just finished QuickSilver


Just finished Neal Stephenson's Quicksilver. It was a long read, and dragged at some parts, but overall an enjoyable an engaging read.

I've been a fan of John Neal Stephenson since Snow Crash, his first novel. Unknown then, and in pre-Amazon.com days, it was rather difficult to find the book, so Brad Cox (how's that for name dropping!) loaned his copy to me. Snow Crash was excellent, and while I can't say I've enjoyed any of his novels as much since them, I'm still a loyal reader.

Quicksilver's long, very long, and it covers a lot of ground. It's set up to introduce a trilogy of books; well, of course, it's really part of a (at least) four part series, as the families introduced in Cryptonomicon play a part in Quicksilver as well.

The best parts of the books are the ones covering Jack Shaftoe and Eliza. However, having Newton, Leibnitz, and Huygens (among others) in the story-line as well kept the interest up as well. This was an intellectually exciting time in our history, and I can see why Stephenson decided to cover it with an historical novel. Overall, I recommend the book.

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Posted: Sun - December 7, 2003 at 12:01 AM

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