal writing style Stephenson is known for starting to take shape here and it serves the pacing well. I had a friend say that this would have made a great 80s movie, and I wholeheartedly agree - this is exactly the kind of book we have here.