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Quicksilver: The Baroque Cycle #1
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Quicksilver: The Baroque Cycle #1
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Quicksilver: The Baroque Cycle #1
Ebook1,543 pages27 hours

Quicksilver: The Baroque Cycle #1

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

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About this ebook

Quicksilver is the story of Daniel Waterhouse, fearless thinker and conflicted Puritan, pursuing knowledge in the company of the greatest minds of Baroque-era Europe, in a chaotic world where reason wars with the bloody ambitions of the mighty, and where catastrophe, natural or otherwise, can alter the political landscape overnight.

It is a chronicle of the breathtaking exploits of "Half-Cocked Jack" Shaftoe—London street urchin turned swashbuckling adventurer and legendary King of the Vagabonds—risking life and limb for fortune and love while slowly maddening from the pox.

And it is the tale of Eliza, rescued by Jack from a Turkish harem to become spy, confidante, and pawn of royals in order to reinvent Europe through the newborn power of finance.

A gloriously rich, entertaining, and endlessly inventive novel that brings a remarkable age and its momentous events to vivid life, Quicksilver is an extraordinary achievement from one of the most original and important literary talents of our time.

And it's just the beginning …

LanguageEnglish
PublisherHarperCollins
Release dateOct 13, 2009
ISBN9780061792779
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Quicksilver: The Baroque Cycle #1
Author

Neal Stephenson

Neal Stephenson is the author of Termination Shock, Seveneves, Reamde, Anathem; the three-volume historical epic the Baroque Cycle (Quicksilver, The Confusion, and The System of the World); Cryptonomicon, The Diamond Age, Zodiac and the iconic Snow Crash, named one of Time magazine's top one hundred all-time best English-language novels. He lives in Seattle, Washington.

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Reviews for Quicksilver

Rating: 3.886209524312475 out of 5 stars
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  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    A lot of work but so worth it.
  • Rating: 1 out of 5 stars
    1/5
    Neal Stephenson needs an editor.

    Also, it may be cute and even kind of interesting to write an historical fantasy novel using idioms and vernacular from the 20th century on purpose, but it just doesn't work for me.

    And yeah, ok we get it Neal, you're really clever and know a bunch of stuff...that doesn't mean you need to reference every bit of it you can stuff into the books you write.

    It's kind of dissapointing because the ideas and possibilities of where this book could have been going were really interesting...Neal Stephenson just kept getting in the way.
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    pically never quit on a book, and I didn't quit on this one either. However, I will probably quit on the series. Heck there are two or three more books in this cycle and I don't think I could handle being lectured to for another 2-3 thousand pages. I hear his first work, Snow Crash, is really good but of course this comes from the same folks who love the Baroque Cycle. I just don't get it.
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    Nicht zum ersten Mal passiert mir das bei Neal Stephenson: Idee und Setting klingen spannend. Voller Vorfreude beginne ich zu lesen, doch die Freude weicht zunehmend der Ernüchterung, und schliesslich bricht der Spannungsbogen unter dem Übermass an Details und Beschreibungen krachend zusammen. Ist wohl einfach nicht mein Ding.
  • Rating: 1 out of 5 stars
    1/5
    Abandoned at the 25% mark. Too many anachronisms, too much history of science. I don't object to reading about the history of science, but in a novel I'm generally more interested in plot. There isn't enough of that in this work.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    How to really summarize these books? Very slow starting - much like the novels which he says were part of his inpiration - those of Dorothy Dunnet. Once they start spinning, it is irresistable. Set in the time of Newton, it charts basically the creation of the modern monetary system against the background of an old fashioned (but enjoyable) Sabatini like adventure novel.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Well written and interesting, but a little bit hard for me to get drawn into. The focus is more on the science and history lesson than the story or characters which is fine, just not as engaging as other styles. I would probably enjoy it more if I knew more about the period of history it is set in, or the history of math/science. Without that prior knowledge I've felt somewhat lost in the context, especially at first.

    I would very much recommend this to anyone with an interest in the history of the late 17th/early 18th century or the beginnings of rationalism and mathematics.



  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    While the lack of a tight, page-turning plot will put some off, it's one of the most useful works of historical fiction I've read. One really begins to get a feel for the time, how people thought and felt (very differently from us) and for someone who has read historical accounts of the beginnings of the scientific revolution in England, it is especially satisfying.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    [This audiobook contains Book 1 of the print edition of the Quicksilver omnibus. Book 2 is King of the Vagabonds. Book 3 is Odalisque.]

    I’m a scientist by profession and I love history. Thus, I’m fascinated by the history of science, especially the era of Isaac Newton et al. So, Neal Stephenson’s Quicksilver should be just my thing and I was fully expecting to love this book (it’s been on my list for years), but I’m sad to say that I was disappointed in this first installment of The Baroque Cycle, though I still have high hopes for the remaining books.

    Quicksilver is well-researched and well-written and chock full of plenty of stuff I love to read about: 17th and 18th century scholars and politicians exploring the way the world works. What an exciting time to be alive! Neal Stephenson successfully captures the feeling of the Baroque world — its architecture, fashion, nobility, plagues, and lack of waste management. He’s done his research, so he clearly and enthusiastically informs us about such diverse topics as alchemy, astronomy, botany, calculus, coinage, cryptography, the Dutch Wars, economics, free will, Galilean invariance, geometry, heresy, international relations, Judaism, kinematics, logic, microscopy, natural philosophy, optics, politics, the Reformation, the Restoration, relativity, sailing, sea warfare, slavery, taxonomy, warfare, weaponry, and zoology... I could go on. Quicksilver will get you half way through a liberal arts education in only 335 pages.

    This is quite an accomplishment, but it’s also a problem. I love historical fiction, but great historical fiction uses the context of an exciting plot, engaging characters, and some sort of tension in the form of mystery and/or romance. Quicksilver has none of that. It’s purely what I’ll call (for lack of a better term) “historical science fiction.” Daniel Waterhouse, the character whose eyes we see through (mostly in flashbacks), has no personality, passion, or purpose. In Quicksilver, he exists to look over the shoulders of the men who are the real subjects of the book: the members of the Royal Society.

    These men are fascinating, yes, but if the purpose of Quicksilver is to relay a huge amount of information about them in an interesting way, I’d rather read a non-fiction account. Then at least I’d know which of the numerous anecdotes about Isaac Newton (et al.) are factual. I can think of no reason to read this history as a fictional account if it contains none of the elements of an entertaining novel.

    As an example, I’ll contrast Quicksilver with Patrick O’Brian’s Aubrey-Maturin series. I read all 20½ of those novels and was completely enthralled. Not only did I learn a lot about the Royal Navy during the Napoleonic Wars, but I was also thoroughly entertained by the fictional stories of Jack Aubrey and Stephen Maturin. That is excellent historical fiction.

    Quicksilver was funny in places (such as when the Royal Society members talk about time, kidney stones, and opiates during one of their meetings) — and engrossing a couple of times (such as when Daniel Waterhouse and Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz discuss cognition, free will, and artificial intelligence), and though I enjoy learning about the invention of clocks, calculators, and coffee, Quicksilver is mostly information overload without a story to back it up.

    I listened to Brilliance Audio’s version, which was beautifully read by Simon Prebble (always a treat). Due to its length, Brilliance Audio has split Quicksilver into its three sections: “Quicksilver,” “King of the Vagabonds,” and “Odalisque.” The next audiobook, then, is called King of the Vagabonds, and it shifts focus to a London street urchin who becomes an adventurer. Now that sounds like fun! I’m going to read King of the Vagabonds and hope that the introduction of some non-academic characters will give this saga some life!
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I'll make the standard comment here: this could have been shorter. However, I think I like it as it is: long, rambling, and minute. Despite (and possibly because of) its length, it is fascinating. It's the rare overlong plot that doesn't bore.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    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.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    This is an absolutely wonderful novel. I had read it before, but decided to pick it back up since I am teaching a Modern Philosophy course this term. The mere fact that I returned to read such a long set of novels (the three collected editions, Quicksilver, the Confusion and the System of the World, rank around 2500 pages) can already be taken as a strong endorsement of the quality of the novels. They involve a serious commitment of reading time and attention, but are extremely rewarding.The novel is a form of historical fiction, focusing on the late 17th and early 18th centuries. This is an era that I already find extremely exciting for its developments in philosophical and scientific thought. These developments form the backdrop of the book, but Stephenson also brings in the fascinating political and economic contexts. Indeed, I had not connected the era with economic innovation until reading the series. Into this vibrant and exciting period Stephenson drops three novel characters: Daniel Waterhouse, Jack Shaftoe and Eliza. Waterhouse mostly travels in the circles of the Royal Society in London, interacting with luminaries such as Newton, Boyle, Hooke, and Leibniz. Jack is a vagabond, whose adventures take him all over Europe, while Eliza's arc takes her deep into the economic innovation noted earlier.Of these, the Daniel and Eliza storylines are clearly the most interesting, though this is a judgment that not all readers share. I find Jack's sections a little wearying, largely because I'd much rather be more closely involved in the historical storylines. Jack appears in the history, but in a more amusing fashion. He is not a player in the world of ideas, whatever the consequences of his antics and adventures. However, I could certainly see a reader having the opposite reaction. While Daniel and Eliza's storylines can get deep into the philosophical, scientific and economic debates of the day, Jack's are filled with adventure after adventure. For this reader, the world of ideas is the primary draw, but others will find the Jack chapters a welcome respite.The book is meticulously researched, and I found the ideas presented in an admirably clear way. Even a reader unfamiliar with the philosophical and scientific debate will come away from the book with enough understanding to make out the plot, and perhaps their interest piqued enough to look more into those ideas. There are, however, a few places where I think the ideas are used a bit too liberally by the characters (particularly Daniel's ruminations on Leibniz's point about representation from a particular point of view). It reads at times as if Stephenson's got so many ideas and references that he wants to fit that they end up being forced into the prose where they do not really fit. While for the most part I don't think it distorts the ideas (a few exceptions aside), it does frequently generate clunky dialogue. It is hard to imagine even someone as steeped in the Royal Society as Daniel Waterhouse thinking and discussing so extensively in metaphors based on the recent research.Despite these small flaws, Quicksilver, and its sequels, is a book I highly recommend, particularly to any reader with an interest in the Modern period and the upheaval in ideas that drove it.
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    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.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    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.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    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.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    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.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    One of my favorite books of all time.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Too much! Too big, too long, too slow, too complex. It's like Neal Stephenson took a look back at The Cryptonomicon and thought "What's wrong with this book? I know - it's not long and complicated enough!" He proceeded to remedy this 'oversight' in writing Quicksilver. The book still has many of the strengths of his writing - the humour, the fascinating digressions - but in the end, this book was just too much for me.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    A fantastic book by one of my favorite authors. It's the first third of a sprawling story that spans several decades during the birth of science and finance. When I say it sprawls, this is either a compliment and a criticism to the author, depending on your tastes.I find the discursive story, with its tangents, wink-and-a-nod semi-anachronistic cross-century linguistic and cultural lessons/references to be enlightening and entertaining, but for the reader of facile history books or pulp fiction, it would be maddening. I think it's a lot like the meta-story in Goldman's _The Princess Bride_, if the narrator of _tPB_ were too dense to find value in the high wit of Morgenstern.I'm conflicted about giving this book a rating. For some people, it would score four or five stars and for others only one or two. There should be very little middle ground. So, rather than average the two into meaninglessness, I will rate it as I see fit for a reader just like me: 5/5
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Way, way, way too many characters.Since I'm not familiar with the setting (late 1600's Europe), this was kind of educational.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Great blend of fantasy and history. Mixes the changing worlds of science, commerce, and banking with lovable, rascally characters.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    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
  • Rating: 1 out of 5 stars
    1/5
    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.
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    Checked this out at the library when I had an interest in Isaac Newton. I didn't finish it. I read through the first book in it, but decided to quit in the second. He got mired in sexual descriptions and they were simply too much for me to justify reading it. Also, after 446 pages, the author is still filling in backstory. If he had kept it a little cleaner, I could have read it and enjoyed it because his description of history and the characters in it is masterful. Too bad. I wish he would write a PG or even a PG-13 version!
  • Rating: 1 out of 5 stars
    1/5
    Despite the popularity of this series, and the fact that I've been a fan of his work for decades, I just could not get in to this series. The whole time I was dragging my way through this tome, I was thinking "what he really needs is a good editor to tell him what to cut out." I just felt like he got too caught up in the daily details of his own alternate history to remember that he was supposed to be telling a story. If you are new to Stephenson, I'd recommend starting out with just about anything else, and if you're an old fan, unless you really loved the direction he started to go in with Cryptonomicon, give this series a pass.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    This is a hefty, dense book. Thankfully for me, it's set in a period I'm interested in, and the writing is good - exciting, intriguing, bawdy, and in places laugh-out-loud funny.The length was a little detrimental - I got to the end and forgot for a second that the "cliffhanger ending" was actually at an earlier point in the tale than the start of the book was!
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Simply the scope and length of Neal Stephenson's 3000 page "cycle" was daunting to me when I first became acquainted with it upon Quicksilvers bulking hardcover release. But with a freshly acquired soft cover in hand I was ready to kick back and try again. The novel fills your head with all the thoughts of Isaac Newton, Gottfried Leibniz, Robert Hooke and the fictional meanderings of Daniel Waterhouse, "Half-Cocked" Jack and his beautiful tag-along turned market crasher Eliza, while also driving the plot forward with plenty of intrigue and nail biting suspense. Having read Descartes, Leibniz, Spinoza and being obviously acquainted with Newton through my college career, I've never felt as if I truly understood quite so well how the world really came to shape these men and their ideas as I do now after reading the opening third to Stephenson's epic. On top of this, Stephenson masterfully involves all of the international intrigues from Cromwell to Louis XIV (and beyond) so well you can forget you are reading a work of fiction and not just a well written historical text. For a reader that doesn't have the time to dedicate to this book to read it at a fair pace, it may be tough to start/stop your way through as there is so much to keep in your head from chapter to chapter that often times you'll find yourself re-reading to catch up. But the reward for chasing after all of these greatly imagined characters is immense and this novel is only the beginning. I'm looking forward to the next 2000 pages that will (I can only hope) answer all of the mysterious questions lurking in the background of Stephenson's encrypted pages.A-/B-
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Stephenson's previous work, Cryptonomicon, was easily the best book I've read in the past several years, so it was with great excitement that I approached this book. Overall it was a very good year, although I think that it was definitely not in the same league as the Crypto. The book is divided into three parts, each featuring a character related to the characters and events of Cryptonomicon. The first third focuses on Natural Philosopher Daniel Waterhouse, and follows his relationship with other great minds, including Newton and Leibniz, during the latter half of the 17th century. The second part of the book is more action-based, switching the focus to the noble Vagabond, Jack Shaftoe, as he seeks to make his fortune and his way in the world. The last third returns to Waterhouse, and also greatly expands on Eliza of Qwghlm, a former slave-girl who may just be the lynchpin of European society. Intermingled with all of these events as well is the alchemist Enoch RootOverall, the book was fairly good, although to be honest I felt it dragged somewhat in the middle third. It was interesting, though, to see the interplay of the ancestors of characters that are already fairly well-known, as well as their interactions with various historical characters. I'll definitely have to give a read to the next volume in the story.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Great beginning! This is my absolutely favorite period in history - there was so much going on. The characters in this trilogy are wonderful. And I love how the real life people are depicted - it is gritty and authentic.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Quicksilver almost put me off Stephenson. Almost, which would have been a shame because the rest of the series is really good. And this one isn't bad, it's just that there are so many people (each with multiple names) and so much going on, it's nearly impossible to keep them straight. After a while it's just some action by some people, and you can't remember who these people are exactly but you know it's important.Not the whole book is like this; there is a hilarious battle between Captain Hook and Blackbeard :) And of course the vagabond exploits of our Shaftoe ancestor (for the Cryptonomicon fans) are great. And there is lots of interesting historical stuff on Newton, the Royal Society, Restoration England, good stuff. Just wish I could keep up :) I have been meaning to re-read it... maybe it will be easier the second time... but can't bring myself to.