Neal Stephenson's Quicksilver

[EricNoah]

Just started this series yesterday. I didn't realize it wasn't sci fi until I started... Stilll, I enjoyed The Name of the Rose and heard there were some similarities, so I think I'll give it a good shot.

 

[Olive]

Just started this series yesterday. I didn't realize it wasn't sci fi until I started... Stilll, I enjoyed The Name of the Rose and heard there were some similarities, so I think I'll give it a good shot.

Well it's more fiction about science rather than sci-fi, but it's certainly not fantasy!

I read the first one, kinda liked it, but found it (like cryptonomicon) a little in need of a heavy edit at times. I'll read the next two when I can afford them (so maybe start in a few months).

edit: whoa... way to revive a dead thread Eric!

 

[haiiro]

It's weird, but Quicksilver didn't really do it for me. I love Stephenson in general, and his style in particular, and Cryptnomicon is one of my top two or three favorite books ever; Snow Crash and Diamond Age rank very highly as well.

But by about halfway through Quicksilver, I really wanted a plot. I don't mind movies that kind of putter around and don't really resolve into a story -- actually, I usually enjoy them -- but with a thousand page mega-tome like this one, I need something to keep me reading. Good writing just wasn't enough.

Book two of the Cycle has sat on my shelf untouched since the day I bought it -- and it'll probably stay there, because I can't muster up the energy to re-read Quicksilver on the off chance that a plot appears in the second book.

 

[cignus_pfaccari]

The Confusion is, almost entirely, about Jack and Eliza and what happens to them over the next umpteen years.

Daniel, while he has a few appearances in Book 2 (in the Eliza sections), doesn't really appear until Book 3, when he winds up, effectively, being the prime mover of a whole host of plots.

Unfortunately, I'm not real sure if there is a Plot to tie everything together, other than that you're witnessing events over a great span of time and distance that're pretty cool. But, I have to say, I really did enjoy the series.

Brad

 

[Liminal Syzygy]

Not able to carry the massive hardbacks around with me everywhere, I was distracted by the Dark Tower series halfway through System of the World. I fully intend to go back to it, though.

 

[MonsterMash]

I'm most of the way through Quicksilver now, just waiting for The Confusion to come out in paperback in the UK. I've enjoyed it, but it does seem to need a bit of an edit in places, too much exposition at times. Of course being in London gives me a bit of a different perspective with actually walking round where some of the action is set.

 

[Erekose13]

I really enjoyed Quicksilver but then I have a degree in early modern european history so the whole historical fiction thing works wonders for me. I got System of the World for Christmas by well intentioned parents, just wish I could afford Confusion first.

 

[F5]

I'm about 2/3 of the way through Quicksilver, and while I'm loving it, I've BEEN about 2/3 of the way through Quicksilver for about 4 months now...

I have a 2-year old and a 3+hour a day commute: I found I was reading this book in little fits and starts where I could find the time. 20 pages here, 15 pages there, and I just completely lost all momentum. Terry Pratchett I can do that with. Thousands of pages of densely-packed, meandering historical fiction... not so much. Too bad, too, because I like Stephenson in general, and when I could devote an hour or so to just sit and read, I was really enjoying this one.

I'll revive this thread again in 2023, when I've finished uploading the entire cycle into my headjacked e-book reader, and I'll let you all know what I thought of it...

 

[EricNoah]

Yeah I'm finding the same thing. I might have to save this until summer when I have some big chunks of time.

 

[cignus_pfaccari]

One of the reasons I really like Neal Stephenson is, strangely enough, because his books are so long. I have a pretty long commute (about 3 hours round trip, depending on the Metro), and a longer book means I have to carry or buy fewer books to read.

I'd borrowed a couple of <200 page lightweight books, and devoured them entirely too fast, darn it.

Also, I love the little anachronisms he puts in...there's a certain Monty Python quote in The System of the World that was just classic.

Brad