Quicksilver

Volume One of The Baroque Cycle

Hardcover, 927 pages

English language

Published Nov. 19, 2003 by William Morrow.

ISBN:
978-0-380-97742-0
Copied ISBN!
OCLC Number:
671807344

View on OpenLibrary

4 stars (10 reviews)

Neal Stephenson's Quicksilver is here. A monumental literary feat that follows the author's critically acclaimed New York Times bestseller Cryptonomicon, it is history, adventure, science, truth, invention, sex, absurdity, piracy, madness, death, and alchemy. It sweeps across continents and decades with the power of a roaring tornado, upending kings, armies, religious beliefs, and all expectations.

It 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 Eliza, rescued by Jack from a Turkish harem to …

16 editions

reviewed Quicksilver by Neal Stephenson (The Baroque cycle -- v. 1)

Review of 'Quicksilver' on 'Goodreads'

2 stars

What a mess! This volume commits several heinous sins; the Sin of Protagonist Switching occurs twice. The Sin of Rambling Aimlessly occurs through out. The Sin of Being Pointless might possibly be redeemed in the remaining volumes...but can I be bothered to read them?

There are fun and exciting passages that account for the two star rating but they are islands floating on the structural swamp.

avatar for ghosttie

rated it

4 stars
avatar for ShelfMonkey

rated it

4 stars
avatar for Elphez

rated it

4 stars
avatar for bazpoint

rated it

5 stars
avatar for steevc

rated it

4 stars
avatar for herne

rated it

3 stars
avatar for CTD

rated it

4 stars

Subjects

  • Adventure and adventurers -- Fiction
  • Seventeenth century -- Fiction
  • Eighteenth century -- Fiction
  • Scientists -- Fiction
  • Alchemists -- Fiction

Lists