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Quicksilver cover art

Quicksilver

By: Neal Stephenson
Narrated by: Neal Stephenson (introduction), Kevin Pariseau, Simon Prebble
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Summary

In this first volume of Neal Stephenson’s genre-defying epic, 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.

The Baroque Cycle, Neal Stephenson’s award-winning series, spans the late 17th and early 18th centuries, combining history, adventure, science, invention, piracy, and alchemy into one sweeping tale. It is a gloriously rich, entertaining, and endlessly inventive historical epic populated by the likes of Isaac Newton, William of Orange, Benjamin Franklin, and King Louis XIV, along with some of the most inventive literary characters in modern fiction.

Audible’s complete and unabridged presentation of The Baroque Cycle was produced in cooperation with Neal Stephenson. Each volume includes an exclusive introduction read by the author.

©2003 Neal Stephenson (P)2010 Audible, Inc.

Critic reviews

“[The “Baroque Cycle”] will defy any category, genre, precedent, or label – except genius….Stephenson has a once-in-a-generation gift: he makes complex ideas clear, and he makes them funny, heartbreaking, and thrilling.” ( Time)
“A book of immense ambition, learning, and scope, Quicksilver is often brilliant and occasionally astonishing in its evocation of a remarkable time and place.” ( Washington Post Book World)

What listeners say about Quicksilver

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  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars

False advertising

This book is advertised on a UK site as "Quicksilver." This in in fact not the case, instead it only includes 335 pages (equivalent) of a 950 page book.



This in in fact the US version which has been split into 3 seperate books. At no point is this mentioned and it is an utter scam that attempts to trick you into buying part 1 of a 7 book series, rather than 1 of 3 as it should be in the UK.



Despicable.

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86 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

A glorious and enchanting tale

Having just completed the final book of Stephenson's cycle I am drawn to add a few words here (in view of the poor rating of some negative reviews) as only now can I appreciate the true scale of achievement of this wonderful book. Don't judge the work from a superficial reading of the first part. The sheer length and complexity of the plot makes demands on the reader, and especially in audio format the narrative races on, characters multiply and the inattentive listener will soon lose the plot; but persevere, put the time in, re-read if necessary and your efforts will be rewarded. In this first volume Stephenson gives a detailed account of Newton's early days as a student; the narrative proper takes off slowly which is befitting in a work that is ten times as long as a standard modern novel. But none of this is superfluous- details from these pages return, mulitiply and resonate in the later story just as the experiences of youth return to us in our maturity; and the depth of biographical detail allows us to come to know and love the characters in the book as if they were real. Also check out my reviews for the final three sections.

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51 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

excellent book but..

This is an excellent audiobook, very well written and narrated, which I enjoyed very much but prospective listeners need to bear in mind two points.

First this is not so much a historical novel and a novelisation of actual history: that is, the main characters are true historical figures and the events are, by and large, true events. This means that although the picture painted on 17th and 18th century England is both fascination and convincing, the book lacks a strong storyline and a clear narrative momementum. This means you need to concentrate when listening otherwise you lose the plot pretty fast!

Second, to really enjoy the book, I think you need a fairly reasonable knowledge of the history of the period, and the history of scientific development - in particular the feud between Newton and Leibnitz on who invented the calculus - otherwise the allusive and subtle style of the book will lose you completely. Little time is spent by the author setting the scene, as it were.

I'm going to check out the next in the series as I think the books improve judging by amazon reviews, and whilst I did enjoy this one, it wasn't what I expected - hence this rather lengthy review!

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51 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

A excellent start to a very ambitious series

One of the best, most inventive and mind bending books I've read in years.

If you like your fiction formulaic, procedural and devoid of complexity; then move on - nothing to read here! However, if, you want a challenge, then this is definitely the series for you.

Quicksilver is a seamless blend of; historical themes, locations, religion, philosophy, world changing events, mixed with a who's who of scientific greats from the 17th century. All of these components blended into a plot which revolves on; intrigue, commerce and power.

The book follows the life of Daniel Waterhouse a scientist, member of the Royal Society, friend of Isaac Newton, and son of a religious fanatic.

The true genius of this book is that the reader is never allowed to drift, with Stephenson constantly changing characters, locations and even jumping forward and backward in time. He manages all of this without breaking the flow of the narrative.

In the hands of a lesser author this mix could result in a boring historical tomb. In Stephenson's hands the book brims with interest. There is action aplenty, particularly during an engagement with pirates off the coast of Massachusetts and in the desperate search of a son for his mad father during the great fire of London. Drama and political intrigue with the mystery of French silver flowing into London. Despair and tension as Daniel walks across a deserted London cleared of people by the black plague on an elaborate scavenger hunt.

Quicksilver is also very funny - from explosions caused by mistaken identity to hilarious Puritan moral dilemmas resulting from condoms made from sheep intestines.

Simon Prebbles narration is top notch. Simon has the ability to give each person a slightly different accent or inflection making character identification easy, without turning the story into a pantomime of silly voices. The excellent voice work really shines through in the new enhanced audio format.

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29 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Ambitious and entertaining

The Baroque Cycle is a hugely ambitious work, sweeping across 17th century history. Quicksilver, the first book in the cycle, is centred on the early days of the Royal Society and the Enlightenment. Taking in the power struggles of Europe, the Plague and the Great Fire, it's a great read and makes a particularly good audiobook. Highly recommended.

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25 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Not at all as unexpected

gave up after 4 hrs of waiting for a cohesive thread. tedious and poorly put together ..the dog experiment signalled my dwindling enthusiasm and nothing onward gripped my attention. as an audio book it was impossible to keep up with who was where and in what year.

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12 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Better than the book

When I read The Baroque Cycle it was 10 nominal books packed as 3 actual books, sweeping in a way that Ben Hur got credit for (but, by comparison, just is not) and hugely engaging and entertaining. The audio book is SO Much Better! While 2 timelines are addressed, this is done much better than in the books where, alas, 2 seperate central characters had independant timelines addressed in parralel. In short, the audiobook is a much more sensible depiction of this genuinely world class tale. 'Epic' is, frankly, too minor a term to cover its scope, ranging as it does all over the globe and encompassing applications of power at every level in society. It is by turns heartwarming and horrific, educational and appaling. As a primer in history, philosophy, geography, politics, science and maths it is second to none, and more entertaining by far than education is generally allowed to be.

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9 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

Underwhelming

No real storyline - just serial factoids. Nice historical perspective but much too long for me.

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8 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

Disappointing as fiction also as non fiction book.

After 5 hours I stopped reading and delete the book.
There is happening nothing. It's only slow telling about some inventer about 300 years ago.
But there are no adventures, only discussion and babbling about the development of the technic.
If You want to learn the science of mechanics and so on, go better to the Great Courses and the Modern Scholar.
There You can have real science, instead only scratching the surface.
The speaker seems to know, that nothing of interest will appear. So he reads without emphasis.
I am pleased that many other readers also have the impression that a hobby historian and amateur scientist is trying in vain to create a novel from the contents of many books.
Unfortunately, that was just as incoherent, boring, as the scrambling of many good science articles into an overall report.
As fiction simply unbearably boring - as science novel very superficial and unsuitable to impart knowledge.
So I praise again the series "Great Authors" and "Modern Scholar" at Audible, where you are informed in a more important way much better.

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7 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Rewards close attention

Stephenson combines the politics of restoration England with the history of science to produce a satisfying read combining gripping real life characters, good dialogue and a lively plot. The plot jumps between the period around 1666 and the early decades of the 18th Century. The 1666 sections are an intriguing romp in which a cast of characters from the Royal Society such as the eccentric and prickly Isaac Newton bump up against rapier wielding dandies from the court of Charles the second and unhinged puritans mourning the passing of Oliver Cromwell and his republic. The plot is split between a mysterious intrigue involving the supply of faulty gunpowder to the English navy for its war against the Dutch and this is told in entertaining and amusing fashion. But Stephenson's real interest seems to be in making sense of the astonishing leaps in human knowledge happening at the time through Newton's development of physics as a field and the sort of logical and mathematical developments that paved the way for modern information technology. Personally, I found that part fascinating and it only added to my enjoyment of the more straightforward elements of the book. The parts of the book set in the early 18th century seem to be intended to set the scene for future volumes but they include some great passages on sailing and piracy at the time. I confess to being a bit put off by some other reviews but I'm very glad I made this purchase and look forward to hearing the remainder of the series

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7 people found this helpful