Anathem - Stephenson

Neal Stephenson creates large, dense worlds. 'Anathem' is the perfect example of that. It takes place on a human non-Earth planet. The protagonist, named Erasmas, is a kind of secular monk. Many millennia ago, this planet exiled their scientists, philosophers and other thinkers into walled off monasteries. Each monastery is dominated by an giant clock that is designed to run for decades without human help. The clocks are also connected to various gates that are designed to open at set intervals.
Erasmas, for instance is in an area that opens up every ten years. This allows them to connect with outside world for brief periods. There are also groups that make contact once every hundred years and millenarians, every thousand. All of them, necessarily take the long view history and don't concern themselves with the outside world very much.
But then something happens. A strange light is found in the sky. Members of the order are unexpectedly cast out. Big things are afoot.
The whole book is big, sometimes too big to really focus on. It wasn't really a page turner, and not Stephenson's best work. But my mind kept turning back to it. Weeks after I finished it, I still think about it.
Part of the Stephenson's inspiration for this work is the idea that our current society is too impressed with the new and the flashy. He has created sanctuaries dedicated to thinking and learning. We don't make century long plans today. The people of this book work in thousands of years. It makes an impression.
At times, 'Anathem' reminded me of both 'The Name of the Rose' and 'A Canticle for Liebowitz'. The first for the intrigue and the second for the unmistakable apocolyptic feel. It's not a book for everyone but I found it deeply rewarding.