Title: The Confusion: The Baroque Cycle, Vol. 2
Author: Neal Stephenson
Rating:
3.5 stars out of 5Publisher: William Morrow
Copyright: 2004
Pages: 832
Keywords: historical fiction
Reading period: 13 September–5 October, 2008
Neal Stephenson's massive, sprawling Baroque Cycle
began with Quicksilver and continues in the aptly named Confusion.
The book interweaves two novels, Bonanza and The Juncto,
taking place between 1689 and 1702.
Bonanza follows Jack Shaftoe,
as he and other galley slaves in Algiers
capture Spanish gold of particular significance to some highly placed alchemists,
and make their way ever eastward,
through Cairo, India, Manila, and Mexico.
The Juncto deals primarily with Eliza,
now a French duchess,
and her remarkable financial derring-do.
The previous book concerned itself with the intellectual ferment
around the Royal Society and European savants, such as Leibniz.
Major themes of this book include œconomics, alchemy,
and the dawn of the Enlightenment.
Entertaining, but also far too long.