Once the action in the book gets going, everything moves faster, but concepts and philosophical lines of thought are still being introduced. They make sense and don’t require as much thought because Stephenson laid the foundation so very well in the early sections. Still, I have to wonder if I would have benefited from reading the whole book at the pace I went through those first 120 pages; if I had not let the action distract me from the philosophy. It’s a book that I will read again and that I believe will get better with repeated journeys through it.