Quicksilver

Book One of The Baroque Cycle

By: Neal Stephenson

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

Length: 14 hrs and 43 mins

Publisher's 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.

Listen to more titles in the Baroque Cycle.

©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)

Neal Stephenson

Highly recommended, Highly recommended, Highly recommended, Highly recommended, really recommended, Hihly recomend, Highest recommender, High recommend

Satisfying and Genre Bending

Historical Science fiction at it's best. Not that there is much with which to compare it. Also this was quite well voiced both in writing and performance. Now I am off to the next book in the cycle.

Thick accent

Difficult to understand when played at speeds greater than 2X. Clarity is the most important thing.

Incredible. Historic. Dramatic. Comedic.

I have no words for how I enjoyed it. Beyond entertaining & fascinating. The nods to contemporary concepts & future History, woven into dialogue as if the characters were unconsciously tuned into today's world make the narrative beyond time & take the reader/listener back into the moments of the story in an amazing unique way. I can't recommend it enough.

Quite wonderful

Illuminating about the period and the brilliant minds who studied the natural world. Takes patience but highly recommended.

Pure Stephenson--Intelligent, insightful, funny

I rarely write reviews, but this situation seems to demand it. I am amazed at both how few reviews have been posted and how many have been negative. It is not surprising that some did not enjoy Quicksilver, but where are the reviews from those that did? It is hard to believe that this rich, original and quirky book has not found an extensive audience.


Strictly speaking this is a "secret history". That is, it faithfully covers a historical period but creates characters and events that fit neatly in the cracks between what is known and what is not about this period. Into these cracks, Stephenson inserts Daniel Waterhouse, a fiction college mate of Newton and early member of the Royal Society. He is a puritan, a member of sect at the fringe of English society. Through his eyes we receive an intelligent and intimate understanding of his time--a time when culture, science, religion and commerce where changing radically--were becoming modern.


This might sound dry, but it is not. It is the coming of age story of man in the Restoration Court of Charles I. It is filled action including one of the most perfectly described pirate battles I have ever encountered. It has a cast of compelling characters, both real and imagined; scientists, both mad and brilliant. Running though all is a vein of wit and often hysterical humor. The prose itself is first-rate, far better than we have the right to expect in a historical novel. Add to all of this an excellent narrator with a perfect ear and voice for the accents and cadences of the time.


If you enjoy Stephenson or a well written historical novel, you should not miss this. By the way, Quicksilver is the first of several volumes in the Baroque Cycle. I have only read the second book, but I can already guarantee that there is much more to look forward to.

Try starting with chapter 3

I almost missed this witty historcal novel because it was hard to relate to the narrative in the first two chapters, which consume 1 hour 27 minutes, and introduce a long-lived character named Enoch the Red. My suggestion is to listen to the author-read introduction and then skip to chapter three, set in 1716 in Newtown, Massachusetts, which introduces the book's affable, accommodating, and somewhat child-like (in terms of wonder, devotion, and curiosity) protagonist, Daniel Waterhouse. Return to the first 2 chapters at the end of the book, where their significance to the Baroque Cycle series will be immediately apparent. I deduct one star from the story for this structural flaw, but rate the overal audiobook 5 stars.

Quicksilver is not a mere exposition of the development of "natural philosophy" into what we call modern scientific reasoning. It sincerely captures the falacious reasoning and original assumptions-- most of which seem absurd and superstitious from today's standards-- of early scientists, and charitably explains how their life experiences, social status, and the prevailing dogmas of the day made their "quaint" ideas, such as the spontaneous generation of flies from filth, understandable. As a caveat, if animal cruelty is particularly distressing to you, as it is to me, I suggest visualizing only the scientists--not their animal subjects--much the way many TV medical dramas do not show the open incisions of surgical patients. Notwithstanding the book tempting the reader to slide into visualization of painful animal experiments, I am eager to read book 2.

Love It!

While clearly not for everyone, this book is beautifully and believably written and beautifully read. It is a small window into a fascinating time and place. Ideas, taken for granted now, but novel at the time, presented in historical context (as opposed to, say, in one's college math class) can elicit quite a different reaction. And it is written with humor. I have loved every minute and am looking forward to the next book in the series.

I simply adore this book!

How on earth can I have listened to the same book as some of the other reviewers? This book transported me to England during some of the most eventful decades of modern history. The characters would be sci fi heroes if it weren't for the fact that they lived. The times were so charged! The black death, the great fire, the birth of modern science and America. I have no idea how anyone could read this and not be dazzled. Simon Prebble is as always a master. If you like to learn and think when you read this will be a revelation. If you want mindless fluff, pass on.

Characters

Quicksilver introduces a wildly diverse set of characters that bring the period to life. Part historical fiction, part a character play. A great intro to the series