Neal Stephenson - Quicksilver

Pros: Long on thought
Cons: Short on plot

Earnest readers approach new books like a relationship. They size up the heft of the tome, the thickness of spine, the cosmetics of the cover, and they think to themselves, "Should I get involved? Do I really want to commit?" After all, for three d ...

Pros: Frequently hilarious; Stephenson's wordplay and punning are as keen as ever.
Cons: Anyone who finishes this scientific juggernaut deserves an honorary B.S.

Ever since I first heard that Neal Stephenson was coming out with a new book, I’ve been awaiting it with equal parts excitement and dread. How, after all, could he top 1999’s Cryptonomicon, that sprawling wartime epic of codebreakers and computer ...

Pros: Finally getting through this leads to a warm feeling of accomplishment
Cons: This book is not "dumbed down," so expect a challenge.

Unlike certain other reviewers around here (who shall remain nameless) I won't reveal the ending of this book! That was such a pain in the derriere... I finally got to page 750 of this 917-page book. It was then that I had the good sense to read the ...

Pros: A tour de force -- story and history blend perfectly and achieve suspension of disbelief.
Cons: Not "light reading." You're gonna have to earn the payoff.

"Tour de force" is French for "feat of strength." Far from using this term in the standard laudatory way, I'm using it, in reviewing Neal Stephenson's Quicksilver as an accurate description of both the author's writing of it and any aficionado's ...

Pros: Epic, funny, brilliant, rewarding, challenging
Cons: Not for the faint of heart, short of attention span, or dull of wit.

I loved it. This is one of the coolest books I have ever read. I never wanted it to end, which it didn't for over a month, due to its obvious heft. This book explores the origins of our present world at a time when everything was changing to a new model of science and society. The characters are numerous and interesting, the plot is convoluted and engaging with a nice overall form, once you get that far, but the best thing about this book for me was the sheer enjoyment of being able to bask in Stephenson's glorious, funny, witty, and endlessly inventive prose. If you're into taking some quality time with a weighty tome, I couldn't recommend it more. Rather than the usual sci-fi experience of straining to see what the future might hold, this book gives us the repeated thrill of glimpsing how the past became the present. Stephenson is a genius, and a hardworking one at that. Read it, and enjoy. I can't wait to read the other two.