On my last read through (actually listen; it's fun in audio) I found some aspects of the Raft deeply racist.

Not that the burbclaves aren't stellar examples of that shit. Fiction can be problematic and still be enjoyed.

But Stephenson has the flaw common to a lot of white technical dudes who came of age in his era, and he's aware enough to have recognized it in others, just not in himself -- he thinks he's too smart to be *ist, be it racist, sexist, ableist, or whatever, and so doesn't examine his biases and is thus moreso than if he were unapologetic about it. (I caught a couple of absolute horrors in Seveneves and Reamde, too.)

I'm going to hope for epic, and a strong writing team that refuses to take Neal's shit. The American Gods team managed to undo some of Neil Gaiman's worst sins, so it can be done.