Helpful Score: 4
Another big thick book from Neal Stephenson. If you like his style, this new book, first in a series of stories, will not disappoint. He deftly intertwines the stories of three main characters, richly delving into each character's history and exploits. If you've never read Stephenson, this is one of his historical fictions, bringing to life the time period of Sir Isaac Newton and the scientific community of the late 1600s to early 1700s. You'll get insights into the lives of some famous historical figures that you never imagined, including kings and noblemen, famous early astronomers and philosophers, beggars and villains. There are also references to characters that appear in other Stephenson novels.
Despite the length, I was sorry to see it end and look forward to reading more in this series.
Despite the length, I was sorry to see it end and look forward to reading more in this series.
Monumental doesn't even begin to describe it - it took me an entire week to finish it. A tale of the beginnings of science as told through the eyes of an historical witness. Perfectly told, replete with incredibly obscure amounts of facts, fiction and fantasy.
Helpful Score: 3
A fun book. Don't be scared by it's many pages--you couldn' trust a short book that lables itself as Barroque anyway. Half-Cocked Jack is quite the character, and you find yourself rooting for him in the most unlikely situations. This is a great book for anyone who likes involved plots and a lot of characters.
Helpful Score: 3
An absolutely absorbing book! Set in Baroque era Europe, Quicksilver chronicles the travels of a young member of the "Royal Society" a secret society of scientists or "natural philosophers."
Helpful Score: 2
I've loved all of Stephenson's other stuff, but I couldn't finish this one. There are several main characters, and it takes a very long time for the connections between them to become obvious (I made it through almost 800 pages and some of them were still unconnected - I guess he was leaving something for the other two behemoths in this series). The action is not as fast-paced as Cryptonomicon. The story is about earlier generations of the same families as Cryptonomicon, and again Stephenson weaves historical people in, including Ben Franklin, Newton, Leibniz, and many members of the British royal society.
