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Neal Stephenson's justly-lauded Cryptonomicon is more than 900 pages of math, cryptography, techno-thriller intrigue, military shenanigans, and revisionist history. Spanning fifty years in time, this novel intertwines an implausible military mission in WWII with a contemporary attempt to create a data haven for the burgeoning (at least, in 1990) internet. The novel is also hysterically funny. Is it a science-fiction novel, though? Does it even belong on this list?