Rating: 
Summary: Good, but not up to Stephenson's high standard...
Review: I want to start out by saying this book is not bad and I do not feel it deserves to get some of these hugely negative reviews it has gotten. Part of the problem is that Stephenson has built up such huge expectations that this books seems to fall short. It is a huge read, starts off very slowly giving lots of information but not much action. This really makes getting through Book I a chore. If you do plow through it you are rewarded by a much better Book II and from there the reading goes much more smooth. I have a feeling many people have had a hard time getting the bad taste of Book I out of their mouthes. Book III is a bit slower, but has enough action and intrigue (mostly cryto stuff) to keep your attention to the end.In comparison to Stephenson's previous books this initially appears weak. I have another viewpoint of this myself. Stephenson is laying the foundation of a grand epic and unfortunately it requires a good deal of historical information and very detail related explanations, else you may not have any idea what is going on. Stephenson does get a bit crazy in a few parts describing some of Newton's idea's but hey, this is why Stephenson's fans like him...he is not afraid to get his hands dirty in the details. Like the grading of land and laying the foundation of a house, this work is not beautiful like his other works. I do feel it is necessary though and there will be a payoff in the next two novels of The Baroque Cycle. Overall, 3 stars because there is no 3.5.
Rating: 
Summary: Quicksilver is Golden
Review: Neal Stephenson's understanding and creativity are simply mind-blowing and in Quicksilver he has crafted another masterpiece. This book rocks! Like Umberto Eco's famous book (and movie) about a medieval monestary "The Name of the Rose," Quicksilver attempts to get inside of the history of ideas, as well as the history of religions, empires, culture and people, with a multi-genre story highlighting the major events and trends, as well as the tiny, every-day details of the historical period in which it is set. This is all accomplished within the framework of a compelling story/drama/adventure. (Actually, Eco's book the "Island of the Day Before" is probably a better comparison since the period in which it is set, the early 17th Century is closer to Quicksilver which is set in the late 17th and early 18th Century.) Stephenson's literary pretentions are fairly minimal, and as a result, his work may lack some of the stylistic richness of Eco, or some of the other famous writers of historical fiction. But he makes up for this and more with the awe-inspiring historical breadth and conceptual scope, the complexity of the plot, the action, the humor and, most of all, the insight. He possesses the rare skill to create an adventure tale tying together the ideological and religious schisms of the age, the ambitions of the leading persons, the politics and court intrigues, the geneology of European royalty and their struggles for succession and power, the economics, the trade, the industry, the social relations, the architecture, the infrastructure, the travel, the transportation, the geography, the warfare, the legal systems, the culture, the theater, the literature, the agriculture, the hygene, the sanitation (the smell), the medical practices, the social mores, sexual practices and of course, since this is Neal Stephenson, the SCIENCE, ENGINEERING and TECHNOLOGY of the era. While most prominent writers are competent stylists and many can claim historical knowledge, few can boast an ability to really understand the mathematical and scientific content and the significance of such important figures as Newton, Leibniz, Descartes, Huygens, Hooke, and many others. Among the few writers that share Stepheson's ability to grasp such eclectic but important matters as the mathematics of navigation, the mechanics of sailing ships, the chemistry of early gun-powder, the basic principles of cryptography, 17th Century optics, etc., Stephenson is unique in his ability to make these ideas accessible and interesting to laymen readers and alone in his talent to weave it all into a kick-a$# roller coaster of a story. Quicksilver explores the people, ideas and advances that paved the way for our modern age of information and globalization; the beginnings of our financial, banking and currency systems, capital markets like the Amsterdam and London Stock Exchanges; the first national libraries, the first multinational corporations like the Dutch East India Company and Lloyd's of London; the sprouts of such ideas as freedom of religion, speech, commerce and consciousness. The continued colonization of the Americas and the exploration of the world's oceans. Amidst all of these (mostly) positive developments that we think of as "progress," Stephenson is keen to remind us of the hard reality of the wide-spread slave trade, the forced labor, the constant brutality of religious and political oppression, witch-hunts, hangings, burnings, inquisitions, pirates, banditry, the ever present scourge of disease - bubonic plague, smallpox, syphilis and a ghastly array of other medical conditions and the equally horrific primitive medicine; as well as the warfare, pillage and famine. The cast of characters, real and fictional, is a rainbow of the most prominent scientists and philosophers of the age, the most powerful Kings, Queens, Dukes, Courtiers, as well as simple tradesmen, actresses, students, farmers, sailors, pirates, landless-peasants (vagabonds), slaves, British, Dutch, French, Germans, Swiss, Italians, Russians, Turks, Africans, Jews, Armenians, Gypsies and more. Delightful cameos from real historical persons such as Newton, Ben Franklin, Blackbeard, Louis the 14th, Jan Sobieski, William of Orange, Oliver Cromwell's decapitated head, Samuel Pepys, Spinoza, John Churchill - Duke of Marlborough, ancestor of Winston, and countless more. The story sails and gallops around the globe from colonial Boston to London to Paris to Amsterdam to Vienna to Venice to Morrocco to Algieria from palace to castle to salon to saloon to inn to village to church to market to fair to ship to canal to river to ocean to city to mountain to mine. There are battles, sword fights, conspiracies, chases (on horse, on ship) as well as long discourses on the origins of calculus and cryptography as well as the era's revolutionary advances in physics, astronomy, biology, etc. It's just plain cool. If I have one complaint, it is that this book is too big and heavy to carry around so I have no chance to read on the train to work or during lunch or coffee breaks (the origins of the global coffee trade and the start of cafe society are duly - and humorously recorded in Quicksilver). Many other reviewers found it long-winded but even the slowest parts and longest descriptions are full of little nuggets of humor and historical insight. Judging from earlier reviews, many of Stephenson's computer geek devotees are mad that Neal wrote a book with no passages on coding or futuristic techie concepts. They don't seem to share Stephenson's fascination with this period of history. Pay no attention to their fan-boy belly-aching. They sound like Trekkies outraged about some minor plot inconsistency. To switch metaphors and fan-bases, Stephenson is no George Lucas and Quicksilver is no prequel disappointment. He is on top of his game, picking up where Cryptonomicon left off. Those who appreciated his talent and brilliance in his earlier books should love Quicksilver and look forward with baited breath to the release of the next two books in the series. I encourage first timers to ignore the loud complaints of self-proclaimed Neal Stephenson purists (or, more aptly, Puritans denouncing this cyber-punk heresy) and go give it a read.
Rating:
Summary: quicksilver... not
Review: finally finished Quicksilver by Neal Stephenson, which i began reading at the end of September, if you can believe it. it arrived in the post the day it was released, and being that i had gotten excited over Snow Crash and Cryptonomicon over the summer, i couldn't wait to read it. and read... and read... and read... ever... so... slowly. the first 350 pages were like sitting in a 9a chem class wondering what kind of freshman idiot you are to take such a boring class so early in the morning. and then you find sudden intense interest in the button of your pen and you keep making it click click click because deep down there's something intensely cerebral in the chemical combinations of your prof's droning vox and the simplistic rhythms of your pen. you begin to marvel as the ink falls into the shallow crevices of paper as you draw a square and fill it in ever so slowly, finding zen moments in the simplicity of OMG THE TEACH JUST BLEW UP HIS HEAD WITH THOSE CHEMICALS!!! and then you sit up and take notice and ask the other students around you what you missed that led up to this point, and they say nothing man, he just grabbed that stuff and blew up and you say to yourself damn, why couldn't he have done that months ago because the final is coming up and you just now found interest in chemistry. and that's what it was like reading Quicksilver, where the entire first book was boring, book two was swashbuckling fun (Jack Shaftoe is my hero), and book three mixed the characters of books one and two rather well.
Rating: 
Summary: Do I even want to finish this?
Review: Actually I did but I had to constantly ask myself this the entire time. I have read and loved every other Stephenson book which is the only reason I forced myself to finish this one. And this is just the 1st of three?? It is going to be tough waiting out two more of these things to read more of my favorite author!!
Rating:
Summary: is this going somewhere?
Review: I have just finished part 2 and am plowing into part 3 of this massive tome. I loved Cryptonomicon, and have been entertained enough by this book to keep going. The set pieces (particularly the doings of the Royal Society in London) are informative and occasionally hilarious. But there is way too much exposition about the doings of various armies, royals, etc., across Europe, and there's no sense of the plot driving towards anything. I remain hopeful that things will tie together and start to mean something in the third part...
Rating:
Summary: Historic Fiction of Science
Review: From science fiction to ficionalized history of science, Neal Stephenson brings the goods. This effort teaches amidst a compelling story. Now I understand more of Europe, America and our current age by learning of our origins. Great stuff!
Rating:
Summary: Codes are important to this book
Review: Codes are important to this book, and possibly to an understanding of the author's intent. While reading, I found three coded passages and eventually broke two of them. The third is probably too complicated for my limited mathematical knowledge. Based on the cleartext of the first two, I suspect that other coded passages exist, but I didn't find them. Oh well, I'm sure all will be revealed in his third book.
Rating: 
Summary: Worth the Effort
Review: Normally, I plow through a 900-page book in a few days, but this one has had me tied up for weeks. It's extremely dense with information, and between the extensive historical detail, and Stephenson's exceptional talent for plot, I've been savoring this one. Still about 100 pages left to tear through and I'm looking forward to getting home and finishing it off. The start of things seems slow, but don't let that dissuade you...things start coming together nicely, and no doubt, start setting the stage for the next book in the Baroque Cycle.
Rating:
Summary: Hard Read
Review: The book is impressive but, the Author tries too hard to cover in detail all the subjects of the book. Well done but, might be considered too 'Academic' for some people's taste. Takes a long time to develop. Toward the end however, you're looking for the next book. This is not a light 2 night read. You'll think more than usual.
Rating:
Summary: Rogue Novel? Romanesque?
Review: This is an incredible work. I cannot wait for the next. Don't believe the reviews that denigrate this book.
By the way, the term is "Picaresque Novel" not Romanesque. Picaresque Novels include such titles as Huckleberry Finn and On the Road. I don't think Quicksilver can be classified yet but it would be in good company.
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