I love this whole series. This was so interesting it had me hooked from the very beginning. Jack is a great character with stuff to carry the interst throughout the other two books. ( )

Gave up on this book. Boring and tortuous reading. ( )

Wonderful piece of historical function set in the 17th century world of Newton, Leibnitz, Hooke, Boyle and Wren and the start of the Royal Society. Stephenson manages to tell a good tale, inform with the historic setting, while teasing a little about what is going to happen next – in the other two door-stoppers of this series. His lead characters, Jack and Eliza, are believable as 17th century characters, without being locked into the limitations of the period. Read October 2008. ( )

Detailed but turgid: I had great expectations for this book, having read all of Neal Stephenson's previous books, but was disappointed by this. Although he has obviously invested immense hours in research, the book comes across as stiff and overly ornate - much like baroque design.In particular, Stephenson's smart-alecky dialogue, that worked to great effect in Snow Crash, is merely grating here, as are the anachronisms that the characters utter from time to time.As for the characters themselves, I found it very difficult to care about any of them, which made it very difficult to involve myself in the story.I really had to wonder what the benefit was of creating a gargantuan work that appeared to say so little; as if mere volume could substitute for depth.

http://pergelator.blogspot.com/2007/0... ( )

It is so very hard to classify this book - the first in an extremely weighty trilogy (this book alone weighs in at over 900 pages!) Is it fantasy? Is it science fiction? It is historical? It most certainly is dense, dull, delightful and dry.

The book is split into three different sections. The first of these looks back on Daniel Waterhouse's early life in London and his association with the Royal Society and the pre-eminent philosophers, mathematicians, astronomers and scientists of that time, including Isaac Newton. This period of the book can be extremely difficult reading, and needs intense concentration. Even with that, I found myself struggling with the esoteric vocabulary used and the overwhelming amount of science on display. I find science and maths difficult at the best of times, and this book did nothing to ease me - often I found myself understanding only one paragraph in three and had to really persevere to get through this section. There was light relief periodically from present-day Daniel, travelling by ship back to England and being pursued by pirates. One thing I enjoyed immensely about this part of the book - science aside - was the way that Stephenson conveyed the wonder and mystery of the discoveries that were coming thick and fast, driven by certain people whose ideas have not been surpassed even now.

The second part of the book dealt with Eliza and Jack Shaftoe. This section flew past in a flurry of giggles and adventure, including an amusing interlude with an ostrich and a Turkish harem. Jack is a lively character, seemingly destined to die from the French pox (syphilis), but determined to make a life for himself and generate an inheritance for his two boys. Eliza is enigmatic, alluring and tom-boyish by turns - both drawn to Jack and repelled by him. They travel together across a lot of Europe and end up in Amsterdam, where Jack leaves Eliza to make his fortune in Paris and ends up on a ship bound for deepest Africa. I loved this part of the book, and it more than made up for the dryness of the first section.

The last part draws all the threads of the story together, culminating in the revolution that Waterhouse has spent his life working towards. There is intrigue, and gripping letters between Leibniz and Eliza, who, by now, is the Countess de la Zeur. James II is overthrown and Daniel suffers a spell in prison.

So, all in all, a massive book with massive ideas and massive characters. It should have been unbelievable and unforgettable, but I was left feeling a little as though it were too much work. I will read the other two volumes in the trilogy for completeness, but I don't embark on them with a lightness of spirit! ( )

Quicksilver is the first of a trilogy, The Baroque Cycle, set at the dawn of the Age of Reason, a time when so much was happening in science that it is hard for us, now, to realize that it was all mixed up with alchemy, slavery and politics even more convoluted than those we confront today. Stephenson’s writing is dense with allusion, anecdote and allegory, and requires close concentration. Several story lines meet and intertwine in the three “books” into which the volume is divided. The first tells of the Puritan Daniel Waterhouse, an acquaintance and colleague of nearly every scientist and alchemist of note of the time. The second is about Half-Cocked Jack, a London street urchin who becomes the King of the Vagabonds, and his adventures with Eliza, whom he rescues from a Turkish harem. All the plots mix together in the third book, which takes place during the 1680s in France, England and Amsterdam, a time of much political and scientific ferment. One wonders whether this is science fiction or fiction about science, but either way, I, at least, am encouraged to continue to the next massive volume in the series, The Confusion. I may wait, however, until my rotator cuff heals; these 1,000-page volumes are damned heavy. ( )

Quicksilver is the first of a trilogy, The Baroque Cycle, set at the dawn of the Age of Reason, a time when so much was happening in science that it is hard for us, now, to realize that it was all mixed up with alchemy, slavery and politics even more convoluted than those we confront today. Stephenson’s writing is dense with allusion, anecdote and allegory, and requires close concentration. Several story lines meet and intertwine in the three “books” into which the volume is divided. The first tells of the Puritan Daniel Waterhouse, an acquaintance and colleague of nearly every scientist and alchemist of note of the time. The second is about Half-Cocked Jack, a London street urchin who becomes the King of the Vagabonds, and his adventures with Eliza, whom he rescues from a Turkish harem. All the plots mix together in the third book, which takes place during the 1680s in France, England and Amsterdam, a time of much political and scientific ferment. One wonders whether this is science fiction or fiction about science, but either way, I, at least, am encouraged to continue to the next massive volume in the series, The Confusion. I may wait, however, until my rotator cuff heals; these 1,000-page volumes are damned heavy. ( )

Books 1-3 (Volume 1) of the Baroque Trilogy

Very intriguing and intensely cerebral, the novel is slightly weighed down by an overabundance of philosophical and scientific discourse. However, it is a truly satisfying read that I recommend to those interested in philosophy or those who are seeking to travel several decades in the baroque period (1660s through the early 1700s in this novel). You will certainly travel with the author as the details are not in short supply, and the descriptions quickly place you into the correct context.

Much of the books follow the real and imagined life of Isaac Newton and his fellow Natural Philosophers and Alchemists. Both Newton and his fellow Royal Society comrades are exquisitely intriguing, both for their minds as well as for the drama that follows them in their lives. Book two departs for a time to the life of Jack Shaftoe and Eliza. "Half-cock Jack" leads an entertaining life, with and without Eliza, leaving the reader wanting much more of his exciting adventures and witty conversations. Although we lose sight of Jack near the end of this volume, we do maintain contact with Eliza and the life that she has chosen to lead.

After the reader has resigned herself to the fact that these are separate stories of a single time period, the link between the seemingly thus far unrelated stories comes later in the volume. As the connection came later than I'd hoped, I was glad to remember that there were another 2000 or so pages in the trilogy. ( )

The idea is interesting, but sometimes the pace is either too frenetic or too jumbled. Nevertheless, it is an engaging way to give a history and science lesson, with many of the historical figures playing important roles. ( )

It’s hard to know where to begin in reviewing Quicksilver, the first massive volume in Neal Stephenson’s truly monumental Baroque Cycle.

For one thing, the prospective reader wary of devoting a substantial tranche of his reading life to this series might quite understandably ask, ‘So, just what is this series, you know, about?’ Just pinning down an answer to this would be an accomplishment. My attempt is incomplete, as I’ve just read the first installment, but here goes: the Baroque trilogy is about the hidden stuff that makes the world go, and where that stuff came from. And what is that ‘stuff’? Science and technology; money and banking; politics and war; trade; cultural traditions and quirks and trends – and more. And where does it come from? Obviously, from all sorts of historical roots, but Stephenson has zoomed in on the late 17th to early 18th centuries as the cornerstone of the foundations of modernity, and indeed our own world.

The great joy of this book is that all of these potentially dry subjects are immersed in an entertaining, picaresque, often zany storyline that follows several unusual and attractive characters, as they appear, Zelig-like, at all the key junctures of their time.

Quicksilver does not read as smoothly as Stephenson’s masterpiece, Cryptonomicon. It’s more foreign, both in time and frequently place, and credit goes to Stephenson for clearly trying to maintain a measure of essential historical accuracy to frame his playful characterizations. But tracking the complexities he recounts, especially the vast multitude of historical personages that people the stage here, requires dedication and effort on the reader’s part. This isn’t a good book to pick up and put down for a while; it’s best read as an ongoing, immersive experience. If you can do this, it gets easier and better as it goes along, and indeed becomes a real pleasure. ( )

I really enjoyed Diamond Age by Stephenson, and had received countless recommendations for this Trilogy, "the best trilogy ever...", for a long time. So when I finally set aside all other business, turned off the phone etc. I was sooo disappointed in myself when I couldn't even finish the first chapter!

Dreary, boring, and very difficult to understand, especially as I am obviously not as intelligent as those who can manage to lap all this up. I am not really a fan of historical fiction anyway so it shouldn't have surprised me but I bought all three books certain in the knowledge that I would love it. Maybe if I do a crash course in American history I might be able to scan my way through to the exciting bits - surely there is an exciting bit? ( )

Quicksilver is probably one of the dullest books I've read in some time. I can see that it might be interesting to someone with a deep interest in European history of the late 17th century, but perhaps not even then.

Quicksilver is the first book in Stephenson's Baroque Cycle, a trilogy of historical fiction novels covering European history of the late 17th and early 18th centuries, focusing specifically on the political maneuverings of the time and the development of science as we know it today. It involves such people as Isaac Newton, Gottfried Liebnitz, Robert Hooke, Charles II, Louis XIV, and William of Orange. The main characters are, however, completely fictional: Daniel Waterhouse, Jack Shaftoe, and Eliza. (Readers of Cryptonomicon may notice the reuse of family names. Also reappearing are Enoch Root and Qwghlm.)

As I mentioned above, I found the pace of the book to be exceedingly dull, despite the fact that I actually have an interest in the history of science in that period. (And no such interest in that period's politics, so the science was merely dull, while the politics were excruciatingly dull.) That's really my biggest complaint. I do feel that the book could have been more interesting if it had been edited down a lot.

Still, I did gain some things from the book. For one, I have a lot clearer picture of the history of the area (and, as far as my research can tell, the history in Quicksilver is quite accurate). But I can't really bring myself to recommend it to anyone other than raving history fans. Almost everyone I know found the book very tedious, and most never managed to finish it.

Steganography and ending spoilers below.

The steganographic cypher that Eliza used really bugged me for most of the book. At first, I thought that the plaintext that Stephenson shows was supposed to be derived from the other visible portions of the letter. Which didn't make much sense, because the proportions of the two texts did not match at all the stated 5:1 ratio for cyphertext and plaintext. Later things implied that we were not shown the cyphertext, which is a little more believable, but runs into the problem of boundaries--sometimes the hidden text forms its own paragraphs, but sometimes Eliza appears to insert bits into otherwise cleartext sentences. Said sentences appear to flow naturally with both the hidden text and without any text, but there must be some steganographic text that is there in the undecyphered letter. The only way I could deal with the cypher, given the various problems I perceived with it, was to regard it as an unexplained author's vehicle for plot and try not to think about how it worked. I don't like having to do that with a story.

And the ending. For Stephenson (with whose novel endings I've generally been displeased), it's quite good. It works very well for this particular book (as one that leads into another such) and, with minor tweaks, would do well as the closing to a standalone novel. Too bad I probably won't read the final two books in the Baroque Cycle to see how the whole thing turns out. ( )

So good in theory, so dreadful to actually experience.

So good in theory, so dreadful to actually experience.

I don't think I liked this as much as Cryptonomicon, but it was still worth reading the 900 pages (and the overdue fees from the library since it took me so long to read it :-) ). ( )

This was a BIG book. It is the 1st book in the Baroque Cycle and it was itself split into 3 parts.

The first part I found to be slow and a little tedious, though very interesting, it bounces back and forth between the early 1700's on a ship being chased by pirates and 50 years earlier when the main character was going to school. The ship scenes I think were mostly there to give the book some action to help along the boredom of the early story.

The second part was much more action packed and I found to be much more fun and faster reading. This is also where we meet Jack "Half-Cocked" Shaftoe, Vagabond extraordinaire and we follow him on his many adventures throughout Europe in his quest to collect a legacy for his twin boys. This one was much better and many places had me laughing out loud.

The 3rd book was mostly back to the main character from the first book, Daniel Waterhouse, with a bit of tie-in from the second. This one slowed down again but was still better than the first part.

Overall I found the book a decent though long read and very interesting. I actually learned quite a bit about 17th Century Europe and England and a few other things. Quite a few ends and hints were left for the next book in the series. ( )

I keep trying, but I just can't make it through this. Stephenson is one of my favorite authors: a brilliantly imaginative mind, a stunning facility with language. But I just can't make myself care about anything in this book: the characters, the plots, the themes...I'm doing all the work, and getting no enjoyment out of it. I thought the audiobook would help -- Simon Prebble is one of my favorite performers -- but even he isn't up to faking enthusiasm or interest in the story. ( )

Despite recommendations from very reliable sources, I just found it too long-winded and slow to develop. Gave up after reading Part 1 and skimming Part 2. ( )

Like other people I know, I plan to get back to finishing this some day. I found the first 2/3 of the book engaging, but I don't really know why. It was all sciency and mathed up--suppose I'd never read anything like it, and I quite enjoyed it. Then in the last third of the book, we're given some street thief and other new characters. Sorry, I wasn't having it. Some day, though, I'll read the whole damn thing.

The novel begins by introducing us to Daniel Waterhouse, a member of the Royal Society, around 1655. He shares a room with Issac Newton at Cambridge where they are studying together. The tale begins with him in the present day which is 1713 being taken back to England to pen his tales of life with Issac and rival Leibniz in the scientific and alchemical world. It is filled with scientific persons such as Christopher Wren and Hooke along with various royals like Charles II, James II and William of Orange as Daniel later gets caught up in politics and has a spell in the Tower of London as a traitor. Many scientific principles and experiments are described along with some unpleasant ones involving live stray dogs.

The second part of the narrative centres around Jack, "the King's Vagabond" and the lady he rescues from the Turks Eliza. They are both very colourful characters. Jack is a knave who listens to the Imp of the Perverse following this inner voice into many troubles and scrapes when he could easily take the easy way out. Eliza is called a whore by many, but has a vast intelligence and head for numbers. She becomes a spy for William of Orange as the story progresses and a double agent, while poor Jack has syphillis and will not last to the end of the tale.

The final section sees Daniel and Eliza's interests coming together independently with both of them escaping death and the many plots around them. Eliza and Daniel also both do work with Bob, Jacks more reliable brother who always tried to be a force of good and balance in Jack's life. Daniel has survived The Plague and the Great Fire of London and Eliza has escaped slavery to bring them into a new era.

Sorry for the wandering review, it is difficult to know where to even begin with this immense novel. My poor eyes are wrecked now. It is very long with a very small typeface which can be quite a strain at times. Overall I found it difficult to get into this book, but once Eliza and Jack were introduced it became much more fun! Both were favourite characters of mine and Eliza uses her femine charms indiscriminantly which made for an interesting read. I will read the two follow up books in the series at some point in the future, but for now I need to rest my aching eyes. ( )

I've begun reading The Baroque Cycle by Neal Stephenson. In quote I found on Wikipedia, Stephenson describes the Baroque Cycle thusly:
"Why Baroque? Because it is set in the Baroque, and it is baroque. Why Cycle? Because I am trying to avoid the T-word ("trilogy"). In my mind this work is something like 7 or 8 connected novels. These have been lumped together into three volumes because it is more convenient from a publishing standpoint, but they could just as well have been put all together in a single immense volume or separated into 7 or 8 separate volumes. So to slap the word "trilogy" on it would be to saddle it with a designation that is essentially bogus. Having said that, I know everyone's going to call it a trilogy anyway. "
I figure with the author's intentions so clear that it will be okay for me to read and review each book individually rather than laboring through the entire volume at once. Not that there's much labor involved in Quicksilver (2003) which is a joy to read. Ostensibly a science fiction novel, the first book of the first volume (which share the same name) is more of literary journey through the scientific and political thought of early modern Europe. The protagonist of novel is the somewhat Forrest Gump-like character Daniel Waterhouse who seems to interact with all the great thinkers of the time (and at one point he even is responsible for naming the city of New York). The son of the charismatic Dissenter Drake Waterhouse, Daniel grows conflicted as he's drawn to natural philosophy especially due to his friendship with Isaac Newton at Cambridge University.

The book begins with the arrival of the mysterious alchemist Enoch Root (the one clear sci-fi/fantasy element) in Boston in 1713. Enoch is there to convince Daniel to return to England to help resolve a controversy. The chapters then alternate between Daniel's voyage and flashbacks to his coming of age. The trip home is rough as Daniel's ship encounters Edward Teach and numerous pirate ships, and the captain of Daniel's ship tries increasingly comical ways of evading them (such as disguising Daniel as the captain).

Daniel's life growing up is tougher still. From his studies at Cambridge where he meets the strange genius Isaac Newton and becomes his assistant. Daniel survives the plague of 1665 and the London fire of 1666 (which kills the obstinate Drake). He joins the Royal Society and rubs shoulders with the likes of Robert Hooke, Gottfried Leibniz, Henry Oldenburg and Samuel Pepys and participates in many scientific experiments. As Daniel is increasingly drawn into the intrigue of English society constantly at war and ready to turn against itself. He discovers that his heritage from a Dissenting family and his experience in natural philosophy put him in a unique position and as the book ends he is beginning to play that part.

That's a short summary that does injustice to a lengthy book in a longer volume. Quicksilver isn't about the plot though as it deviates into the joy of discovery, political intrigue (gossip?), satire, and stories of historical events from a new perspective. It's a great book, and I look forward to reading the other 7.
( )

As often happens with Neal Stephenson books, I had the sneaking suspicion throughout the series that I'm not quite smart enough to really understand everything that's going on, but I still had a rip-roaring great time reading this book. The characters are typical Stephenson characters (he often has the self-deprecating, adventurous, dumb-yet-geeky male and the witty, hyper-intelligent, sexy, manipulative female - I can't help but think these are two sides of Stephenson's own personality). I love the science fiction approach to historical fiction. Really amazing stuff. ( )

Oh my... what a ride. This book has a few slow places, but even those are richly illustrated and filled with fascinating linguistic tidbits. This book busts the author out of any scifi or fantasy genre, and places Neal Stephenson into the world of literature.

While this book is for a more refined or adult reader than some of Stephenson's other work, it fits quite well with the 30 something (pushing 40 something) crowd that is his fan-base. It's smart, sophisticated, funny and entertaining.

But it isn't for the easily intimidated or adrenaline junkies. It's a nice merlot, rather than the everclear and koolaid you drank in college. Enjoy ( )

Oh, Quicksilver. Oh, Baroque cycle. How often do I hear you dismissed, as too long, or too confusing, or not cyberpunk. Fear not- I love you still, and always will.

Quicksilver is not for the faint of heart, clocking in at 916 oversized pages and filled with vivisections, arguments about the calculus, syphilitic vagabonds, and crazy European politics. And this is only the first part of a three part series, remember. For those willing to commit themselves, however, almost three thousand pages of gloriousness await.

Stephenson gallops exuberantly through the eighteenth century, showering nuggets of wisdom, dollops of trivia, and piles of knowledge everywhere. In what other book can you learn about the founding of MIT, read about smuggling a woman out of a harem, and discover Sir Isaac Newton's crazy side, all in the same book? I ask you?

A plot summary could never do this book justice. Don't be lazy. If you like history, knowledge (and I mean hardcore knowledge, not first-date know-how), spies, adventure, and politics, read this book. If you don't like those things, I really don't know what else to say. Seriously. We're talking spies here. ( )