Rating: 
Summary: Quicksilver is very slow
Review: Unfortunately this book confirms NS's declining ability to produce new and interesting stories. This book is an incredibly longwinded journey to nowhere which is very disappointing as NS has written some truly brilliant books in the past.
"Zodiac" was very good. "Snowcrash" was truly brilliant with a wealth of new ideas. "Diamond Age" wasnt as good as Snowcrash but still had some excellent new ideas. "Cryptonomicon" was mildly interesting, especially with its descriptions of crypto history (although Simon Singh was better in The Code Book).
Then we get to Quicksilver. The plot takes ages to get anywhere and the characters are developed in excrutiating detail. I found the time jumps a bit confusing and at times couldnt see the relevance of parts of the story.
In short, if you enjoyed his early books then you are unlikely to enjoy Quicksilver. However, if you enjoy highly detailed historicals then this is probably for you.
Rating: 
Summary: A great read!
Review: I truly enjoyed reading this It's a rarity these days to find an author capable of such good storytelling. The story is well written and very engaging, and despite the fact that it lost some momentum in the middle, I found myself eagerly turning pages to find out what would happen next. All in all, though this is not quite a perfect novel, it comes close.
Rating: 
Summary: Great book
Review: If you're a fan of Stephenson's previous works (most notably Cryptonomicon and Snow Crash), you'll notice improvements in Stephenson's writing style - and I don't mean the [by today's standards] intentional spelling mistakes or capitalizations within sentences. The way this book is delivered creates an authentic sense of the 17th century and this sense is not lost even when Stephenson includes his traditional way of bluntly describing some events. Most of the main character names are recycled from Cryptonomicon ala King's "Desperation" and "The Regulators", but unlike King the roles for these characters remain the same. The changes in literary medium - from third person to letters to play - throughout the book make for an interesting read and change of pace. The action in this book is, however, slow, so if you're looking for the 17th century recreation of Cryptonomicon, this is not it. I enjoyed this book, and look forward to the remaining two books in the series.I am not a history buff, so any little annoying changes Stephenson may have made to actual character names like he has in previous books (i.e. "Finux" for "Linux" and "L. Bob Rife" for "L. Ron Hubbard") were lost on me which I think made the book that much more enjoyable.
Rating: 
Summary: A Titanic Act of Literary Hubris
Review: In the 1990's, the shining star of postcyberpunk Sci-Fi, Neal Stephenson, delivered a trio of unforgettable, unique novels: the libertarian dystopia "Snow Crash", the Dickensian sci-fi satire "The Diamond Age", and the incredible info-age thriller "Cryptonomicon". Although they were his only three novels in the decade, they bore a cultural relevance that went far beyond Stephenson's less than prolific output- the first novel echoed the uncertainties of a post-cold war world on the verge of a new revolution, the second echoed the heady optimism of a time of dramatic technological and sociopolitical change, and the third betrayed a keen grasp of how dark the day after tomorrow could be. It seemed that Stephenson, with his amazing skill at twisting ideas, humor, and a certain measure of info-age prophecy together, could do no wrong. With "Quicksilver", Stephenson hath known sin- and it doesn't look good on him. Quicksilver is, to be perfectly honest, too long. The pacing of "Cryptonomicon" made it fly by- Quicksilver is an endless trudge into an ever more byzantine (or should I say baroque?) web of characters, subplots, and trivia that would put a Robert Jordan novel to shame. While still humorous, much of Stephenson's forked tongue gets lost in the minutae of the book... and the relevance of the novel doesn't seem immediately apparent. Stephenson's epic ends up being a huge, messy cludge of history and characters thrown together in such an inelegant manner that one loses track of the story at it's heart. However, while I am disappointed in "Quicksilver", it is not without it's merits. The first third of the novel is truly excellent, his main characters are quite interesting, and "meeting" various figures from the 17th and 18th centuries is a joy in of itself. While my critiques of the book remain, a true evaluation of this work remains impossible without reading the two remaining volumes- which, at the time of this review, have not yet been released. All in all, unless you're a major 17th century European history buff, I'd suggest waiting until the second and third volumes are released before deciding whether or not to pay the cost of admission.
Rating:
Summary: Stephenson is still one of the greats!
Review: Neil Stephenson is a great writer. Probably the most well researched and illuminating work out there today that still reads like a page turner. I was very pleased to finally see his new work on the shelve (Mr. Stephenson, the faster you write the more we enjoy it). This book is part of an ambitious opus to total over 2,500 pages, as I understand it. It is well worth the read so far.
This book started out a little slow and, actually, all the Waterhouse portions were a little slower (but full of interesting and well researched historical data). The book was much faster after introducing the Shaftoe character and filled with the wit and creativity that has been my greatest joy in reading Stephenson's work. From there things get onto the fast track and the finish is very interesting save for the fact that we don't get a very satisfying resolution to some of the major elements of the book's plot (what is happeing on the slave ship?). If you are like me and enjoy books that have creative twists with a brain behind them, then this is for you. Stephenson is truly one the the modern greats, especially the Cryptonomicon just before this book. The dialogue from that one is tremendous and it is one of the few books I own that I come back to regularly (Shaftoe on the German submarine ...some of the most complex plot twisting you'll find, and it hangs together logically). Please keep 'em coming Mr. Stephenson and, for my part, Diamond Age and Cryptonomicon are great works that will last for a long time.
Thanks for taking the time to read this, y'all.
Rating:
Summary: Merrily we Slog Along!
Review: I had great hopes for this thick wad of paper from Mr Stephenson. What a disappointment! Not only were the characters flat, they were recycled from Cryptonomicon! I slogged through about 700 pages before sending it along to the used book store for trade credit. So sorry to hear that there related texts to follow at six month intervals: looks like I will be taking a Stephenson Sabbatical!
Rating: 
Summary: Lots of reading, not much payoff.
Review: I quit. 774 pages read, 150 to go. This has been a great waste of time. I love historical fiction but this story takes a lot of work with no payoff. For example; the female protagonist saves William of Orange from French dragoons in Holland by riding bareback across the country side, rowing a longboat out to sea, drowning a dragoon who tries to board the boat and he skips the thanks but tells her to go seduce a lesbian friend, so that she can, no doubt, send him more encrypted letters that talk about Court life. That is tne big action and occurs 700 pages in. Before that there is no action at all. Take a pass on this.
Rating:
Summary: Not Your Typical Historical Fiction
Review: This was my first Stephenson book. I came at it as someone interested in history rather than science fiction. As a work of historical fiction this book has many strengths. The center of the book isn't the characters or the plot, it's the environment. The book is bursting with historical detail, mostly about England in the late-1600s but Europe and Boston too. I felt transported, and for me that more than justifies the 900+ pages. However, some of the book was undoubtedly slow going. I enjoyed the detail about natural philosophy and scientific discovery, but I'm not sure other historical fiction genre fans will care. The plot is fascinating in an intricate, slowly unfolding way, but if you want to read a fast-moving murder mystery like The Dante Club, spend your time on something else.
Rating:
Summary: Bad reviews for a great book
Review: I was expecting the worst when I read the reviews here. But I was captured from page 1 until I finished the book, and now I'm eagerly awaiting the next two volumes.
Whether you like the book or not depends upon what interests you, and that explains the mixed reviews. It helps if you are interested in much of: history of science, astronomy, computation, AI, crypto, gruesome experiments, sailing ships and economics. I liked all but the last two. I hated history at school, but this made it (almost) fun.
Stephenson makes the past even stranger than the future. Despite the anachronisms and the surreal characters, this book smells real. It is as different as Snowcrash and Cryptonomicon are from each other, and better than either of them.
Rating:
Summary: History makes for a great story
Review: I just finished reading Quicksilver and I must say that it met every one of my excpectations and then some. I've read alot of reviews here claiming that the book has no plot, but I thought the story was amazing and here's why. I knew absolutely nothing about European history. The backdrop for the plot is the events that transpired in Europe during the mid to late 1600's, if you don't know anything about that time period, then the history provides it's own plot. However, because many people are quite familiar with the history in the book, I gave it four stars, since you pretty much already know whats going to happen. Now I have read every other Stephenson novel to date. He is my favorite author, so whatever he writes, I'm going to love, but one thing I want people to keep in mind is that Neal Stephenson has been know for some rather ambitious stories that tend to cover alot of ground before they end. This is but the first of three, so I feel there is a distinct possibility that some may be judging the story of THIS book without viewing it in the context of a TRILOGY. I can only hope that the nay-sayers eat their words when all is said and done. You know what, screw four stars, I give it five.
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