About this title: In the first of a projected trilogy, Stephenson explores alchemy as one of the roots of mathematics and computers. With the ancestors of characters appearing in CRYPTONOMICON (Stephenson's previous novel), this literary adventure traverses Europe of the 1700s, with stops in the laboratories of some of the most famous scientists of the day, while in a separate timeline set one hundred years earlier, a drifter attempts to help a young woman exact revenge against her former captors. Winner of the 2004 Arthur C. Clarke award and a New York Times Notable Book for 2003.
Note: This is a general synopsis. Each listing is described below.
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Harper Perennial
Date Published: 2004
ISBN-13:9780060593087ISBN:0060593083
Description: Acceptable. Overall below average used book. May have highlighting, underlining, notes, price sticker on cover, or be an ex-library book. read more
Description: Good. Light shelf wear and minimal interior marks. Millions of satisfied customers and climbing. Thriftbooks is the name you can trust, guaranteed. Spend Less. Read More. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: William Morrow
Date Published: 2003
ISBN-13:9780380977420ISBN:0380977427
Description: Good. Standard used condition. May have light reading or storage wear. All orders processed within 2 business days. Ships from Foxboro MA. read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Harper Perennial
Date Published: 2004
ISBN-13:9780060593087ISBN:0060593083
Description: Good. Standard used condition. May have light reading or storage wear. All orders processed within 2 business days. Ships from Foxboro MA. read more
Description: Acceptable. Book is in good reading condition. Cover has wear at edges and corners, and may have creases. Spine has wear at edges and creases. read more
Description: Good. Book shows minor use. Cover and Binding have minimal wear and the pages have only minimal creases. A tradition of southern quality and service. All books guaranteed at the Atlanta Book Company. read more
"At over 900 pages, Quicksilver takes more effort than it is ultimately worth, although many parts of it are very enjoyable. The first section was the weakest for me, as I did not find Daniel Waterhouse to be a compelling protagonist, or even a very worthwhile character at all. The all too brief sections that deal with a battle against pirates are Stephenson doing what he does best (showing the good guys in a seemingly impossible situation, and how they strategize their way out of it). Yet their placement in between the comparably mundane story of Waterhouse's youth just emphasizes how much more boring the majority of the first section is.
The second section is the strongest. Jack Shaftoe's adventures across Europe give Stephenson plenty of opportunity to create suspense and excitement, and Shaftoe's gradual descent into madness enables Stephenson to juggle multiple plot elements without getting bogged down in gray-headed scientific principles or the incredibly complicated genealogy of royal inheritances, as he does in other parts of the book. Eliza is a strong and likable character as well, although her obsession with international finance does not work nearly as well as her role as spy for the royal families of Europe.
The third section is somewhere in between. Daniel Waterhouse returns, older and quite a bit less boring a character than he was in the first section. Although he is still overshadowed by his peers, he shows actual conviction and takes stands on issues instead of continuing to be a clueless intellectual and passive wishy-washer. Eliza's story is seen largely second-hand, through coded letters and correspondences, which does not work as well as having her in the forefront of the story, as she was earlier.
As this was the first of 3 books in a trilogy, nothing really got resolved, and at least 3 major plot threads were left hanging. This probably means that I'll read the others at some point, but I'm in no great rush."
"The novel, divided into three books, opens in 1713 with the ageless Enoch Root seeking Daniel Waterhouse on the campus of what passes for MIT in eighteenth-century Massachusetts. Daniel, Enoch's message conveys, is key to resolving an explosive scientific battle of preeminence between Isaac Newton and Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz over the development of calculus. As Daniel returns to London aboard the Minerva, readers are catapulted back half a century to recall his years at Cambridge with young Isaac. Daniel is a perfect historical witness. Privy to Robert Hooke's early drawings of microscope images and with associates among the English nobility, religious radicals, and the Royal Society, he also befriends Samuel Pepys, risks a cup of coffee, and enjoys a lecture on Belgian waffles and cleavage--all before the year 1700. In the second book, Stephenson introduces Jack Shaftoe and Eliza. "Half-Cocked" Jack (also know as the "King of the Vagabonds") recovers the English Eliza from a Turkish harem. Fleeing the siege of Vienna, the two journey across Europe driven by Eliza's lust for fame, fortune, and nobility. Gradually, their circle intertwines with that of Daniel in the third book of the novel."
"If you are an avid reader as I am, do not waste your time on this or any other Neal Stephenson book. There are many avenues the book could take to make it interesting, instead the author decides to clutter it with "stuff" that you hope will be tied in later in the book but then are disappointed that it is not. What a waste of precious reading time! I even read the 2nd Barque Cycle novel to make sure Quicksilver wasn't a fluke, but it appears that they are all the same. Do not waste your time."
"Having enjoyed the punkish near-future settings of Snow Crash and The Diamond Age, I was eager to see how Stephenson was going to follow those up. It's fair to say that Quicksilver is far from those previous books in setting, yet still somewhat familiar in theme. Stephenson sets QS in 17th century Europe, weaving his fictional characters with historical luminaries of the day. The effect is to present the reader with a world where the scientific discoveries of the day seem as fanciful (phant-syful?) as the nanotech driven worlds of The Diamond Age. One of the main threads of the book follows Royal Society member Daniel Waterhouse, who plays historical witness to many of the Royal Societies biggest discoveries, as well as witness to the occasional violent transfers of power in England. The second major thread follows the vagabond Jack and rescuee turned investor Eliza as they adventure around continental Europe, who also encounter historically significant people and events. This is an ambitious novel, but surprisingly well executed and filled with unexpected detail. Sadly, there is little resolution at the end, but I suppose that's why there are two sequels."
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