false http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1157396685m/822.jpg 822 14 <p>In the year 1689, a cabal of Barbary galley slaves -- including one Jack Shaftoe, aka King of the Vagabonds, aka Half-Cocked Jack -- devises a daring plan to win freedom and fortune. A great adventure ensues -- a perilous race for an enormous prize of silver ... nay, gold ... nay, legendary gold.</p> <p>In Europe, the exquisite and resourceful Eliza, Countess de la Zeur, is stripped of her immense personal fortune by France's most dashing privateer. Penniless and at risk from those who desire either her or her head (or both), she is caught up in a web of international intrigue, even as she desperately seeks the return of her most precious possession.</p> <p>Meanwhile, Newton and Leibniz continue to propound their grand theories as their infamous rivalry intensifies, stubborn alchemy does battle with the natural sciences, dastardly plots are set in motion ... and Daniel Waterhouse seeks passage to the Massachusetts colony in hopes of escaping the madness into which his world has descended.</p>This P.S. edition features an extra 16 pages of insights into the book, including author interviews, recommended reading, and more. 934263 book 2004 The Confusion (The Baroque Cycle, #2) total:3047|5:1287|4:1108|3:497|2:120|1:35| 3047 12633 4364 174 4 3 false false Wed Jul 09 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Tue Oct 02 20:16:18 -0700 2007 Wed Jul 09 03:45:36 -0700 2008 more...]]> 2 3 false false Tue Sep 30 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Sat Sep 27 17:25:40 -0700 2008 Thu Oct 02 06:11:44 -0700 2008 book. I should have been warned when I picked it up the first time after having finished reading a novel written by somebody with a more poetic sense of language and thinking, "Wow, this is ugly writing." I wa...more...]]> 5 1 false false Mon Sep 08 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Fri Aug 15 14:09:24 -0700 2008 Wed Sep 17 17:01:02 -0700 2008 1 Stephenson's Baroque cycle.

At the end of the last book, Half Cocked Jack was a Galley Slave off the Barbary Coast, Eliza was making a run with her baby from the continent to London, and Daniel Waterhouse had Joined the Royal Court and taken a Mistress.
...more...]]> 4 1 false false Wed May 07 07:43:39 -0700 2008 Wed Jun 04 19:42:35 -0700 2008 The Confusion is a typical second book of an atypical trilogy, and that is not at all a criticism. The second book of trilogies always bridge the gap between the first and the last with a focus on character, plot development and building the framework for the payoff. When this is done well, as with ...more...]]> 4 1 false false Mon Dec 22 13:49:04 -0800 2008 Thu Nov 06 18:18:53 -0800 2008 Mon Dec 22 13:49:04 -0800 2008 more...]]> 3 1 false false Tue May 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Sun May 27 13:40:23 -0700 2007 Sun May 27 13:44:33 -0700 2007 quicksilver, but I enjoyed the ending of quicksilver, so I thought I would give this one a try. The Confusion was OK. It was a slow read, that wasn't always the best escape for me from my world of studying. The end of The Confusion was we...more...]]> 5 1 false false Tue Jun 01 00:00:00 -0700 2004 Fri Aug 22 18:16:09 -0700 2008 Fri Aug 22 18:16:09 -0700 2008 more...]]> 4 1 false false Sat Nov 29 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Sat Nov 29 21:32:55 -0800 2008 Tue Dec 02 01:25:42 -0800 2008 5 1 false false Wed Mar 11 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sat Feb 28 09:09:45 -0800 2009 Wed Mar 11 08:27:44 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Sat Aug 29 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Mon Aug 17 11:21:18 -0700 2009 Mon Aug 31 11:31:15 -0700 2009
*****

In a discussion of being political/diplomatic:
"It is precisely because it is true, that you must not come out and state it."
"Very well then, monsieur, I vow not to say anything true for the remainder of this conversati...more...]]> 0 0 false false Thu Feb 05 09:25:25 -0800 2009 Thu Feb 05 09:25:25 -0800 2009 This "con-fusion" of two distinct novels (Juncto and Bonanza), alternating between Jack and Eliza's stories, is a must-read for Stephenson fans. Though neither entry in the Baroque Cycle has impressed the critics as much as some of Stephenson's previous work, The Confusion proves his narra...

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On the surface this "trilogy" (Stephenson refuses the term) is an enormous work. Each "book" is near 900 pages apiece. Stephenson claims that this is really 8 books collected into three volumes. This is still...more...]]> 1 1 false false Thu Jan 15 04:14:47 -0800 2009 Thu Jan 15 04:15:57 -0800 2009 ]]> 4 0 false false Thu Apr 02 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Tue Mar 24 16:25:55 -0700 2009 Thu Apr 02 12:21:43 -0700 2009 pirates/vagabonds, kings and queens, sexual liaisons, money found and lost, alchemy, the development of the modern money supply in several countries in Europe, with sidetrips to Japan, India, and Egypt. Despite the diverse topics this is...more...]]> 4 0 false false Tue Sep 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Mon Jul 13 07:41:08 -0700 2009 Tue Sep 01 16:10:30 -0700 2009 more...]]> 3 0 false false Sun Mar 29 10:52:40 -0700 2009 Sun May 31 08:57:00 -0700 2009
The first book was really dragged ...more...]]> 4 0 false false Tue Apr 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Fri Jan 16 08:49:23 -0800 2009 Fri Jan 16 09:14:49 -0800 2009 more...]]> 5 0 false false Fri Aug 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Mon Oct 06 07:48:51 -0700 2008 Mon Oct 06 08:04:49 -0700 2008
Fortunately, this didn't matter and I actually suggest that people start with this one. All the books ar...more...]]> 4 0 false false Sun Jul 13 07:24:43 -0700 2008 Sun Oct 21 06:22:21 -0700 2007 Sun Jul 13 07:24:43 -0700 2008
The story is set in various parts of Europe, North Africa, and India in the late 1600s. It tackles history, great leaps forward in scientific and...more...]]> 5 0 false false Sat Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2005 Mon Aug 20 13:53:48 -0700 2007 Mon Aug 20 14:01:41 -0700 2007 more...]]> http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=822