The Baroque Cycle
Quicksilver, The Confusion, and The System of the World
About the book
Neal Stephenson's historical series follows a large cast through Europe, Africa, Asia and Central America in the late 17th and early 18th centuries. Three invented figures, Jack Shaftoe, Eliza and Daniel Waterhouse, move among real people such as Isaac Newton, Gottfried Leibniz, Louis XIV and William of Orange. The action ranges from the Stuart Restoration in England to London in 1714, and the story tracks Europe's shift from feudal rule toward scientific, financial and political systems built on reason and merit. Cryptology, coinage and alchemy recur throughout, and Stephenson calls the work science fiction partly for anomalous events and partly for its science themes. The set collects all three volumes, and the first won the Arthur C. Clarke Award.
Marc Andreessen described it as carefully researched historical fiction with only a thin layer of science fiction, telling a fresh story of how democracy, the scientific method and financial markets emerged. He said the novels make him wonder what a Neal Stephenson of 2300 would write about the present.
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This book has 1 recommendation
Marc Andreessen (Co-Founder/Andreessen Horowitz)
The Baroque Cycle—a work of rigorously researched historical fiction with only the slightest overlay of science fiction—tells the story of the emergence of the modern world and its systems (democracy, the scientific method, financial markets, etc.) in a way that is wholly fresh. These novels make me think about what a Neal Stephenson of 2300 may write about our times and us.
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