King of the Vagabonds

Book Two of The Baroque Cycle

By: Neal Stephenson

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

Length: 11 hrs and 11 mins

Publisher's summary

A chronicle of the breathtaking exploits of “Half-Cocked Jack” Shaftoe – London street urchin turned legendary swashbuckling adventurer – risking life and limb for fortune and love while slowly maddening from the pox – and Eliza, rescued by Jack from a Turkish harem to become spy, confidante, and pawn of royals in order to reinvent a contentious continent through the newborn power of finance.

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.

Listen to more titles in the Baroque Cycle.

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

Critic reviews

“Bawdy, learned, hilarious, and utterly compelling, [it] is sprawling to the point of insanity and resoundingly, joyously good.” ( Times of London)

“Thrillingly clever, suspenseful, and amusing.” ( New York Times Book Review)

"Most tales of 'olde' times are replete with castles, robed lords and ladies, and handsome men on horseback. But what about the wretches they pass on the side of the road as they go off to a lively joust? is about those men, the poor, the grifters, whose names are lost to history—the vagabonds. Stephenson's novel tells their story, with the able help of storyteller Simon Prebble. Prebble's witty banter is perfect as the voice of Jack, a knave who is out to prove that even a lowborn can succeed in seventeenth- and eighteenth-century Europe. Prebble even does a great job with the historical characters such as Isaac Newton, Ben Franklin, and others. Equal parts action and adventure, along with a healthy dose of humor, make this a great listen." ( AudioFile)

interesting but flawed

I wish I had enjoyed this as much as Book One:Quicksilver. A bit hard to follow the various characters' motivations, and a really lamentable rendition of Hava Nigila... just overall not too compelling.

well written, wonderful narration

Simon Preble is a fantastic narrator, his pace and tone are always appropriate, and his characterizations give life and are never over the top.
now the story, I am a long time fan of Neil Stephenson, and like all his books this is compelling and well paced, more action in then Quicksilver, if you are looking for that, exhaustively detailed. the majority of yhe novel maintains a very light, adventurous tone, the character seem both charmed and charming. The last few chapters though, get heavy, or rather are brought down to earth. SPOILER : In the book there are two very different instances of sexual assault, they are realistic and not sensationalized, but nonetheless it took me a moment to get back into the story.

Places you right there, smell, taste, touch

Where does King of the Vagabonds rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

At the top of audio books. A very good performance for the period in history.

What did you like best about this story?

This is book 2 of 8 in the Baroque series, for that point I cannot really comment on the how much I like the story. That said, the story line is excellent and we are properly introduced to important characters.Toe rad this author, I find myself going away during the book and researching the real history line. In this book especially William of Orange. The author is marvelous at spinning a story line around historical facts.To read how the binary code was understood at this point in history and how it was initially used as encryption for covert notes for me is fascinating. I cannot get enough of the bridges that Stevenson fills for me with respect to trade, the power cities. the early frauds, all of this is power packed.

Which character – as performed by the narrators – was your favorite?

Both Jack and Eliza came to life.

If you could rename King of the Vagabonds, what would you call it?

I would not rename the book. The series of these books is written for the common persons lot in life. The Vagabond is a very important element in the development of European society, and in fact globally that the story must be told.This character and way of life is rarely told.

Any additional comments?

I find that I must replay chapters continuously, this series is not cops and robbers with a lot of words going nowhere and wham bam climax. For me, in order to get the real message behind the story, I have to listen again, because the nuances and intrigue are very important later on in the novel and series.It is like learning math, miss a section and you cannot solve the equation. Same with Stevenson's writings.

More intriguing than quicksilver

I really want to enjoy this series. I had heard that if you can make it through Quicksilver, you will love the rest of the baroque cycle. I am still not convinced, but this was a bit better.

Better than Book 1 in this series, but not enough.

This book is #2 in the Baroque Cycle. If you are considering this one, then I would expect that you have already listened to “Quicksilver”, the first book in the series.

I listened to this book because I couldn’t believe that a series could rate as high as this series does with a lead-off book (Quicksilver) that was as poor as that one was. This one had to be much better, right? Okay, to be fair, it was better. It was even much better, but the first book was so poor that being much better than “Quicksilver” meant that “King of the Vagabonds” was still average or a bit below.

The biggest improvement with this book is that this book actually has a story, with a beginning, a middle, and a hanging ending. The ending is such that it leaves you wondering how an author could leave the characters in such a state, but of course then you realize that this is a series. I am unwilling to spend any more time on this series just to learn what happens to the characters in it.

The writing is good, the narration is also fine, but the story left me flat at the end. I do wonder how the author ties up the ends that are left loose in this book, but not enough that I’m willing to listen to any more in this series.

This book doesn’t refer back to anything from the first book in any but the most superficial way. If I had skipped the first book and started the series with this one, I wouldn’t have missed anything. Had I done that, I might have even gone on to the next book. But one dud (Quicksilver) followed by a book that ends like a soap opera (King of the Vagabonds) isn’t something that I want to pursue for another five books and 87+ hours.

In the end, this book does at least have a story, which is an improvement on “Quicksilver”. Without pursuing the rest of the series I can’t speak with certainty, but I would recommend that you start with this book if you absolutely MUST get these books.

– Loren

Excellent story

Book two of the Baroque Cycle. Great story, lots of fun, engaging, interesting characters, great mix of real and fictional. I highly recommend this book.

The Series from the Vagabonds point of view

This story focuses more on Jack and Eliza and their adventures. it covers a different part of society during the same time period. Kind of makes you wonder how we came to be given this part of history. The story is engaging and thought provoking. I find the topic interesting and the reading is great.

Another amazing audiobook

I read this series first and then about 15 years later came back to them through audible. The writing and the narration go so well together. I’m so impressed! Strongly recommend.

As always Stephenson delivers a Big Bang.

I listening to the series - this time in the order the books were written - two years after the first listen. I don't do this often and never with a gap of only two years. But the content of Stephenson's books is so dense and some of his best lines so subtle that the material feels fresh and worth paying attention to.

Awesome book

One of the greatest series ever written. A masterpiece. It's even better as an audio book than as a paper book.