A massive historical tour de force (926 pages!) of staggering scope and invention about the founding of the Royal Society. It features a huge cast of characters and is quite simply stunning. So, if you are into reading massive tomes then this one is definitely for you.
Neal Stephenson follows his international bestseller, the WWII thriller Cryptonomicon, with a novel set in the 16th and 17th centuries, in a world of war, scientific, religious and political turmoil. With a cast of characters that includes Newton, Leibniz, Christopher Wren, Charles II, Cromwell and the young Benjamin Franklin, Stephenson again shows his extraordinary ability to get inside a place and time; as he did for the futures of his science fiction (Snowcrash,The Diamond Age) and for WWII (Cryptonomicon), here he does for the England of the Civil War and the Europe of the Wars of Religion and the Scientific Revolution.
Quicksilver is yet another tour-de-force from a writer who is simply unique.
'Dense, witty, erudite, packed with fascinating characters... No novel has been this much fun since The Name of The Rose.' Independent
'A great, heaving countryside of a book...consistently funny...fluent and elusive, while retaining just the right hint of poison.' Telegraph
'Stephenson mixes a library's worth of ideas with compulsive derring-do...its scope and inventiveness become addictive.' Time Out
'A breathless ride...the writing gives an immersive sense of time and place.' The Face
'Stunning... [it defies] any category, genre, precedent or label - except for genius.' Time
'a great, heaving countryside of a book, massive in scope & littered with treasure.' Daily Telegraph
Author
About Neal Stephenson
Neal Stephenson is the author of eight novels, including the cult successes Snowcrash and Cryptonomicon. He has been shortlisted for the Arthur C. Clarke Award six times, winning with Quicksilver. Four of his last five novels have been number one New York Times bestsellers. He lives in Seattle.
Maxim Jakubowski's view on CRYPTONOMICON... From the author of the major cyberpunk opus SNOW CRASH, a massive tales of conspiracies that span the ages and the globe as wheels within wheels of clandestine espionage and secret history unfurl. Wide screen baroque at its best and what Pynchon would write if he were a science fiction author.
