Neal Stephenson

The exploits of an alchemy-rejecting scientist, a vagabond leader, and a former Turkish harem prisoner intersect in the world of the American colonies, the Tower of London, and the courts of Louis XIV. By the author of Cryptonomicon.

Volume One of The Baroque Cycle

Quicksilver

Jeff Byrnes

My favorite Stephenson series; this book is chock-full of delightful prose, and fantastic stories. A lovingly researched view into the western world ~300 years ago, with a mess of characters both fictional and real.

Signed

Grady Scott Weston

Recommend getting the hardcopy or Kindle version, as the audiobook can be a bit hard to follow, given some of the wording and the many characters involved...

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...

(back cover)

Tara King

Phil James

Aidan Dysart

John Manoogian III

Pierre

Pedro Figueiredo

Hannah Swithinbank

Stefan Ladstätter-Thaa

Klaus Eck

Michael Cowell

In which Daniel Waterhouse, fearless thinker and courageous Puritan, pursues 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.

Quicksilver Volume One of The Baroque Cycle

Reviews