I've read his novel "Cryptonomicon" and had very mixed feelings. It was clear that Stephenson is an author who likes to show you how much he knows about every topic under the sun, and while the length of a book typically doesn't turn me off (well, OK, I never finished Don Quixote), this book was waaaay too long. Seemed like the author was
himself too much. And I felt the payoff at the end was disappointing.
On the other hand, there were parts of the book that I thoroughly enjoyed, and I really liked that events during WWII were a large and critical chunk of the story. But on the whole, "Cryptonomicon" has turned me off to his work, and someone would have to do a hell of a sales job to get me to give him a second chance.