The Baroque Cycle
The Baroque Cycle, a series of books written by Neal Stephenson, appeared in print in 2003 and 2004. The cycle contains eight novels published in three volumes:
- Quicksilver, Vol. I of the Baroque Cycle
- Book 1 - Quicksilver
- Book 2 - The King of the Vagabonds
- Book 3 - Odalisque
- The Confusion, Vol. II of the Baroque Cycle
- Book 4 - Bonanza
- Book 5 - The Juncto
- The System of the World, Vol. III of the Baroque Cycle
- Book 6 - Solomon's Gold
- Book 7 - Currency
- Book 8 - The System of the World
The story follows the adventures of a cast of characters who find themselves amidst some of the central events of late 17th and early 18thcenturies Europe. Despite its historical fiction nature, the author characterises the work as science fiction due to the presence of a few anomalous occurances and its focus on science and technology. The sciences of cryptology and numismatics feature heavily in the series.
Quicksilver takes place mainly in the years between the Restoration of the Stuart monarchy in England (1660) and the Glorious Revolution of 1688.
The Confusion follows Quicksilver without temporal interruption, but ranges geographically from Europe and the Mediterranean through India to Manila, Japan and Mexico.
The System of the World takes place principally in London in 1714, about 20 years after the events of The Confusion.
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Main characters
- Eliza a Qwghlmian girl abducted into slavery, and later freed, who becomes a spy and a financier
- Enoch Root, a mysterious personage who flickers about Europe and who never ages, may have certain other preternatural qualities
- Jack Shaftoe, an adventurer/criminal of high intelligence but questionable sanity
- Bob Shaftoe - brother of Jack Shaftoe
- Daniel Waterhouse, English scientist and political activist
Other characters
- Louis Anglesey - Earl of Upnor.
- Thomas More Anglesey - Cavalier, Duke of Gunfleet.
- Duc d'Arcachon - French admiral who dabbles in slavery.
- Etienne d'Arcachon - Son of the duke; most polite man in France.
- Henry Arlanc - Huguenot, friend of Jack Shaftoe, porter of Royal Society.
- Mrs. Arlanc - Wife of Henry
- Gomer Bolstrood - Dissident agitator.
- Clarke - Alchemist, boards young Isaac Newton
- Charles Comstock - Son of John Comstock.
- John Comstock - Earl of Epsom and Lord Chancellor.
- Roger Comstock - Marquis of Ravenscar, Whig ally of Daniel Waterhouse.
- Will Comstock - Earl of Lostwithiel
- Dappa - Nigerian sailor aboard Minerva
- Moseh de la Cruz - galley slave, Spanish Jew
- Vrej Esphanian - Armenian galley slave
- Mr. Foot - Ertswhile bar-owner from Dunkirk
- Édouard de Gex - Jesuit fanatic
- Gabriel Goto - galley slave, Jesuit priest from Japan
- Lothar von Hacklheber - German banker obsessed with alchemy
- Thomas Ham - Goldsmith half-brother of Daniel Waterhouse.
- Otto van Hoek - Captain of the Minerva
- Jeronimo - galley slave, a vile but high-born Spaniard
- Mr. Kikin - Russian diplomat in London
- Nyazi - galley slave, camel-trader of the Upper Nile
- Norman Orney - London shipbuilder
- Danny Shaftoe - son of Jack Shaftoe
- Jimmy Shaftoe - son of Jack Shaftoe
- Sluys - Dutch merchant and traitor
- Mr. Threader - Tory money-scrivener
- Drake Waterhouse - Puritan father of Daniel Waterhouse
- Faith Waterhouse - Wife of Daniel Waterhouse
- Godfrey Waterhouse - Son of Daniel Waterhouse
- Mayflower Waterhouse - Half-sister of Daniel Waterhouse, wife of Thomas Ham
- Raleigh Waterhouse - Brother of Daniel Waterhouse
- Sterling Waterhouse - Brother of Daniel Waterhouse
- Charles White - Tory who bites peoples' ears off.
- Yevgeny the Raskolnik - Russian whaler.
Historical figures who appear as characters in the novel
- Bolingbroke
- Caroline of Ansbach
- Catherine Barton
- Charles II of England
- John Churchill
- d'Artagnan
- Nicolas Fatio de Duillier
- Benjamin Franklin - as a young boy
- George I of Great Britain
- George II of Great Britain - as the Prince of Wales
- George Frideric Handel
- Robert Hooke
- James Stuart - James II / Duke of York.
- Gottfried Leibniz
- Louis XIV of France
- Thomas Newcomen
- Isaac Newton
- Henry Oldenburg
- Samuel Pepys
- Peter the Great
- Bonaventure Rossignol - French cryptanalyst.
- James Scott, Duke of Monmouth
- Solomon - (anachronistic) traveling incognito as Solomon Kohen
- Sophia of Hanover
- Edward Teach
- John Wilkins
- William III of England - as William, Prince of Orange
- Christopher Wren
Quote
"Why Baroque? Because it is set in the Baroque, and it IS baroque. Why Cycle? Because I am trying to avoid the T-word ("trilogy"). In my mind this work is something like 7 or 8 connected novels. These have been lumped together into three volumes because it is more convenient from a publishing standpoint, but they could just as well have been put all together in a single immense volume or separated into 7 or 8 separate volumes. So to slap the word "trilogy" on it would be to saddle it with a designation that is essentially bogus.
Having said that, I know everyone's going to call it a trilogy anyway. " - Neal Stephenson
Errors
- The IJsselmeer did not exist in the 17th and 18th centuries: it originated only in 1932. The equivalent body of water had the name of the Zuiderzee. Note too the correct capitalisation: IJsselmeer rather than Ijsselmeer.
- The yo-yo never existed as a bladed weapon, although inhabitants of the Philippines used a non-returning weapon otherwise similar in concept (but made from stone) in the 16th century.
- Blackbeard is shown aboard the "Queen Anne's Revenge" in 1713. He in fact did not take possession of that ship until 1717.
- Quicksilver begins in 1713 with the execution of a witch on Boston Common. But the last such execution in Boston took place in 1688. [1] (Stephenson probably chose that scene to complete the symbolic bracketing of the cycle; it begins with a witch hanging (a vestige of the Middle Ages), and ends with Daniel inspecting a steam engine (the birth of the Industrial Revolution.))
External links
- Locus Magazine interview with Neal Stephenson
- The Metaweb The Baroque Cycle annotated in a wiki.
- The Source of the Modern World interview by Glenn Reynolds at Tech Central Station
- Back to the Baroque review by Reynolds in The Weekly Standard