Quicksilver: Book One of The Baroque Cycle

I purchased this book almost three years ago after reading some positive reviews. I'd never read Stephenson before, but I was drawn to the idea of a cyberpunk/historical fiction novel. I read Quicksilver while I was in college, in between my regular class work.But, to my dismay, the reading experience was anything but easy. I ended up finishing the book, but the process was a long, hard slog. I quickly abandoned the idea of reading the two other novels of equal size.So, about a month ago, I decided that it was time to dust off Quicksilver and give it another go. The book is still difficult, but the book is a journey and Stephenson is an intriguing Sherpa.Quicksilver is a story about ideas. Stephenson weaves a tale about the forces and individuals that shaped the modern world. He does this by inserting fictional characters into a historical epic; we see his characters interact with famous figures, such as Isaac Newton, Gottfried Leibniz, William of Orange, et al. His fictional characters are involved in their on intrigues, but they're largely in the story to tease out information from the real-life individuals.There are three primary fictional characters that make the course of events of the book.The first and arguably most important character in the story is Daniel Waterhouse. The story is told in book one: Quicksilver; it begins in Boston in 1713,with an old Daniel Waterhouse getting a message to come back to England to help settle the great Calculus dispute between Newton and Leibniz. The story quickly shifts to a series of flash backs starting at about 1661. We follow the career of Waterhouse as he goes to Cambridge and becomes involved in the Royal Society of London. Waterhouse works with early natural philosophers, John Wilkins and Robert Hooke, as they partake in all sorts of bizarre scientific experiments.The second book, The King of the Vagabonds, sets a different tone to the story. While Stephenson earlier focused on kings and natural philosophers, the hero of this book is a vagabond called half-cocked Jack. Jack is roaming around Europe, half mad, and looking for adventures. He eventually winds up at the Siege of Vienna. Jack encounters the third important fictional character, Eliza. She was sold into slavery and became a Turkish harem. Jack rescues Eliza, and the two travel around Europe learning about finance and trade, while Eliza pursues her goal of ending slavery.If you've read this far into the review don't think that I've given much of anything away. Stephenson loads this 916-page book with all sorts of twists and turns in the story.Of course, in regards to the story, a potential reader should be warned that Stephenson is fairly lax in terms of conventional storytelling. If you're looking for a novel that carries the story from point A to point B to point C, then you're going to be disappointed. There are important twists and turns, but they can almost seem forgotten in the sheer magnitude of the larger book.While Stephenson is less concerned about the conventional story, he makes up for this by focusing on a series of important themes. Quicksilver, and I would say the Baroque Cycle, is concerned with major thematic issues and ideas rather than a conventional plot. Stephenson is trying to paint a picture of this time period, so he peppers the story with historical figures here and there, but they can easily be forgotten compared to the larger issues.The most important issues of this book are the debates between contrasting forces, such as: Reformation vs. Counter-Reformation; Feudalism vs. Nation States; the birth of science vs. religion; the birth of modern finance and commerce vs. religion. All of the characters in this story represent certain sides of these arguments. Various realms and countries represent certain sides of these arguments. France, headed by Louis XIV, is represented as being the center of all things premodern; on the other hand, England develops a complex role as the birth of modernism, while struggling internally with competing forces of reaction.If there are major flaws to Quicksilver it's that Stephenson can get too wrapped up in all of this. I say this as someone who enjoyed the book, but it can be extremely difficult to see the forest through the trees in this. As others have noted, Stephenson seems to use 50 words where 10 would do. Stephenson's writing sometimes stands in the way of some otherwise exciting action sequences.It equally can get tiresome to always have different characters launce into complex philosophical debates whenever they first start speaking. Some of the dialogue in this is just cumbersome. I wouldn't expect Isaac Newton to greet someone with, "What up dawg?", but you can imagine him acting human, sometimes. Stephenson also has fun dropping various old English words throughout the book, while also throwing in some F-bombs and other euphemisms that wouldn't have been used at the time. This isn't necessarily a negative on the book, but it does show that Stephenson could have worked in a little more humane dialogue.In general, I enjoyed the book but wish it had been a tad bit shorter. I think Stephenson could have shaved off a 100 pages to this book and largely kept the spirit intact.Overall, as stated, I didn't find this to be an easy read but it was rewarding. If you're interested in history, politics, culture, science, religion, or just a good dose of toilet humor, then you should check this book out. It may get frustrating from time to do, but keep on going! It's worth it.

At 900+ pages, this book is not a quick read, and as it's supposed to be merely the first section of a trilogy, it may be more than many want to attempt. But...First, this book works very well as an historical novel, detailing not just all the court intrigues swirling around England, France and the Netherlands in the late 17th century, along with the associated historical characters of King Louis XIV, William of Orange, King Charles and James, Cromwell, Pepys, Jeffreys, etc., but also the incredible explosion of scientific research embodied in the persons of Newton, Hooke, Leibnitz, Wilkins, Huygens, Bernoulli, and multiple others. The depiction of the experiments performed by these men is not only educational, but takes trips over into the gross, the incredible, the fantastic, the grimly humorous, with Neal's patented brand of the sublimely ridiculous. How these things interweave with things like the Black Death of London in 1665 and the Great Fire one year later, the beginnings of modern day financial markets, the various and sundry religious factions and the important philosophical questions of the day (questions which still have great relevance today), is a tapestry that is built thread by thread by Neal.The characters that Neal dwells on may ring some bells with those who have read Cryptonomicon (and the Cryptonomicon figures as a work in progress within this book). Enoch Root makes several appearances here - perhaps the question might be if he is really the same person as in his earlier book? His major characters of Daniel Waterhouse, Jack Shaftoe, and Eliza are well drawn and engaging, though perhaps some of their actions are a little too much over-the-top to be totally believable. But be prepared for the incredibly large cast - so large that the provided list of personae in the rear of the book is not only useful, but almost mandatory to being able to keep everyone straight, especially as many people are referred to by multiple names and various titles. Also useful are the (simplified) family trees of the major royal lines, helping to place in perspective the various relationships between these people (near incestuous, in some cases).Neal takes some trips into literary lands he has not previously dwelt in - from satirical plays to poems and songs, some of which work, some of which come off as a little flat. His depictions of the hygiene and medical 'science' of the day may be off-putting to some, being gross in the extreme. There are places where his descriptions of the everyday, such as the latest high fashions in clothing, are absolutely hilarious - satire that shows by contrast just how silly some things humans engage in are, not just then but also today. London and its surrounding area is vividly described, to the point where I felt I was walking down those streets, seeing and smelling it as it really was. At the same time, I felt that Versailles was not given proper attention, a lack of detailed description of one of the most impressive palaces ever built. The plot rambles - but how could it not, with the canvas being everything happening over a space of fifty years in one of the most turbulent eras ever? My only real objection to this book is that it's obviously only a part of the story - many plot threads are not finished, probably to be picked up again in the later two books.This is not a book for everyone. But for those who have interests in both history and science, this book is a marvelous trip to a time that did much to shape the world of today. I just hope that the succeeding novels live up to the promise of this one.--- Reviewed by Patrick Shepherd (hyperpat)

The novel is divided into 3 "books". The first book has some interesting ideas, set mostly in the world of English 17th century science. Famous characters, Newton, Hooke, Wren, Pepys, etc. are brought to life, as is London both before and after the Great Fire of 1666. Well known anecdotes about Newton et. al. are woven into the text and if one can suspend one's disbelief a bit, one can imagine it was like this. There are repeated flashes forwards in time, for no apparent reason. Book 2 is a disaster. It introduces invented characters, Jack Shaftoe, an unscrupulous lower class character and Eliza, a young English woman who Jack rescues from a harem at the siege of Vienna. Eliza has what are frankly incredible powers. Using just a needle and thread and some stolen silk, she makes for herself a fashionable dress. How? I happen to know people who make historical costumes. What did she make the corset from? What about the panniers and trimmings? Where did she learn this skill? She then passes herself off in France as a member of the aristocracy. How? At the same time she so amazes: Christiaan Huygens that he uses her as his assistant; Leibniz that he uses her as a correspondent and spy; William of Orange who also uses her as an agent. Of course she also has terrific sex appeal and has somehow learnt to be an expert ice skater and accomplished horsewoman. Jack doesn't have these amazing powers, but is somehow on familiar terms with aristocrat John Churchill, who in reality wouldn't have looked at him. Eliza and Jack roam around in Europe exchanging one liners in the style of modern American humour. This book 2 is so dire that I ended up turning over page after page unread without missing any real story. Book 3 is a mediocre continuation of books 1 & 2.I certainly won't be reading the next volume of the series!

I started Neal Stephenson's work by reading Seveneaves and was blown away by it. I then decided to read the other books in approximately release order - Zodiac was interesting but not great, Snowcrash was odd enough to hold my attention and Cryptonomicon was complicated but very good.Quicksilver, however, is far too long. Too many characters being referred to by multiple different names makes it very hard to keep track of what's actually going on, pages of waffle which don't seem to go anywhere (I must admit to skimming a few pages in the final third) and an abrupt ending designed to make you want to buy the next in the series (don't think I'll be doing that).The final section, the 'Dramatis Personae', is a sort of who's who and confirms that the character names were indeed overly complicated and stretches over 17 pages. So maybe I wasn't being slow!

I am not one for long reviews and this may seem back to front as I have just completed all three books.However, at first glance one can be forgiven for passing this book bye unless you know the author (not personally) as it does come across as a rather strange title and content.The books are long, detailed, at times confusing but I can assure you that if you persevere and allow yourself to be drawn into the story and characters, you will not be disappointed. In fact the trilogy becomes totally absorbing, the characters from history real, the smells of Baroque Europe disgusting and a plot that weaves and turns on a sixpence - or is it a guinea?Stephenson is, in my view, up with the best of authors of any genre

I loved Anathema and was delighted to see there was a sizeable series to get my teeth into. I was disappointed. I couldn't see what the connection between some of the aspects was meant to be, and the lengthy establishment of the character Enoch at the beginning came to nothing. The story picked up pace a bit when Eliza appeared, but again it seem disconnected to the whole. I didn't spot the promised comedic moments. I was left with the impression that I'd read a lot of writing, some of which was very good, but not a book.

I originally tried to read this book when it was first published, and failed. I recently purchased it on Kindle and have just completed all 3 volumes of the Baroque Cycle ... and loved it. An astounding story with a scope stretching around the world and covering more than half a century during a time of huge change - economically, scientifically and politically. You probably already know of many of the characters, but NS weaves them in a fantastic story told in many different styles. In part, it reminds me of Life and TImes of Tristram Shandy, while other parts are picaresque and some sections are epistolaric, and may others in between. There are parts which remind me of the epic novels of John Barth, particularly where one of the main characters, Jack Shaftoe, features in stories being related with in the main narrative. The Baroque Cylce is a huge achievement, particularly since it is a fantastic and fun read.