(OT - book review)
I've just tonight finished volume three of Neal Stephenson's "The Baroque Cycle." This is no ordinary trilogy - for one thing it weighs in at about 3,000 pages. Stephenson, for those that don't know him, is best known as a Science Fiction writer, but this trilogy is not that at all. It's primarily historical fiction, set mostly in Europe in the 17th and 18th century. It's a strange blend of swashbuckling adventure and intellectual history, including in particular the clash between Newton and Liebnitz. But there's also the development of banking and finance, a touch of alchemy, a (deliberately anachronistic) look forward to computers, and more than a touch Dickensian description. Oh, and pirates and romance... Occasional heavy going, particularly in Volume I, as one gets bogged down in minor French aristocracy in places.
Not everyone is going to like this one. I certainly enjoyed it immensely, but then I'm a very fast reader. If you are a slow reader and start now, you are still going to be reading in 2006. <g>
amazon.com
Other interesting book suggestions welcomed given it's gift-giving time of year.
Peter |
