The Confusion (The Baroque Cycle)

The second in Neal Stephenson's trilogy The Baroque Cycle, "Confusion" is much faster paced and more action packed than it's predecessor Quicksilver (which I nevertheless enjoyed immensely).

Jack Shaftoe leads a band of vagabonds around the Middle East, and across the Pacific in search of Spanish Gold. Along the way he escapes from slavery, steals a shipload of "Solomons's gold", looses it all to a warrior queen and becomes King of an Indian province after a bizarre battle using phosphorus distilled from urine as his main weapon. All before heading for the Americas and the promise of even greater fortunes.

Eliza, meanwhile, discovers that being a Duchess, wife and mother, need not be a bar to European financial and political intrigue. Her motive is ofcourse, sweet revenge.

If you were bothered by the philosophical/theoretical conversations in Quicksilver, these are at a minimum in the sequel. More things actually "happen". But the plot and characterisation are still brilliantly complex and stay true to the original form. Obviously, don't read Confusion if you hated Quicksilver. But if you were uncertain, ambivalent or even mildly entertained, Confusion will prove well worth it.

The Confusion is Stephenson's second volume in his Baroque Trilogy. It focuses on the ongoing adventures of Jack Shaftoe and the Duchess Eliza in alternating chapters.

The good: more frequently witty, a real plot that is interesting at times, less European history didactic, some real adventure. We see a much more focused purpose behind the plot, like the story is actually going somewhere. I think it effectively builds for the climactic third volume such that you end up looking forward to reading System of the World. There are some real cute revelations that made me nod with appreciation, and some dialogue that I admired as quintessential distillations of that era, although many of the characters started sounding tiresomely alike, at times.

The bad: it's long, and tiresome at times. For all that it's 800-ish pages, the story is wearisome in detail in places that seem to serve no purpose, but yet will jump about plot-wise at seemingly key junctures. For example, Jack is a multi-zillionaire with hijacked gold whose adventures to get that gold we have experienced through clever and well-written narrative. The next time we see Jack, he is a destitute fugitive in the Middle East, donating his blood via a gazillion insect bites to a local scientist. The gold is gone. What happened? This happens again and again, and it's just bloody bizarre. One still follows the storyline, and I see now why he did some of it now that I am reading Book Three, but I still am not convinced it was Stephenson's intent or an editor's scalpel to effect some of the transitions that way. While not as obvious with Eliza's storyline, this still occurs to some extent. Perhaps because I have not yet finished Volume Three, but there were some scenes that could have been deleted altogether.

The ugly: Daniel Waterhouse's storyline is addressed, but is essentially put on hold. Like a two second cameo in a movie-- I'm still here, I'm still alive. I'm thinking about something grand and am planning an epiphany, but it hasn't happened yet. Newton/Leibniz likewise takes a significant back seat in this volume, and their roles were certainly the most intriguing part of the storyline.

I am about one-third through System of the World. Newton and Leibniz are back. So far, I give it 4 stars again. I'll let you know when it's done...

I really liked the first book in this series, but to give you an idea on this book, it took me about 3 months to read (as I kept on picking up other things to read...). It also took about 300 pages to get into this one and finally retain a level of interest worthy of not taking a break to read something else.

Why the change of pace as I read the first book quite speedily? Probably because of the change of focus. The first book dealt a lot with the slightly naive and stubborn Daniel Waterhouse. Stephenson's depictions of the absurd life of scientist experimenting with their craft in an era of absurd fashions and fear of the church were priceless. He was dry, witty and utterly, utterly readable.

In this book, he changes emphasis to focus on the Jack/Eliza angle. Except Jack and Eliza have more or less gone their seperate ways. So, the first half of the book is largely devoted to Eliza with some minor tributes to Jack. Now, I'm all for championing women in this era when they were supposed to be delicate and suffering attacks of the vapours, but it got awfully tedious reading about Eliza's clever machinations of the male species and financial institutions around her, divulged largely through letters to certain informers and fawners. Somehow, the dry wit that surround Waterhouse doesn't surround Eliza. So, that tale was merely interesting. And long.

The later part of the book picked up as the emphasis drifted to focusing on Jack and his scheming plans which take him around the world. Literally. The dry wit returns now, but considerably dimmed. However, the wild streak in Jack does make the story marginally more interesting.

I lament the near absenbce of Daniel Waterhouse in this book - scarcely a mention at all and his part in this grand tale is surely the most reminscent of the dry wit of Cryptonomicon.

Because so much detail is given in this book, it is essential reading for the last book. But be prepared - it maybe a herculean task! Just remember, its worth it for those precious gems with Waterhouse or whenever Stephenson remembers to put in some of that dry wit!

The Baroque Cycle is Neal Stephenson's latest fiction undertaking. Like his other books, it is set in a complex world. However, unlike his other novels, this three-volume set has a historical setting, and is reminiscent of Russian novels with its many characters and intricate plot. Three major stories intertwine, along with other episodes, through the three volumes, often intermixing in the most surprising ways. It has bits of humor, and many references to science and mathematics, as well as other arcana. Fans of Umberto Eco would enjoy this series.

Reading all three volumes took me four months. As a whole, these books should be read in sequence, and if possible, in rapid sequence. Otherwise, it is too easy to lose the threads of the plot. It goes without saying that one would not get much enjoyment from reading one of these out of order or on its own.

In this volume, Stephenson tells us that two stories will con-fuse throughout. Each chapter is also labeled with the name of the book, and the two books are intermixed throughout. Readers will be glad to see that Jack is in fact not dead. The first book of the volume opens with Jack working as a galley slave. He soon forms up a group of likeminded galley slaves and they formulate not only a plan to escape, but also a way to become fabulously wealthy. The story of their adventures consumes their chapters. Meanwhile, we see Daniel mature into middle age, until the point where he leaves London for America.

The sections on Daniel's life are perhaps the most boring of the series, and thankfully are punctuated with episodes of Jack's adventures. Sometimes it can be quite difficult to keep one's attention rapt. It is important to make a mental note of even the tiniest details, as all do appear later in the plot. I found myself doing a lot of re-reading. Even Eliza's court intrigues could be a bit hard to follow.

After an uneven, but good read in Quicksilver, I entered The Confusion with high hopes and a little trepidation. As I suspected, my patience with the meandering of Quicksilver was richly rewarded with the Baroque Cycle's ripping middle installment. The Confusion is a great book and tremendously fun.

I think summarizing the plot of an 800 page novel would be futile, and better done on the novel's official website. But the return of Jack Shaftoe in Bonanza (one of the two books which comprise The Confusion) has to be one of the great seagoing adventures of all time. From the Barbary Coast, to Egypt, Hindustan, Japan, across the Pacific and beyond he is the everyman of 17th century nautical calamity. If a difficulty could be visited upon a traveler, Jack gets it. I keep thinking of examples to throw out, but the action set pieces are so well done and so riveting you will just have to take my word - Bonanza is as butt kicking an action adventure as you will find.

Jack's adventuring is interspersed chronologically with Eliza's intellectual maneuverings in The Confusion's other book - Juncto. Her political and economic ascendance undergoes horrible setbacks and personal devastation. In Quicksilver, Eliza came off as somewhat cold and manipulative and she was not entirely appealing as a heroine. The Confusion humanizes her and gets you pulling for Eliza to escape the Byzantine web of French and English politics.

The Confusion uses the same speculative fiction elements as Quicksilver - examining past technologies through a temporal lens as if they were state of the art. Instead of some retroviral nerve agent, they have phosphorus. Instead of hackers they have cryptologists. This is technologically driver fiction of the highest order - fascinating, informative and fun. You just have to use your mind (it is fiction folks) and imagine when calculus was a radical intellectual development.

The Confusion is a compelling story, deftly connecting the threads from Quicksilver and leading us to what will certainly be an exciting conclusion. Somewhat muted in The Confusion is Daniel Waterhouse and Natural Philosophy, but I suspect The System of the World will deal with both. If you had complaints about pacing and lack of action in Quicksilver, I can see your point but give The Confusion a chance anyway.

Why you should read this:
Stephenson remains one of the most thrilling of authors. His wit, his prose, his dialogue, his drawing of characters, they really are almost unsurpassed. We feel that Stephenson continues to improve as a writer in general and those characters of Eliza, Jack, Waterhouse, Leibniz, and Newton have never been so palpably real. For those who were thrilled with Quicksilver, we feel they will be even happier with The Confusion. The anachronisms will seem less jarring, the progress of the novel is more linear and easier to follow, the writing a bit tighter. This is the central novel of an astonishing trilogy of books and one should most certainly continue them once started. For those interested in the history of calculus and in general the Age of Enlightenment, this is not a novel to be missed.
Why you should pass:
We don't believe that one should begin any trilogy with the second book. If you've not read Quicksilver, then you can muddle your way through this book-and probably be happy with it-but really it loses some depth. As before, if you're expecting laser gun battles, space wars, robots, or other tropes of sci-fi you ought to go elsewhere for those thrills. While this is generally quick read, the book is long and therefore heavy to drag around. If length will perturb you, wait to read this book until you have the time, leisure, and muscle to take it on.
READ MORE AT INCHOATUS.COM

Sometimes I think Stephenson is brilliant...coming up with a history of the world during the age of Newton. Then again, it could have been executed so much better.

Pros: Stephenson's quick wit and quick turn of a phrase. A huge story arc. A chance to correlate the events of the second half of the 1600's and the early 1700's in to an orchestrated structure. I enjoyed Stephenson's observations on the creation of the world's monetary and commerce system.

Cons: This is hard to put a finger on. Its a huge tale and probably a necessary tale. It seems like Stephenson is trying to join the up the current state of all the countries (or colonies) in the world, American, England, France, the Philippines, Japan, Mexico, you name it. In fact, the plot is too big. Little pieces of the plot are created and scattered across the world, then conveniently pulled back up to be wedged into the plot. Sure, that's the hallmark of many plots, but this is 3 books comprising nearly 2400 pages. After awhile you start to lose track..."yes...that sounds vaguely familiar, but when and where did I hear that"....especially when it was in the previous book.

I saw one commentary where the writer estimated that critics would be studying the Baroque Cycle for the next 100 years. Maybe. The book has big aspirations and a huge scope. On the other hand, think about books that we continue to study 100 years later...how much fun were they to read? Kafka, Conrad, London (oh, wait...I like London), Dickens.

The Baroque Cycle is more fun than the Heart of Darkness, but its a whole lot longer. So, there we have it...if you're looking for your next big reading "assignment", look no further. But if you want to be purely entertained, well, you might look somewhere else.

Put simply: this book blows Quicksilver out of the water. All of the potential that the opening act showed really did come to fruition in this opus.
I'm not sure what else there is to say. To all of those people who gave up on Quicksilver because of its meandering and glacial tendencies, I would certainly recommend that you give this a whirl. It starts with the formation of one of the most unlikely cabals in all of literature, progresses to the hijacking of a ship filled with gold, then a circumnavigation of the world. And that's just half the book.
Back in Europe there is all sorts of intrigue -- spies, alchemy, infedelity, etc. Of course, there are trademark Stephenson educational tangents about things that have nothing to do with the story, like how watered steel is created.
Add it all up -- pirates, convicts, spies, alchemy, swashbuckling, war, science, and sex -- and it makes for one hell of a novel that doubles as a history book about the evolution of modern finance.
And it ends with one of the best cliffhangers in recent time. I can't wati until October!

The revolution of the western mind continues in Stephenson's second volume of his Baroque Cycle.

By "con-fusing" (this is a Stephensonism, not mine) the fictitious lives & passions of the epic's main characters, Jack Shaftoe & Eliza, with real events and equally real/colorful characters of the late 17th century, Stephenson has accomplished something which no teacher before him has...

THE CONFUSION con-currently conquers the following subjects (among many, many others):

- the dawn of a truly global economy

- the pre-teen years of the commodities & futures markets

- the minting of hard currency

- the injection of fiat

- the role of the New World in revitalizing and further confusing international relations

- the pioneering minds of the Utilitarian Enlightenment (not of the artistic sort that has come to dominate discussions of the Enlightenment).

- the conflicting motives of the Roman Catholic Church, the various Protestant denominations, and the Oligarchy of the European nations/principalities of the latter 17th Century

- the boundless nature of the human spirit

- the nature of love itself

Needless to say, in order to envelop all the above while con-fusing it with a story of such enthralling intrigue, the Confusion is a megolith of a novel... but it is truly as awe-full (full of awe) as it is awesome!

Can't hardly wait for the third volume.

Once again I am flabbergasted by the quality of a book from Mr. Stephenson. The scope, as usual, is immense, showing the storytelling genius that is a hallmark of this author. As the book jacket states, the book cannot be easily categorized. it reminds me of the blind men describing an elephant. In this case, one could say, "It's a thriller!" "No it's a swashbuckling adventure!" "No, it's a heist novel." "No, it's a sea story!" "No, it's a novel of political intrigue!" "No, it's historical fiction!" "No, it's a love story!" And many more. Stephenson again shows that his knowledge about a huge number of subjects is wide and deep, from metallurgy to geography to sailing. So the reader learns while being entertained and intrigued by the story, which is worldwide in its scope. Careful readers may need to consult Google maps, or the equivalent, as I did, when Stephenson describes Manila harbor or coastal areas of India. More casual readers can enjoy the story without supplemental maps.
I enjoy Stephenson's works, including this book, Cryptonomicon, and the first volume of this trilogy, Quicksilver, in small doses, 'sipping', if you will. If you speed through a novel of this kind of density, you will miss detail and humorous lines and quips. Late in the book, for instance, look for the author's reference to a line from the song New York, New York, made famous by Frank Sinatra. And if you read more than 25 pages a day, IMHO, you will get overwhelmed. "NO ONE," I tell myself after longer sessions with Stephenson, knows THIS much about this many subjects and can write about it so well." MIchener looks boring in comparison.
Stephenson is in the top handful of authors writing today, and I look forward eagerly to his next book.

Every trilogy needs a second act. Sometimes that second act has to do the heavy lifting, so that act one can make us care about the characters and act three can usher in a truly satisfying dénouement. This volume frees up "Quicksilver" and "The System of the World" to play their respective roles. If The Confusion seems to drag in places, it may be because Quicksilver takes on so much weight that it takes The Confusion's entire voluminous effort to set up a decent third installment.

At the end of Quicksilver, one can't blame the reader for being a little fatigued. The depth of Stephenson's treatment of every conceiveable aspect of the story gets to be somewhat grueling, and it is clear that he is casting a very wide net with this series. In "The Confusion" Stephenson's readers reap the fruits (or should I say vegetables -- big, hearty, filling vegetables) of Quicksilver's ambitious scope. The complexity increases, the characters multiply exponentially, and the settings are far-flung and diverse.

The problem with this part of the series is that there is no discernible crescendo here, just a series of events that are alternately entertaining, baffling, and boring. The story moves along, but without the narrative dynamic that would justify this novel's existence as a separate volume. Instead, this book comes across as a place-holder in the very good series.

I give this one four stars in retrospect. While I do not think that it earns the four stars on its own merit, its affiliation with the vastly superior volumes one and three of the series gives it a little more credibility.

I just finished reading this book this morning, after starting it months ago. It's been almost two years since I read Quicksilver, and a couple more since Cryptonomicon. In between the latter, I read Anathem and Neal Stephenson's short early novels; before Cryptonomicon I read Snow Crash and The Diamond Age. I have yet to read The Mongoliad or REAMDE, but surely will (after System of the World, of course).

All those books have the Neal Stephenson style, more or less (duh) but of course each is different, and his style has evolved over time. I guess I enjoy it, because I keep coming back for more, and Neal does not disappoint. In my mind, The Baroque Cycle, Cryptonomicon, and Anathem are all similar, in that they are ambitiou long novels with multiple characters and settings and plotlines. But the feel of each is a bit different. If they were movies, I'd say Anathem leans toward mystery, Cryptonomicon to heist, Quicksilver to pop-sci, and The Confusion to action movies.

Cryptonomicon is in a modern setting, The Baroque Cycle is in an historical setting, and Anathem is in an alternate setting. But they all share that detail, that dialogue, that witty language, that humour.

What more can I say, except to repeat what I've already said: if you enjoy Neal Stephenson, I can think of no reason you'd not also enjoy The Confusion.

With the continuation of Quicksilver Stephenson has done another great job in using history to buffer his story line, making it believable at the same time. As we see Shaftoe again, this time as a slave and eventually, well I will leave this for the reader to discover, making his escapades fun and interesting to read.

Again, this is a long winded rendition of a story intertwined with history. This is not a quick read, and can be difficult at times to struggle through. But, with all that said, his writing is wonderful and the story line is fun and interesting. Anyone who enjoyed any of Stephenson's other books would enjoy this series as well (permitting you like history), and I doubt you would be disappointed. His sheer grasp of what he writes about, whether in sci-fi, WWII or in 17th century Europe, is enough to captivate and catch a hold of your interest.

The book being reviewed here is one of three books which are from the Baroque Cycle Trilogy by Neal Stephenson. Since there does not yet appear to be one title under which I can post my review, I have triplicated this review and placed the same review under all three titles. The sequence is Quicksilver, The Confusion, and the System of the World.

I read voraciously of both fiction, non-fiction and that in-between category of historic fiction in which one can learn considerably about the age but still enjoy the plot of an ideal narrative, or, in the case of the Baroque Cycle, an intertwining of several narratives. In the last say, three years, I have read literally hundreds of books and I can unequivocally name the three most influential works (apart from "Postcards of Nursing," the one I wrote myself, of course,) during that period. They are the 20 Aubrey/Maturin historic novels of Patrick O'Brian, "Shantaram," by Gregory David Roberts, and the three books in the Baroque Cycle by Neal Stephenson.

I find it hard to critique Stephenson's work. His writing and research genius is so far beyond my poor abilities that if I come across an aspect of his writing which gives me pause, I have to look to my own deficiencies rather than his. But nowhere did I find the book to be condescending. And the subtle (and not so subtle) humor was superb.

And the characters: Ah the characters. When I had finished the books, I felt I *knew* Isaac Newton, Leibniz, Hooke, and Wren. Half-Cocked Jack and Dappa were real to me. Eliza lived and breathed.

Also, I began to discover that I was beginning to understand the international monetary system and the trappings of power surrounding it. I began to appreciate the conventions of letter-writing, the mind set when years might go by between a correspondence and its reply. I felt I understood something of the tangled tapestries of royal affairs in the 18th century. I was transported. Utterly. Words fail me.

Each book in the trilogy was better written than its predecessor, and the first one was superb. When I was reading O'Brian's novels, and was on say, novel #5 in the series, I was in heaven, knowing that I had 15 and a half (so to speak) more novels to go. When I was finally finished with 20, I started grasping at straws. I went to see the movie which, to my delight, showed me something of the ship HMS Surprise, but to my extreme disappointment, miscast Maturin so badly that it robbed the film of its portrayal of one of the most complex characters in literature. I read the unfinished #21. Not enough. It was only when I came across Quicksilver that I began to let go of the O'Brian characters and came to "invest" in Stephenson's.

And yet, by the time I was halfway through the "System of the World," the final of the three books, I began anticipatory grieving. I knew I might not see these folks again in such a personal light. They had become my friends. The fact that I had already read Cryptonomicon, a work by Stephenson based in part on one of the descendants of Dr. Waterhouse, was not a consolation. I miss those folks. I will probably read the books again in a year or two, but until then, since O'Brian is dead, and since probably Roberts will not top his first novel, I will have to wait for another of Stephenson's books. By the way, and this is not a spoiler, the resolution of the Baroque Cycle is thoroughly complete and intensely satisfying. It's just too bad it's over.

Stephenson writes for geeks. He writes with geeky methods. I can personally relate with Stephenson wanting to write using green-screen command line technology and devising elaborate organization schemes to track plots and characters with phase diagrams and such academia. I get it, I know what inspiration such exercises provide.

The Confusion is the trip from Quicksilver to System. Its not "worse" or "longer" or "less" or "more" *anything*. It just is what it is - the necessary dark force between two entities waiting to be discovered, quantified, qualified, and catalogued. It must be read, chewed, digested, and all nutrients extracted.

I think it is amazing that Stephenson is able to proffer work birthed from raw academic, scientific, and technological approaches and brainstorms, that is still accessible to enough non-science, non-geeky readers to get a nice cross section of opinions on his work.

Reading Stephenson's work may be an exercise in literature for those who read books, and that is fine - it is a book afterall. But the images invoked are much more to the scientific and technology minded, those who think in binary, dream of system integrations, and invent new technology for the human race. They are sustanance.

That's why sprawling is better. The mind can eat more, longer.

After the apparent choppiness of "Quicksilver" I was a bit worried that "The Confusion" would fall prey to the same unevenness of the first book of the trilogy. I was also worried that this novel could suffer from the same fate as many middle books of trilogies. Fortunately, I found "The Confusion" to be a much more engaging read than "Quicksilver," and some of the revelations within have caused me to reevaluate my prior assessment of the former book. A lot of the cryptic occurrances in "Quicksilver" are unravelled somewhat here, and the stage is well set for the final book of the trilogy.
Stephenson's style has developed a depth and density over the years, and while it is my opinion that "Cryptonomicon" is currently the novel that exemplifies the balance of depth and entertainment the best (so far), I will not be surprised if time proves this trilogy to have an even more lasting effect in the mind's eye than any of his prior works. Given the popular and critical acclaim of the aforementioned novel, that's high praise indeed!

The journey through the Enlightenment continues, as Neal Stephenson makes your eyes cross and your head ache with 900 pages of rich historical fiction leading us to... well, it's getting clearer, but we don't know quite yet.

While Newton contemplates theology and nuclear physics, Liebnitz struggles to construct digital computers and relational databases, Waterhouse's Juncto restructures England's economic system, and Eliza of Qwghlm spies her way across Europe, Jack Shaftoe and his band of former galley slaves (including, for a time, the ubiquitous Enoch Root) take on planet earth with a raid-and-trade circumnavigation.

Many additional characters, including William of Orange, Louis Quatorze, and at times, seemingly the entire population of Parliament and Versailles add rich complexity and dimensionality to the tale. Be prepared to meet the politest man in France, an Armenian slave spewing 20th-century busino-babble, gentlemen pirates, masterless samuri, a Malibar Queen, and Mexican Inquisitors. You can feel the world opening up to naval commerce and exploration, while Europe staggers under endless wars, market crashes, economic depressions ("confusions") and continuous political intrigue.

"The Confusion," unlike "Quicksilver," leaves us at an acceptable intermission. Many threads have reconverged by 1702, and the stage is set for a another good-time tome.

While I don't concurr with reviewers of Quicksiver who found it boring, I have to say that the plot gets up to an orange-or-better ambient temperature in this book as the two main stories continue to unfold.

Rejoin the fledgling scientific group, the Royal Society, as they tip the balance of human thought towards scientific reason, away from the magical or mystical world of the alchemists. Marvel at the intrigue, as their most accomplished member, and chair, Sir Issac Newton rebells, and reverts to alchemy, and religious fanaticism.

Follow the spine chillng exploits of Liza (de La Zeur), our sizzling double agent, as she falls capture, then in turn begins to capture the thrall of the French Royalty and it's courts.

Blush with gladness and admiration at the miraculous resurrection of hero Jack Shaftoe, as he begins his own Odessy, which will lead him from one bizarre situation to the next around the world in a megalithic adventure that bears paralells to the duller, more responsible historical lessons that this great series lays out for us.

If you finish this book with no anxiety for the next one, you are asleep, and don't deserve narrative fiction. If you finish this book, and drop it like a thirty pound biscuit, to sieze upon the next even greater one, more power to you, and remember that there were those of us who had to wait many months for the last volume to be publsihed.

Peace and Wisdom to all who finsih the Baroque Cycle. May your entertainment meter be yet surpassed by the next monolithic Stephenson effort.

(In the meantime, if you need something great to read, may I recommend a little book called Master and Commander by Patrick O'Brian - if you like it there are 5000 more great pages ahead of you)

The Confusion, as a story of Lust, Greed, Adventure, Science and Commerce is unsurpassed, until it comes time to read The System of the World, and complete this giant novel.

I just love reading the words Neal Stephenson writes. I love the swashbucking. I love the intrigue. I especially love his many digressions into subjects banal to esoteric. When, after years following the Cryptonomicon, I heard that he would release 3 volumes of a trilogy in the span of a year, I hoped that each would be a thousand pages. I have not been dissapointed.
When people ask me about Stephenson, I am never sure how to describe his work. If you define science fiction VERY broadly then it fits there, because it is fiction and science or technology plays a role. Snow Crash and Diamond Age were clearly scifi, Zodiac was more detective fiction, Cryptonomicon was techno-thriller/historical thriller. This trilogy is historical novel / swashbuckler / within a scifi or technothriller framework?!? In addition to the storyline which other reviewers have summarized nicely, the books deal with a variety of interesting themes like: comparitive social classes and structure in england, france, the german states, india, and a few others; the evolution of jargon; cryptology; the birth of modern science; and the birth of modern economics. And all this with a healthy dose action, how can you go wrong?

Confusion is both the second volume in Neal Stephenson's Baroque Cycle and also the best. It takes off right where its predecessor volume, Quicksilver, ended.
Stephenson's late 17th Century setting is a most complicated place where cryptography is one of the most important endeavors. There is also a great deal of emphasis on the science of the period. In many ways, the reader feels totally immersed in the 1690's.
Since this is the middle book in a projected trilogy, The Confusion does not offer any closure on the various and sundry plot strands. However, it is very well done and as such is worth the time that the reader invests in it.

I loved this book. It's intelligent and even more importantly it's lots of fun. Now, I'm a literary scholar, but I'm also a rabid consumer of fiction--everything from Stephen King's horror to Robert Jordan's fantasy. I don't know what drew me towards this cycle of books. Honestly, it looked sort of boring from the outside. I suppose I was drawn to the wacky contradiction between the author and the subject matter. Here's a guy who's best known for cyberpunk, and he's writing a quasi-historical novel. Well, I chose wisely, because this book really suited me. It's fast-paced with a screw-ball tone. It reminds me of Pirates of the Carribean without supernatural elements. Also, this guy's mind is just impressive. This is a really good book, but I'd add that it's also difficult to wade through. This is certainly for the more advanced reader who enjoys plunging into history. But don't get me wrong. This isn't for the stuffy old professor types either. It's audience is somewhere in between--the educated and the adventurous. If that's you then I say go for it and take the challenge! Also, this one is even more fun than the last. Can't wait to finish this cycle.

I felt that this was inferior to its predecessor. I made it through, but the latter chapters were trying. Some of the machinations imagined by the author strained credulity. It was very close to breaking the suspension of disbelief required for such a work. At the same time, it must be said that the characters are multidimensional and the rich historical context is often more interesting than the core story. I don't know that I have the strength for another volume.

While perusing the reviews of the first book, it seems that many people thought it was simply too long and packed full of needless detail. To them I say, Michael Crichton this is not. I also occaisionally enjoy picking up a book that can be finished in an evening, and is perfectly crafted to hold my shortened attention span, but this is not that book. Not only is it rather long, but it takes more time to read each page in this book than, say, the Da Vinci Code. For anyone acquainted with the authors of the period, it is a style that is immediately recognizable. Unlike, say, Jane Auel in the Earth's Children series (Clan of the Cave Bear, etc.), the lines of the page are not unnnecessarily filled with repetitive garbage, but with rich detail that add drama and humor to the events that follow. The breaks between the action are filled with dialogue so witty that I actually laughed out loud too often while reading this book to continue to read it in public.
In all fairness, I have my degree in history, focusing on the period immediately before this one, and so am perhaps more inclined than others to enjoy the historical trivia that can be found in this book. Also, having been forced to read a lot of John Locke, none of the weird spellings and odd word usage that can especially be found in the dialogue of the English characters bothers me, and, in fact, added to my enjoyment of the book.
I consider myself a fast reader and I had to work to get this back to library in the alloted 14-day period, but I also haven't enjoyed any other book that I've read so far this year half as much.
For readers who liked this book and enjoyed being rewarded for paying attention to detail (as well as long scenes at sea), I recommend Umberto Eco's Island of the Day before.

This book is a blast. Faster paced than Quicksilver (all that character development stuff having been gotten out of the way) and as intense as Cryptonomicon. Jam-packed with scientific development, philosophical discourse, political intrigue and world history.. but at heart it's really a swashbuckling pirate's adventure tale. Think of it as a Bruce Willis movie for people with brains. When does the next book come out??

This second installment is better than Quicksilver, which in turn was a great book. The high adventure, political intrigue, scientific meanderings, wonderful characters, and witty, sharp, yet emotionally charged and poetic language make this one of my favorite books. This entire series is fantastic, and this is my personal favorite of the three. Jack's voyage around the world is an unmatched high adventure, and the real selling point of The Baroque Cycle, in my opinion.

Stephenson's unique style continues with The Confusion. Two stories are con-fused in this volume: One of Jack Shaftoe and his adventuring cabal, and the other of Eliza and her economic and political machinations. From the first book Jack Shaftoe was one of my favorite characters while Eliza was one of my least favorite, therefore I truly enojyed one half of this volume while only somewhat enjoying the other half.

I started reading Stephenson with Snow Crash, wended my way through Cryptonomicon and stumbled into The Confusion while looking for something in the airport for something to take with me on a business trip.

Well....a few weeks later I finished the Confusion and can't really recommend it. Its got great small vignettes (100's of them) in it that have nothing to do with the main plot(s), but DEAR GOD does it plod, stumble, shamble along over its two sets of very ornate shoelaces after page 500 and something....

The arc of my peticular path through Stephenson's novels has lead on a upward trajectory away from straight-forward plot-driven, character-focused (with interesting "ideas" explored) towards intertwining plots with ancillary notes on historical psuedo-truths arriving in a vaguely unsatisfying conclusive heap.

The result is before I mindlessly grab another Stephenson novel off the rack I'll wait for a review or two to ensure I'll spend the next few weeks reading the former rather than the latter.

Avast!

I think just as many people were bored with Quicksilver as excited by it and for those in the former catagory, I can only say that it does get better. Many of those complaints centered around the impression that the book wasn't going anywhere, that the plot was sort of nebulous and static and most of the time it was just hordes of characters talking about things that nobody cared about. Stephenson must have listened to his critics because a number of those problems have been fixed in this, the second volume of his enormous trilogy. This novel, still gigantic but not as huge as the first volume, continues the stories already in progress, but Stephenson cleans up the pacing somewhat by dividing the story into two separate novels, but cutting back and forth between them, which fixes a huge problem I had with the first novel, namely that you had blocks of exciting, action oriented portions of the story and then when that was over it was nothing but talking heads until the end, without any break or suspense. Breaking it up works so well that I don't why he didn't do it the first time out, since it creates a sense of tension by building cliffhangers into the story and by alternating the political manipulation stuff (Eliza's sections) with the adventurer/world traveller bits (Jack Shaftoe's) it makes the novel feel more integrated, a sense that it's all happening at the same time (sometimes it is, sometimes it isn't). The novels also benefits from having a somewhat more coherent (ie straightforward) plot, in the first book everyone manipulated and schemed but it wasn't clear if it was going anywhere and the apparent lack of direction really hurt the story, making it seem flat and somewhat bland. This time out everything is much sharper, there's a definite sense that all the plotting is actually building toward something, even if it still remains to be seen if we're going to build toward something grand or something abstract. But at least all the talking and scheming has some payoffs this time out, even if those are varying quality, it's nice to see plots move forward, even if it's unclear how they impact whatever main plot is driving the book. Also on a nice note, Stephenson has reduced the number of annoying footnotes, which were far more irritating than clever (again to authors: if no one likes when David Foster Wallace does it, we won't like it when you do it). And I do give credit to Stephenson for scope and ambition, this is big novel that spans over a decent amount of time, with a huge cast of characters and a wide area of geography, touching on a variety of moods and situations. I think Stephenson does a good job of putting the reader into the late 1600's with the characters and I can't really tell which people are historical and which are just made up (other than the obvious ones). So it's a definite improvement over the first novel, but I don't see it as a "great" novel, it's entertaining in parts, but I really only care about some of the characters (Eliza, Jack, his brother, even the Sun King is pretty entertaining) and while the plot is stronger this time out, there's still a sense of "so what?" pervading the whole enterprise, everyone is running around and talking and whatnot, but it's not clear why any of this should interest us in the least (although Stephenson manages to pull off a handful of memorable moments, while the last book really had none, it was so even) and the rambling, digressive nature of the narrative really is a big hurdle, without thrilling moments or exciting prose to make the slog worthwhile. I'll have to maintain that opinion that Stephenson's book is a fitfully entertaining diversion and not the historical-literary masterpiece some are clearly hoping for. But it's too soon to give any final opinions on the work as a whole, with one book left to go it remains to be seen how he can tie this all up and what he can make of everything. So while this was decent, and a big step up from Quicksilver, I think it's the last book that is going to decide everything and let us know if it was all worth it or not. Here's hoping.

Its hard to imagine that an author needs 800 pages to set the stage, but that is indeed the case. This book builds off of quicksilver brilliantly to make a much more gripping read. Worth the effort to read volume 1 to get to this story.

The characters are pretty much the sames ones in the cyrptonomicon which was an excellent book. This book is not excellent or even good. Boring and offering little story to latch onto. I suggest skipping.

I am a Stephenson fan in general. I have read the Diamond Age twice, snow crash and cryptonomicon, and a few of his other titles. This one is a skip in my ranking though.

I am intriqued by thick books. That said this is, like the first in the proposed trilogy, terribly overwritten. Half as long and it would have been a much better reading experience. Stephenson digress to the point of becoming annoying. Much of these digressions are completely irrelevant. Part Sci-fi, part mystery, part historical - the author seemed unable to make up his mind and that ruined the experience. Bigger is just not better in this case, in fact it is to the detriment of the work. Better, more thorough editing is needed. Stephenson is trying too hard to impress with his ability to write, and write, and write - but the result is a lot of words, but not nearly enough substance. Plotting is all over the place, the characters are cardboard and pedestrian, and trying to pretend his characters are better prognosticators of future technological developments than Nostradamus is just too much to accept.

For this whole trilogy, I really appreciated a technologist's approach to history. It is often kind of difficult to read historians and some literature masters delve into science, so I found it refreshing to read a science-focused author dive into the history of science, economics, market economy, etc. Would recommend for anyone who wants a better grasp of the root of our current world.

Stephenson does it again with this outstanding sequel to QUICKSILVER, proving himself as at home with semi-historical epics as he is with such futuristic tech novels as Snow Crash and The Diamond Age. His only competition with the tech novels is John Robert Marlow's first novel NANO. With the semi-historical books, Stephenson has no competition...

Stephenson's very long historical novel, the sequel to Quicksilver is here! Confusion courses with Stephenson's scholarship but is rarely bogged down with too much historical detail. Stephenson is especially impressive in his ability to represent dialogue over the evolving worldview of seventeenth-century scientists and enliven the most abstruse explanation of theory.
Though replete with science, the novel is as much about the complex struggles for political ascendancy and the workings of financial markets. Further, the novel's literary ambitions match its physical size. Stephenson narrates through epistolary chapters, fragments of plays and poems, journal entries, maps, drawings, genealogic tables, and copious contemporary epigrams. Stephenson has matched ambition to execution, and his faithful, durable readers will be both entertained and richly rewarded with a practicum in Baroque science, cypher, culture, and politics as the story continues.
I'm always sad to finish long novels, because life seems so mundane afterward. For fun, if you are open minded and looking for those books begging for its pages to be turned...look no further. I just read a copy of Edgar Fouche's 'Alien Rapture,' which also blew me away. Perhaps, most of all, it was because Fouche was a Top Secret Black Program `insider', whose credibility has been verified over and over. I also really liked Dan Brown's `Angels and Demons.' Want to be shocked, check out Dr. Paul Hill's 'Unconventional Flying Objects,' which NASA tried to ban. The possibility of NASA and Government cover-ups makes truth stranger than fiction, which is based on someone's truth. Anyway great reading all.