Paul W. (BookLovers) reviewed The System of the World (The Baroque Cycle, Vol. 3) on + 61 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 2
If you are a Neal Stephenson fan, you will love this series - very deep plots and great characters, set it the late 17th / early 18th century, mainly in western Europe, but with adventures all over the world.
Kristen W. (ver0nika23) reviewed The System of the World (The Baroque Cycle, Vol. 3) on + 15 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
I got a little tired of this series after book 2, but boy am I glad I kept on reading! Stephenson somehow manages to wrap up the entire series in the last 15 pages of this book, and delivers the goods!
Althea M. (althea) reviewed The System of the World (The Baroque Cycle, Vol. 3) on + 774 more book reviews
Overall, I found The Baroque Cycle rather tedious. But it did end pretty well. Ties in a bit more with Cryptonomicon. Had some actual tension and action...
I still hold that these books really could have used a good editing, however. At many points, the characters were just being put through 'Philosophickal Dialogues' which in no way really resembled conversations that actual people might have... of course, this was decidedly intentional, and some of the most interesting bits were in such parts... but I still feel the whole thing could have benefited greatly from being 'tighter'...
Like I said before, it was work to read this... not wholly unrewarding work, but still...
I'm still not positive how I feel about what Stephenson did with this work, which was really to put ideas about computing, information theory, and the economics of information and capitalism into the minds of historical (and fictional) characters of the 17th century... it's (obviously) not accurate, and although it draws some interesting parallels, I think I do prefer historical novels that make an effort to accurately portray a feeling of time and place (although they may be equally wrong, who knows?).
I still hold that these books really could have used a good editing, however. At many points, the characters were just being put through 'Philosophickal Dialogues' which in no way really resembled conversations that actual people might have... of course, this was decidedly intentional, and some of the most interesting bits were in such parts... but I still feel the whole thing could have benefited greatly from being 'tighter'...
Like I said before, it was work to read this... not wholly unrewarding work, but still...
I'm still not positive how I feel about what Stephenson did with this work, which was really to put ideas about computing, information theory, and the economics of information and capitalism into the minds of historical (and fictional) characters of the 17th century... it's (obviously) not accurate, and although it draws some interesting parallels, I think I do prefer historical novels that make an effort to accurately portray a feeling of time and place (although they may be equally wrong, who knows?).
From the back cover: England, 1714. London has long been home to a secret war between the brilliant, enigmatic Master of the Mint and closet alchemist, Isaac Newton, and his archnemesis, the insidious counterfeiter Jack the Coiner. Hostilities are suddenly moving to a new and more violatile level as Half-Cocked Jack hatches a daring plan, aiming for the total corruption of Britain's newborn monetary system. Enter Daniel Waterhouse: Aging Puritan and Natural Philosopher, Daniel has been on a long and harrowing quest to help mend the rift between adversarial geniuses. As Daniel combs city and country for clues to the identity of the blackguard who is attempting to blow up Natural Philosophers, political factions joceky for position while awaiting the impending death of the ailing queen, and the "holy grail" of alchemy, the key to life eternal, tantalizes and continues to elude Isaac Newton. As Newton, Waterhouse, and Shaftoe each circle closer to the object of Daniel's quest, everything that was will be changed forever....
