Quicksilver

September 23rd, 2003

I just picked up the new Neal Stephenson. It’s somewhat a prequel to Cryptonomicon and the first in a series of three books called the Baroque Cycle that will be released over the next six months. It’s got something to do with Isaac Newton and the ancestors of the characters from Cryptonomicon.

No wonder it took Neal so long to write this… it’s over a thousand pages and he’s gonna release two more in the very near future. Damn! If you don’t know what all the fuss is about Stephenson and don’t feel like diving into the epic Cryptonomicon, you can always start with Snow Crash or, my favorites, The Diamond Age and Zodiac: The Eco-Thriller. Or you could read the longest magazine article ever, about a company laying a trans-Pacific fiber optic cable. Sounds boring, but it isn’t, it’s the best article I’ve ever read.

I can’t wait to read it. I’ve only got a few pages left in Wicked, I’ll post about that and then start the new book soon.

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Topics: Books
Author: Matt Moore | | Comments Feed

7 Comments on “Quicksilver”

  1. Sep 24, 2003 - 1:12 pm
    mal

    do you need to read Cryptonomicon before Quicksilver?

     
  2. Sep 24, 2003 - 1:14 pm
    Matt Moore

    I kinda doubt it. I’ll let you know soon.

     
  3. Sep 24, 2003 - 1:46 pm
    Ryan Waddell

    Wait, this just came out? I remember reading an excerpt from it at the end of Cryptonomicon, and that seems like AGES ago. I want to read more Stephenson, unfortunately we can only get his books in hardcover or trade paperback here (other than Cryptonomicon, I haven’t seen any in regular paperback) and I just can’t STAND reading books that are that big.

     
  4. Sep 24, 2003 - 1:56 pm
    Matt Moore

    Just came out yesterday, dude. I know what you mean by too big, it’s hard to read in a fetal position in bed, you have to roll back and forth with each page. And it’s hard to hold with one hand if you’re lying on your back.

     
  5. Sep 24, 2003 - 2:02 pm
    Ryan Waddell

    EXAAAAAACTLY. That’s the reason I haven’t picked up Pattern Recognition yet.

     
  6. Sep 25, 2003 - 1:32 pm
    resurrectionsong

    Clarifying My Position on C

    If I had a favorite letter, it would not be C. C is boring and harsh. It has none of…

     
  7. Oct 13, 2003 - 2:01 pm
    senta

    Sort of off topic, sorry: I wanted to cite the passage in Cryptonomicon where the role of ww2 human computers (professional calculators) is described. But either I’m blind or my memory is playing tricks on me, I can’t find it in the book again. Maybe someone who has read it recently can give me a hint (sort of which quarter of the book ;-) .

     

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