Vol. 1), Quicksilver (The Baroque Cycle

Fiction that weaves the personages of the great scientists of 17th century as well as the shifts in power of Europe. A wonderful tale that turns perspective of these times into an amalgam of human diversity and the small chance for progress on the heels of enlightenment. Can't wait to read book two!

While this is by no means the easiest of Stephenson's works to read it is nonetheless an amazing book. It serves as a lengthy but riveting introduction to the science of the enlightenment as well as being an excellent yarn.

Neal Stephenson's Baroque Cycle provides the most imaginatively true experience of the birth of science that you will ever come across. This is what historical fiction should be! The genius of the great characters like Newton and Hooke (and the near-genius of their fellow natural philosophers) comes alive as they come into conflict with one another and navigate the politics of the time. Add to that an array of minor characters meticulously drawn, and the result is genius. This is a series you must read.

finally finished Quicksilver by Neal Stephenson, which i began reading at the end of September, if you can believe it. it arrived in the post the day it was released, and being that i had gotten excited over Snow Crash and Cryptonomicon over the summer, i couldn't wait to read it.
and read... and read... and read... ever... so... slowly. the first 350 pages were like sitting in a 9a chem class wondering what kind of freshman idiot you are to take such a boring class so early in the morning. and then you find sudden intense interest in the button of your pen and you keep making it click click click because deep down there's something intensely cerebral in the chemical combinations of your prof's droning vox and the simplistic rhythms of your pen. you begin to marvel as the ink falls into the shallow crevices of paper as you draw a square and fill it in ever so slowly, finding zen moments in the simplicity of OMG THE TEACH JUST BLEW UP HIS HEAD WITH THOSE CHEMICALS!!! and then you sit up and take notice and ask the other students around you what you missed that led up to this point, and they say nothing man, he just grabbed that stuff and blew up and you say to yourself damn, why couldn't he have done that months ago because the final is coming up and you just now found interest in chemistry.
and that's what it was like reading Quicksilver, where the entire first book was boring, book two was swashbuckling fun (Jack Shaftoe is my hero), and book three mixed the characters of books one and two rather well.

I purchased the MP3 audio version of this book. The review applies only to that.
I listen to books on my daily commute. This book, beautifully written, detailed and complex, was difficult to stay with and fully apreciate in that environment. The story is wonderful - I want more, but I think I will READ rather than listen to the rest of the series.

Stephenson's writing is a feast; lots of great stuff to gorge yourself and each line is an explosion of taste. You want to savor each morsel and reflect upon all his ideas. It's a wonder you ever get through his books, you want to stay there forever. This book is about the world and ideas of the 17th & 18th century, distant history, yet it is hard to put down.

This set of books just gets better and better.. i can never really tell where any of his books are going ( save to a special place on my books shelf. This is an author that i change my schedule for, to make time to read his books.

Perhaps another reader will enjoy this book. I started to read it, but got bogged down in it and was not enjoying it at all. So, I have put it down and have read several other books that I have enjoyed much more.

Delightful historical novel, full of both fictional and historic characters, well developed and appealing. Newton and Liebniz are brought to life and become important elements of this well paced story.

Amazingly researched and written, a clear work of genius - but not Stephensons best or most enjoyable! It shifts between so many characters and storylines, that you never become fully drawn into the story. You do feel smarter and more knowledgeable after reading it, which is a bonus :)

The Baroque Cycle is essentially the back story of Crytonomicon, but more importantly it deals with the beginning of Modern European culture, including the rise of Protestantism, of science, higher mathematics, of money, banking, and finance, of the Enlightenment, and of meritocracy.

This is an historical novel of the late 1600s - early 1700s describing the flourishing of science, exploration and world told in a most realistic fashion with humour and sly references to modern situations.

Thoroughly enjoyed this book! Very interesting fictional and historical characters, enjoyed the author's sense of humour. The mathematical and "natural philosophic" references were thought-provoking.

From science fiction to ficionalized history of science, Neal Stephenson brings the goods. This effort teaches amidst a compelling story. Now I understand more of Europe, America and our current age by learning of our origins. Great stuff!

Historical fiction is a curious breed of writing. On the one hand, writers are expected to (within reason) stick closely to actual events, at least when the events in the novel connect to historical timelines. Similarly with personalities, customs, technology, cultural developments, etc. On the other hand, the fact that it's fiction gives the author leeway in inventing new characters, motivations, and in general peering into the details of history that we couldn't possibly know.
"Quicksilver" is the latest offering from Neal Stephenson, an author known better for his science fiction than novels set in the late 17th century as this one is. It's a monster of a novel (944 pages) and is really only the first of three novels in the Baroque Cycle. It's not as far away from his other writing as one might think, however, as many of the characters are the ancestors of various characters in "Cryptonomicon", which itself followed two or three generations of some of these same families (Waterhouse, Shaftoe, etc.)
Unfortunately, the novel meanders so much that it's nigh on impossible to give a plot summary. In fact, the novel seems to putter to a stop rather than climax. It starts out as flashbacks interleaved with events in the early 18th century, but this device doesn't last long and we're left in the Daniel Waterhouse's college days with Isaac Newton. Eventually we begin to follow Bob Shaftoe, then a Qwghlmian woman named Eliza. These three cross paths at various times and interact with other historical figures like Leibniz, Louis XIV, Robert Hooke, and so forth. Stephenson is his usual clever self, but this time it seems more like showing off rather than entertaining as in prior writing.
To be honest, despite a few exciting moments, this was a singularly uncompelling read. By the last third of the novel, I continued reading it out of sheer doggedness rather than any interest in what would happen. Interlocking plot lines are great, but there should be a common thread to make the reader care about the characters and their various fates. As an experiment in historical science fiction, it's worth some time. Stephenson is simultaneously experimenting on the Internet with Real Character writing and a Wiki with more information about various characters and events in the novel (allowing reader input and editing). But novels have to stand on their own two feet, not just as a gimmick, but as worthwhile reads. "Quicksilver" just doesn't cut it, which is a shame: Stephenson is capable of so much more.

Quicksilver is not for anyone who lacks the patience for Stephenson's character development, but if you don't mind not getting resolution to your questions until possibly 7 or 8 chapters after the questions arise, his narative skills and unique style reward your wait with a richness virtually unparalleled in today's literary landscape.

I enjoyed the wide ranging view of cultures, politics, and the emergence of the precursor of modern banking. It was a fun read - easier than the first volume of the Baroque Cycle - and I look forward to volume 3.

Similar to Stephenson's dense and detailed style in Cryptonomicon, he weaves his multi-generational characters into the pivotal events of history. Such 1000+ page books cannot be read in the few week borrowing time frame of library loans, and the physical size and weight of the hard cover make this a perfect tome to read on the Kindle especially with alot of travel scheduled. I hope I can remain engaged to complete all 3 books in the Baroque Cycle.

At almost 1000 pages, this book is a bit daunting, but worth the effort. Beautifully written, Quicksilver is an intelligent, complex look at the 18th century in Europe and (briefly) the American colonies. It is about the greatest minds of the time struggling against the stranglehold religion had on thought and scientific exploration. It is also about the monetary system, and commerce, mathematics, biology and physics, the beginnings of the stock market, a king gone mad with syphilis, the founding of MIT, the Sun King, and the rivalry between Newton and Leibniz. This was a time when you could gauge the prosperity of a town by the number of bodies hanging outside the gates, and when to think differently was equated with alchemy and could mean the rack or the noose. A fresh and well researched look at a pivotal time in Western culture. Oh, and did I mention, it is a fascinating read with flashes of wry humor.

Lots of characters, yes, but most are quite memorable, especially if you know your history. The portraits of Robert Hooke and Isaac Newton are particularly noteworthy. The book includes a wonderful parody of Samuel Pepys's language, tossed off almost as an afterthought. Well worth the investment of time (a serious investment indeed) to read QUICKSILVER, THE CONFUSION, and THE SYSTEM OF THE WORLD, as well as the trilogy's predecessor, CRYPTONOMICON.

I bought this book based largely on the review written by Molly. It has not disappointed. I have never read a book quite like Stephenson's, but I look forward to reading more of his work. I like the "meatiness" of it all and the fact that it's a book that I will re-read more than once. I consider "re-readingness" to be the hallmark of an excellent book.

Sometimes, he's a little difficult to follow, but he's worth the trip. Not necessarily "beach reading," but good historical story-telling that makes one feel like a member of the elite intelligentsia once the concepts click.

Again, in sometimes a humorous fashion, Stephenson introduces historical figures into the story, which is set in various periods of the Enlightenment.

Much like Cryptonomicon, there is a lavish dedication to historical detail and a good bit of science.

It is enjoyable, but not in quite the same way as Cryptonomicon was. Quicksilver is more leisurely in pace, and the storylines do not appear as intricately interwoven (yet - I have not yet finished the book). It doesn't grab you like Cryptonomicon... it doesn't urge you to keep coming back for more asap.

I really enjoy a good history read, and dense language or slow plot certainly doesn't turn me off from a book. But I think the problem with the Baroque Cycle-especially Quicksilver-was that the story just couldn't decide which direction it wanted to take. A gritty, pseudo-fictional historical treatise would be great, as would a more relaxed narrative in the historical fiction vein. But Quicksilver straddles the line between the two genres, and I felt that it really didn't pull it off well.

The characters are certainly grand, and their scholarly endeavors are fascinating. However, just as the tale seems to be picking up steam and breaking wide open, it bogs down in pages upon pages of historical doggerel. The historical/scientific addendums really aren't necessary, and they're written a touch pedantically. I could follow them well enough, but they left me wondering why the passages had been included in the first place. Arcane (of questionable veracity, too) tidbits of information mingle with extended enumerations of royal lineage that came across as needlessly dense and turgid.

Don't get me wrong, the writing is marvelous and the story is epic. But there's just too many extraneous story threads and underlying arcana to really let you be absorbed into the book.

You come to a history text with a certain attitude, a scientific treatise with another, and historical fiction with yet another. Quicksilver tears you between the three subjects, and ends up a bit mediocre for it.