The Baroque Cycle by Neal Stephenson

The Baroque Cycle is a series of novels set in the late seventeenth and early eighteenth century, written by the award winning author Neal Stephenson.

Best classed as speculative fiction, The Baroque Cycle is a set of 3 volumes, each with a number of novels printed together, as such the series could be considered to be 8 books in length.

The series uses a number of historical figures including Isaac Asimov, Sophia Hanover and William of Orange (no not the mobile company, it was a principality of southern France) and travels through the Early modern Europe.

reviews in the series

The System of the World

by Neal Stephenson

The System of the World is the third and final volume in Neal Stephenson's Baroque Cycle.

In 1714 Daniel Waterhouse arbitrates the irrational dispute between the aging mathematical giants Sir Isaac Newton and Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz, both angrily insisting they invented the calculus. However as the two greats brawl like street kids, Queen Anne nears death. The Jacobyte supporters contend with the Hanoverian sympathizers over the succession. Waterhouse fears for the future due...

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reviewed on Friday 03 December 2004

Quicksilver

by Neal Stephenson

Quicksilver is the first volume of The Baroque Cycle by Neal Stephenson.

The thing about Neal Stephenson is that he usually presents something new and fantastic that runs as the core of his books. Diamond Age has the Primer, Cryptonomicon has the economics of virtual money (or cryptography if you want), Snow Crash was an explosion of new and crazy stuff. Always something that would provoke some wonder and leave you wondering about the future (the real one and the fictional one)...

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reviewed on Tuesday 24 February 2004