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Quicksilver (The Baroque Cycle #1)

3.88 of 5 stars 3.88 · rating details · 17,165 ratings · 1,193 reviews

Set against the backdrop of the late 17th and early 18th centuries, Quicksilver tells the intertwining tales of 3 unforgettable main characters (descendants of characters from Cryptonomicon) as they traverse a landscape populated by mad alchemists, Barbary pirates, and bawdy courtiers, as well as historical figures including Ben Franklin, William of Orange, Louis XIV, and...more

Paperback, 927 pages

Published September 21st 2004 by William Morrow Paperbacks (first published 2003)

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Jul 30, 2011 Kemper rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: historical-fiction, sci-fi

(The following is an excerpt from the journal of Neal Stephenson.)

After the success of Cryptonomicon, I’m having some problems narrowing down my next project. The issue is that I have far too many ideas, and I can’t decide which plot to use for my next book.

I know that I want do something set during the late 17th century in Europe. It was an amazing time with huge changes in politics, culture, commerce and science, but there was just so much going on that I can’t seem to make up my mind and pic...more

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Apr 25, 2010 Bryan rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: sf, historical_fiction, favorites

This book is just too vast to give justice to it in the few lines of this review that I might come up with now.

If you are ready to read this, here are some suggestions:

1) Start with Cryptonomicon first. You don't need to read this first, but it will help you get used to Stephenson's style, and you'll appreciate Quicksilver better having done so.

2) Before reading Quicksilver, spend some time brushing up on some basic English history. (Did you know that London burned? Do you know what the Monmouth...more

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Jan 15, 2009 Scott rated it 3 of 5 stars

Stephenson deserves an editor that will tell him to write less. The man prodigiously describes "cool" "fun" "interesting" events with such detail and precision that it usually loses its narrative flow. The guy has a command of the english language and is certainly fascinated by late 17th century and early 18th century goings-on that this feels like a historical narrative rather than historical fiction, yet the whole book feels like it was written in computer code; it is an odd stylistic quirk of...more

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Feb 25, 2009 Jamie rated it 1 of 5 stars

I think it's official: I hate Neil Stephenson. I hated his so called cyberpunk classic Snow Crash --a fact that sets me apart from most of the nerdegalian-- and I really hated Quicksilver.

Quicksilver is kind of hard to classify, if you in fact insist on classifying it. It's kind of historical fiction in that it's set in the 17th and 18th century and follows the rise of empiricism and science. It features real people from that period, like Isaac Newton, Gotfried Leibniz, Robert Boyle, Robert Hook...more I think it's official: I hate Neil Stephenson. I hated his so called cyberpunk classic Snow Crash --a fact that sets me apart from most of the nerdegalian-- and I really hated Quicksilver.

Quicksilver is kind of hard to classify, if you in fact insist on classifying it. It's kind of historical fiction in that it's set in the 17th and 18th century and follows the rise of empiricism and science. It features real people from that period, like Isaac Newton, Gotfried Leibniz, Robert Boyle, Robert Hook, King Louis XIV, and others. But the "fiction" part of "historical fiction" comes into play because the main characters --an aspiring natural philosopher (read: scientist) named Daniel Waterhouse, a former concubine turned finance tycoon named Eliza, and a charming vagabond named Jack Shaftoe-- never really existed and were fabricated for the sake of the book, which traces the activities of these three main characters as they live through the era.

The main problem I have with Quicksilver was that it was largely plotless. I kept waiting for something to happen or some plot to coalesce out of the noise, but it didn't. The characters are really just there to give Stephenson an excuse to carry on about the development of science as a discipline, the ephemeral nature of money, and pirates --sometimes all three in the same passage. There's no narrative, just a seemingly endless burbling of scenes --the damn thing is nearly 1,000 pages long, and I READ the paper version of this one. I actually kind of liked the some of the parts with struggling scientist Daniel Waterhouse the best, because the history of science interests me, but even these moments of engagement were covered up by obscure details and diversions that were like overgrown plants in a sprawling garden.

In fact, the whole book is bloated with details about experiments, geneologies, dissertations on stock markets, battles, family histories, and other verbal flotsam that it made it downright hard to read the book and impossible to enjoy. I get the impression that Stephenson gorged himself on research for the book, and then decided to use it all --every last syllable-- no matter what hellacious effect it has on the narrative or the goal of actually telling an interesting story. Quicksilver may be more entertaining than a high school textbook on the same topics, but only marginally.

And the thing is that it's only the first THIRD of a trilogy, plus a tie-in to Stpehnons's book Cryptonomicon. What's worse is that I went ahead and picked up the other books in hardback, though I did so at a thrift store and only set myself back a total of like three bucks. I think I'm just gonna eat that cost and not even think about picking them up, given how much I disliked Quicksilver. Life is too short.(less)

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Feb 25, 2009 Stephen Dranger rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: scientists, armchair philosophers, and people who like reading for the sake of reading

Reading a huge 900+ page hardcover book with a seemingly open plot filled with pages of 17th century philosophical exposition and the requirement of reading two more books just like it may seem like a chore, but for me at least, Stephenson makes it fascinating. He reveals (or invents, at the very least) the inner workings of Isaac Newton, early Dutch stock market fraud, the invention of the calculus, and Turkish harems. This all serves as a backdrop for Daniel Waterhouse, Jack Shaftoe, and Eliza...more

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Jan 23, 2009 WK rated it 5 of 5 stars

4.0/4.0

It's the Moby-Dick question.

The plot's about an angry guy chasing a whale. There's not a lot of variation on this theme: he catches it, or he doesn't. Maybe he catches it and wishes that he didn't, maybe he doesn't and regrets that he failed. But this basic plot, a straightforward quest for revenge, is such thin gruel that you'd have to be on the lower end of the intellectual spectrum to fail to realize that the book's about something a little bit more than hunting a big fish.

Even so, the...more

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Jul 16, 2007 meg Olson rated it 1 of 5 stars Recommends it for: anyone with infinite patience

The first third of the book was generally plodding and lacking in any interesting protagonists (and no, I don't care that the oh-so-clever-writer added in as many famous characters as he could think of, they were still generally annoying). The second third showed much more promise, and was actually really fun, until the very end when everything got awful. Not like The-Empire-Strikes-Back-second-act-as-many-bad-things-happen-as-possible awful, though I think that's what the author was aiming for....more

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Feb 10, 2011 William rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: his-fiction, hardcover

I loved Stephenson's "Snow Crash". Really liked "Cryptonomicon". But, this novel was terribly boring. It is divided into three books. Book 1 follows the scientist Dan Waterhouse. Book 2 followed Jack Shaftoe, King of the Vagabonds. Book 3 sees Eliza, a former slave girl, caught up in a spy ring between the French, English & Dutch governments. Sounds good, but it isn't. The writing is too long, and too detailed to remain focused on what should be important to the story...the story. I found my...more

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Mar 06, 2011 Manny rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: too-sexy-for-maiden-aunts, parody-homage, the-goodreads-experience, mentions-twilight, story-review

I received an unexpected visit yesterday evening from a Mr. Nosnehpets, who told me he was a time-traveller and writer from the early 25th century. He had just published a historical novel, and wondered if I would do him the service of reviewing it.

"Why me?" I asked, bemused.

"Well," replied my visitor with an insinuating smile, "You appear in it more than once. You don't know it yet, but you're one of your period's major authors."

I snatched the book, Mercury, from his hands, and it was even as h...more

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Aug 22, 2008 Dan rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Natural Philosophers, Mathematicians, Alchemists, Vagabonds, and Puritans

Recommended to Dan by: John

This book is historical fiction at its best. It is jam packed with background on Europe in the 17th century: the wars, political machinations of the royalty, as well as the academic rivalries of continental and British natural philosophers and alchemists. Furthermore, the background of the characters is very well explained.

The book is structured in an interesting way, it consists of three books. "Quicksilver", "King of the Vagabonds", and "Odelisque."

The first book is almost entirely about the P...more This book is historical fiction at its best. It is jam packed with background on Europe in the 17th century: the wars, political machinations of the royalty, as well as the academic rivalries of continental and British natural philosophers and alchemists. Furthermore, the background of the characters is very well explained.

The book is structured in an interesting way, it consists of three books. "Quicksilver", "King of the Vagabonds", and "Odelisque."

The first book is almost entirely about the Puritan Daniel Waterhouse (apparently some ancestor of the Waterhouse family from Cryptonomicon.) He was Sir Isaac Newton's dorm mate at Cambridge, another student of "natural philosophy" as science was called back then. The book follows Daniel through the reformation, the plague years, the fire of London. It also details his involvement in The Royal Society, the British scientific academic establishment. It shows what it really must have been like to be an academic in 17th century England. It also shows how modern science came out of alchemy and the religious establishment. This book lays the foundations for the dispute between Newton and Leibniz.

The Second book follows Jack Shaftoe, the "King of the Vagabonds" and apparently the Ancestor of the Shaftoe family from Cryptonomicon. It follows him as he joins an army as a mercenary to fight the Ottomans at Vienna. There he rescues Eliza from the Turks, and they continue from there across Europe. Getting into commodities trading in Amsterdam, and making the acquaintance of Leibniz.

The Third book follows a now forty some year old Daniel Waterhouse, who is now an Adviser to King Charles II, and also Eliza who is essentially a stock broker for the nobles of France. This book is much more about the political posturing of the French and British royalties.

Also, Enoch Root from Cryptonomicon (who is an Alchemist in the 17th century) makes appearances in each of the three books, hinting and helping everyone along.

Each of the three books contain stories about Mathematical and Scientific advances of the times, as well as a continual theme of finance and economics.

This book was well written, and very entertaining. However, it was so detailed as to be slow reading in some parts (especially in the third book, Odelisque.) Despite this, the book was fun through out. Although in the slow parts, I enjoyed it more for its factual content than the story (at many points, the density of information reminded me of Jared Diamond's Collapse.) Also,

I read this book because I liked Cryptonomicon ALOT, and this book starts the Baroque cycle which occurs in the same world as that book. Also, people in the know, like John Banes and Henry Cohn, told me that it is good stuff.
(less)

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Sep 25, 2008 Jamie rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: science-fiction, historical-fiction

Not as riveting as Cryptonomicon but still a very good read, during which I covered my bookmark with notes of things to go look up later.

This volume is split into three books, each the size of a decent 300-page novel. The characters appear to be the ancestors of those in Cryptonomicon; i.e. Waterhouses and Shaftoes.

I really loved book one, which is set in 17th century England and follows the exploits of Daniel Waterhouse, an associate of Isaac Newton and other famous Natural Philosophers of the...more

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Feb 25, 2009 Brooke rated it 5 of 5 stars

I went on a long Neal Stephenson kick a while back:

QUICKSILVER
I finished reading Quicksilver by Neal Stephenson about a month ago. This book took me almost two months to finish reading because it is so freaking long and epic. I really love Neal Stephenson. I've also read Cryptonomicon and Snow Crash. I highly recommend reading Cryptonomicon before Quicksilver, because you get to have the pleasure of seeing the family names of characters that lived in the 20th century popping up in 17th century E...more I went on a long Neal Stephenson kick a while back:

QUICKSILVER
I finished reading Quicksilver by Neal Stephenson about a month ago. This book took me almost two months to finish reading because it is so freaking long and epic. I really love Neal Stephenson. I've also read Cryptonomicon and Snow Crash. I highly recommend reading Cryptonomicon before Quicksilver, because you get to have the pleasure of seeing the family names of characters that lived in the 20th century popping up in 17th century Europe.

The book provides an intimate look into the life and times of England and the European continent during the 17th century, and of famous men such as Louis XIV and Isaac Newton. However, it is not a history book. It was an exciting read, giving the reader the feeling of being swept back in time and allowed to observe the details of life often left out of history, such as medical procedures (cutting for "the stone" performed by barbers, for instance), privies, whorehouses, etc. But it was Neal Stephenson's characters, as always, that made the book truly worth reading.

Daniel Waterhouse, the main character, lives through some very exciting times in English history. Most famously, the Black Plague and the Great Fire. He also is acquainted with many famous men, such as Isaac Newton, the Royal Society, and even multiple British kings in succession. Through him we learn of how many aspects of science and the scientific process that we take for granted in modern times were discovered and/or invented. (gravity, for example, and calculus.) He is also raised as a Puritan, with a famously dissenting father who had his nose cut off as an example and believed the apocalypse would come in 1666 (as did most Puritans at the time). We also get to experience Trinity College at it's most decadent and depraved, with drunken noble sons stumbling about the campus, etc.

One third of the way into the book, Stephenson introduces us to Jack Shaftoe (AKA "Half-Cocked Jack" due to a phallic injury, also AKA "L'Emmerdeur" hero of French vagabond tales), an English vagabond wandering around the European continent getting involved in wars, adventures, and business fiascos all over the place. He may be slightly insane (from the "french pox"), but he is wildly entertaining. As is the amazingly resourceful Eliza, whom Jack "rescues" from a Turkish harem during the siege of Vienna. Their story is one of travel, business exploits, attainment, and loss. I think this might have been my favorite part of the novel.

The final third of the book goes back to Daniel in London during the overthrow of the monarchy. And, of course, the ending leaves you hanging and wanting to read the second book. But I think I'll have to muster my energy for another long read before I tackle it.

I feel almost bad saying so, but I don't think Quicksilver is Stephenson's best work. I loved Cryptonomicon for it's smart, fresh approach to "historical" fiction, just as I enjoyed Snow Crash for it's witty, imaginitive picture of the urban future. But I really felt like the energy had drained out of his writing in this novel. It was still innovative, and smart, and witty...but it felt a little bogged down. Perhaps it was the language, being set in the 17th century, or perhaps it was all the ponderous (but necessary) back stories needed to explain historical events and wars, I'm not sure. But it did seem a little slow at times.

Overall, however, this book was an entertaining read, though while I was reading it, I thought it would have been helpful to have some sort of resource that could tell me which characters and events were historical. The wikipedia article was pretty helpful. I didn't notice the "cast" list at the back until I was finished reading the book. This list tells which characters were real and which were fictional, and also their multiple names and titles. (less)

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Jan 24, 2011 Kerry rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: alchemy, iownthis, historical, science, technology, mathematics

I just finished reading this for the second time; I was loathe to dive into the Baroque Cycle again, because of the commitment involved: three volumes of nearly a thousand pages each, and you know how I feel about commitment.

But man is it great. So funny and clever and I learn SO MUCH (though since I'm learning nearly all of it all over again, clearly I didn't retain much the first time around.)

Uh, okay, quick synopsis? It takes place in the late seventeenth century, mostly in England, a bit in...more

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Jan 16, 2009 Margo rated it 1 of 5 stars

I bought this book because it said on the cover that it was a "New York Time Bestseller". How can this be? The paperback version is 916 pages and I got to page eight hundred and sixty something and then couldn't take it anymore. It was one of the most boring books I've ever read in my entire life. There were only a couple interesting characters and of course they had the shortest sections in the book. I could saved myself the hassle and only read the 100 or so pages that were semi interesting. I...more

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Jan 31, 2009 Paul rated it 5 of 5 stars

It's a huge tome, but well worth it. Where can you find Isaac Newton as a character among many, and I am close to positive that the most popular Caribbean pirate was modelled after Jack Shaftoe. Be advised that it's the first of a series of three. Pretty amazing, though!

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Feb 25, 2009 Marisa rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: science-fiction

Neal Stephenson is really interested in the same things I am... and he does make it all sound so fun... but the weakness of this book is its heavy reliance on historical characters, like newton, about whom one might have a different idea than he does. I think that Stephenson is also trying play with ideas and adopt a tone that is forever inching him away from the populist (but excellent) Snow Crash into a pynchonesque nerdville where most fear to tread. I wonder if he'll be able to pull it off.....more

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Feb 23, 2012 Sandi marked it as lemmed

Shelves: cross-genre, sci-fi

I admit it. I have absolutely no desire to finish this book. I'm so very close to the end, but I stopped caring somewhere along the way. I really don't know what it is that keeps me from finishing it. Maybe it's because I only have about 120 pages left and I know that nothing's going to be resolved. Maybe it's because I've read 781 pages and have no idea what the heck is going on. Is there even a plot? Is this book about anything other than history? I can see why people do like it. In fact, I li...more

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Feb 17, 2009 Liz rated it 3 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Not for the faint of heart!

Shelves: reviewed, books-read-in-2009, own

This was an overwhelming book to read, and it’s an overwhelming book to try to review. What is this book about? What isn’t it about would be a more appropriate question! Set in the late 1600s, it is separated into three books, which chronicle the adventures of the three main characters. We first meet Daniel Waterhouse, whose radical Puritan upbringing makes him somewhat of an outcast in post-Civil War England. His main pursuit in life is Natural Philosophy, and he enjoys the privilege of being a...more This was an overwhelming book to read, and it’s an overwhelming book to try to review. What is this book about? What isn’t it about would be a more appropriate question! Set in the late 1600s, it is separated into three books, which chronicle the adventures of the three main characters. We first meet Daniel Waterhouse, whose radical Puritan upbringing makes him somewhat of an outcast in post-Civil War England. His main pursuit in life is Natural Philosophy, and he enjoys the privilege of being acquainted with many of the most prominent scientists of his day (and indeed, of all time). In the second book, we meet our other two protagonists, “Half-Cocked” Jack Shaftoe, Vagabond extraordinaire, and the beautiful Eliza. At the Turkish siege of Vienna (which Jack is a part of only for the potential looting to be done), Jack rescues Eliza from the harem she has been trapped in since she and her mother were kidnapped by pirates from their home on the English coast. Together, they quest across the Continent in pursuit of fame and fortune. The individual stories of each of the characters are interesting, but they serve as more of a backdrop for the larger events happening in the world around them. It is a time rife with political unrest, and each character ends up playing some part in the countless intrigues that govern the rise and fall of nobles, royals and even empires.

I have to admit, I almost didn’t get past the first hundred pages of this book. It took me awhile to get used to the author’s style of writing, which jumps around a lot and was a little hard to figure out. However, the book just sounded so interesting I really didn’t want to give up, and I’m glad I didn’t! Once I got into the groove of reading (and when I knew more of what to expect), I really ended up enjoying it, especially once I got to Jack and Eliza’s story (which I found more engaging by far). Those who are interested in math and physics would probably find parts of this book very interesting, as the character Daniel Waterhouse is friends with Isaac Newton and other scientists and mathematicians, and there are quite a few passages that get pretty technical. Most of it went right over my head, of course (both of those were my worst subjects), but those passages were pretty few and far between, and there’s plenty there for the layman reader to enjoy. I feel like I learned a lot even so (which is rare with a fiction book). I can see, though, how this book wouldn’t be for everyone, but I feel it was worth the time and effort it took to read, and I’m glad my perseverance paid off. In the end, my review (or any) can hardly do it justice. I am definitely looking forward to picking up the next in the series.(less)

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Apr 25, 2013 T.L. Evans rated it 4 of 5 stars

The first installment of a the first volume of the Baroque Cycle (if you think that's convoluted, read the book), Quicksilver is a very good tale (or listen in my case). Though like other of Stephenson’s works, it does sometimes read like an enormous info-dump. Still, this novel combines pirate adventure, political intrigue, history of science, gear-punk and alchemy in equal parts and comes up with an extremely intelligent and enjoyable story. I can’t say this book is for everyone, but for that...more

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Apr 11, 2013 Maitrey rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: historical-fiction, sff

This isn't a book. It's something you can move into and raise a family.

It took me a long while to finish this book, especially since I decided I would read(?) it only as an audio book. Even-though I had an ebook version, this book lends itself to an exciting audio book, as the various letters, dispatches, monologues, not to mention pirate-sea-chants are brought alive by a skilled ensemble of artists.
Here's what I thought of this book:

1. This is not a history book, it's historical fiction/fantasy...more This isn't a book. It's something you can move into and raise a family.

It took me a long while to finish this book, especially since I decided I would read(?) it only as an audio book. Even-though I had an ebook version, this book lends itself to an exciting audio book, as the various letters, dispatches, monologues, not to mention pirate-sea-chants are brought alive by a skilled ensemble of artists.
Here's what I thought of this book:

1. This is not a history book, it's historical fiction/fantasy. But that doesn't mean you don't learn a lot of history from it. Louis XIV, William of Orange, James II are some of the characters who appear throughout the book, not to mention (arguably) more important figures such as Leibniz, Robert Hook and Newton. You also get to read about events such as the Fire of London, the Siege of Vienna, and the Glorious Revolution in Stephenson's classic style.

2. You need not have read the Cryptonomicon to enjoy Quicksilver, but some of Quicksilver's (QS) characters are ancestors of the ones that appear in Cryptonomicon, which was published earlier. Stephenson eases you into his style in Crypto, while in QS, it's more of a headlong jump (not that I'm complaining).

3. Boy, have I become a fan of Stephenson's writing style. Whether it's his descriptions of the 17th Century Amsterdam Stock Market, or the conic-sections made by a ship observed by Daniel Waterhouse. Or the dry irreverent wit (sometimes in the middle of the didactic discourse), usually spouted by Jack Shaftoe, is as good as it gets.

4. Stephenson tries to use a variety of scenarios and characters to explore 17th/18th Century life, whether it's a bunch of mudlark boys who help convicts about to be hanged, or the silver mining process in Central Europe, or an epic professor versus pirates battle in the Atlantic Ocean; something no historian will speculate about in such juicy detail.

5. The only criticism I can think of is that the book is slightly lacking in the plot department. You don't know if Stephenson has a grand vision of something he wants to impart, or some event he is driving at. It can get a little galling, especially if you are in the habit of reading books that neatly tie everything up. If you don't expect that in your books, this behemoth is just the thing.

6. Just read this book for the joy of reading. If you really want, you can stop for a while and pick it up again, especially if you stop at the sub-books. (less)

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Mar 25, 2013 Suzanne Stroh rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: epics-and-cycles, top-shelf

Stephenson's Baroque Cycle is a literary masterpiece of historical fantasy fiction by a writer of the first order.

It is usually misfiled in science fiction, the genre that the cyberpunk author of Snow Crash and Cyptonomicon is best known for. Make no mistake. This. Is. Literature.

Quicksilver the first of three volumes, but the suite has also been republished so that readers can take the saga in smaller bites.

Starts very slowly but stick with it. Jump ahead if you need to. Read smart. Just don't...more

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Mar 25, 2013 David rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: fans of Cryptonomicon

(I'm going to write once for the whole Baroque Cycle and re-post for all three volumes.)

Definitely door-stoppers, and reading this is a bit of an ambitious project. Sort of a homework assignment for the serious Stephenson fan. The history and economics lessons are all interesting, but there's just SO MUCH of it, it may start to strain the attention span at times. The action and humor are all still there, just a bit spread out. At one point, it had started to have a certain "eat your vegetables"...more

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Jan 20, 2013 Dane rated it 5 of 5 stars

This is just an amazing book.

As a philosophy student, I am impressed at how Stephenson can distill essential ideas from the philosophies articulated by early modern thinkers like Leibniz, Descartes, and Locke, and fluidly work them into the plot as characters or significant allusions.

As someone with a modest grasp of European history, this book fascinated me because of how lively and interesting it manages to make 16-17th century European politics. With regards to the English civil war and Catho...more

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Aug 23, 2012 Torben Rasmussen rated it 4 of 5 stars

Neal has written an impressive piece of historical fiction on the age of Enlightenment set in the late 17th century Europe featuring historical characters suchs as Newton, Liebniz as well as other contemporaries like John Locke and Robert Hooke.

While the many accounts of baroque science and philosophy are very exciting to follow the book slowly turns into an account of the politics and intrigues of Kings and courts. While this surely allows for very detailed historical setting of the fictionous...more

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Aug 04, 2012 Sarah rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

There's a lovely bit in Great Expectations, where Pip and Herbert go backstage to congratulate their acquaintance, Mr Wopsle, after his performance as Hamlet.

`Gentlemen, how did it seem to you, to go, in front?'

Herbert said from behind (at the same time poking me), `capitally.' So I said `capitally.'

`How did you like my reading of the character, gentlemen?' said Mr Waldengarver, almost, if not quite, with patronage.

Herbert said from behind (again poking me), `massive and concrete.' So I said bol...more There's a lovely bit in Great Expectations, where Pip and Herbert go backstage to congratulate their acquaintance, Mr Wopsle, after his performance as Hamlet.

`Gentlemen, how did it seem to you, to go, in front?'

Herbert said from behind (at the same time poking me), `capitally.' So I said `capitally.'

`How did you like my reading of the character, gentlemen?' said Mr Waldengarver, almost, if not quite, with patronage.

Herbert said from behind (again poking me), `massive and concrete.' So I said boldly, as if I had originated it, and must beg to insist upon it, `massive and concrete.'

This book - well, this book is quite capitally Massive and Concrete. It's huge (but you don't notice that once you get into it). It's got a cast of thousands (but they are handled with dexterity, and an unusually humorous Dramatis Personæ). It ranges over many lands and seventy odd years (sometimes within the same chapter). It's also very funny, highly erudite and contains some unrepeatable suggestions of what to do with 10 inches of sausage skin. Above all, it's fascinated with knowledge and - more percipiently - with how knowledge is transmitted. So, much of it is about the straightforward (if jaw-dropping) discoveries of the polymaths who made up the Royal Society in London in the late C17th, but running counter to that is the less dramatic story of how men of learning exchanged information to their mutual benefit. The central section - about the folk-hero, Jack Shaftoe - explores this from a different angle: how do "ordinary" people find out so quickly about Jack's exploits?

Other reviews suggest Neal Stephenson is trying to unpick the roots of the Information Age. That's a perfectly plausible approach. Reading the book, though, what comes across most strongly is his sense of admiration for the energy of the late C17th period - and a well-paced engaging story with scientific highs explained lucidly. If I had a quibble (and it's a minor one), there is a touch of "Then Isaac Newton came into the room, with Chris Wren and old Bobby Hooke". Stephenson isn't nearly as crass as that, but he does manage to catch Anyone who Is Anyone in his net.

In short, a terrific read - and two more volumes of the series to go.(less)

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Jul 17, 2012 Charlie Huenemann rated it 5 of 5 stars

(This is a review of the whole Baroque Cycle.)

The saga ranges over the years 1640-1714 (roughly), following three principal characters: Daniel Waterhouse, a British natural philosopher and non-conformist; Eliza, a woman kidnapped from a remote British isle and abducted into the seraglio, who is later rescued and who subsequently makes her way into the court of Versailles and the world of high finance; and Half-Cocked Jack Shaftoe, King of the Vagabonds, adventurer, galley slave, pirate, and symp...more

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Jul 02, 2012 Brendan Lyons rated it 4 of 5 stars

This book is the first of the Baroque Cycle series ... which seems to go on forever and ever and ever. That is actually a Good Thing because Stephenson draws the reader into the convoluted secret world of the 17th century (with, admittedly, a few lapses and boring bits en route)in such a way that s/he will never quite see it the same way again. The research that must have gone into the writing of this series is nothing short of colossal but Stephenson never quite parades it in our faces -- altho...more

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Feb 11, 2012 James Targett rated it 3 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. I have been reading this book for nearly three weeks and I am still puzzled by it. I think I will be thinking upon it for awhile. Some parts of the book are marvellous and I would award five starts to; others read like drivel worth one or two stars.

Essentially the novel is split into three books. From wikipedia I have learnt that these have since been published as independent novels - which might be a better way to treat them. As Quicksilver iself is book one of the Baroque Cycle. As Quicksilver...more I have been reading this book for nearly three weeks and I am still puzzled by it. I think I will be thinking upon it for awhile. Some parts of the book are marvellous and I would award five starts to; others read like drivel worth one or two stars.

Essentially the novel is split into three books. From wikipedia I have learnt that these have since been published as independent novels - which might be a better way to treat them. As Quicksilver iself is book one of the Baroque Cycle. As Quicksilver is 917 pages in length, the full cycle must be massive, running to two more volumes, which I will read once I have the stamina for them.

Book One, also named Quicksilver, is excellent. It concerns a principal character: Daniel Waterhouse, and Isaac Newton. It covers much of the Reformation and the early years of the Royal Society. The framing device, Isaac returning from Massachusetts to devise a reconciliation between Leibniz and Newton in the early years of the Hanover reign is never completed, nor is it explained why Teach (or Blackbeard) wants to board the ship that Waterhouse is on to capture him. I only assume that this is covered in later volumes.

Book Two: King of the Vagabonds, is a swashbuckling tale, perverse in places, full of unlikely happenings, including Eliza's tale as a rise from a Turkish white-slave girl at the Siege of Vienna to noble at the Court of the Sun King via machinations and trading on the early exchange in Amsterdam. I cared very little for the principals: Eliza and Jack Shaftoe, as they seemed to behave in certain ways to further the plot and circumstance, rather than develop their characters. If this had been the whole book I would have abandoned it. But there was more and so I endured.

Book Three: Odalisque, combines Daniel at the court of King James II, more Royal Society, as well as Eliza's actions as a spy for William of Orange at the court of King Louis XIV. It is much better than Book Two. Jack is now off-screen, supposedly enslaved by Barbars, though a throw away comment about the stories of "L'Emmerdeur in Barbary" suggest further adventures for Jack. "L'Ermmerduer" being Jack's nom de guerre.

Overall: satisfying, given that I haven't read a Neal Stephenson book for ten years after reading Cryptonicom (which collapses as a novel two hundred pages before the end; and which deals with the descendants of the Waterhouses and the Shaftoes) there is much in here to enjoy. Still, there are significant parts that dissatisfy. Though well researched - I feel an urge to go away and revisit the history of the English Civil War and the Baroque period - and with a fine turn of phrase, structurally the novel is a mess. Maybe once I have read the other two thousand words of the Baroque Cycle it will have an elaborate and welcome structure, but either I have to acquire both books and continue a marathon of reading, or accept that time will pass until I start on the next volume and some of the details of the first will have faded, meaning that I will never appreciate the over-arching structure, if there is one.

In places: inspired by Minerva and Mercury; in other places: syphilitic ravings and the addled tales of one who drinks quicksilver.(less)

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Dec 27, 2011 Nigel rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Well, I've been pleasurably wading through this slab of witty exposition for what feels like most of the year now, re-reading it, to be exact, and finding comfort in the chaos, warfare, catastrophe and upheaval of the late 1600s. Daniel Waterhouse wends his way back to England beset by pirates and recalls his formative years attending Cambridge with a young Isaac Newton. Raised by a religious extremist who believed the world would end in 1666 (obviously) and wanted Daniel to stand on the Cliffs...more

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Nov 13, 2011 Andreas rated it 1 of 5 stars

This is the prequel to Cryptonomicon, although they are only vaguely related. The story focuses (as far as I can tell from the first hundred and fifty pages) on the heated debate between Newton and Leibniz on the nature of calculus. Or rather, on the notation that should be used to explain it. You don’t have to be interested in mathematics (no formulae so far), but it helps. The other interesting part is how the backdrop is shaped by events following the restoration of Charles II to the throne o...more

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About Neal Stephenson

Neal Town Stephenson is an American writer known primarily for his science fiction works in the postcyberpunk genre with a penchant for explorations of society, mathematics, cryptography, currency, and the history of science. He also writes non-fiction articles about technology in publications such as Wired Magazine, and has worked part-time as an advisor for Blue Origin, a company (funded by Jeff...more

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“Whenever serious and competent people need to get things done in the real world, all considerations of tradition and protocol fly out the window.” — 62 people liked it

“Talent was not rare; the ability to survive having it was.” — 33 people liked it

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Quicksilver (The Baroque Cycle #1)

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