This is the second volume in The Baroque Cycle, which is really eight books that have been published in collected form across three volumes (Stephenson doesn’t really want it called a trilogy). It counts as science-heavy historical fiction rather than SF or Fantasy.

I found the first book, Quicksilver, a slog; despite my mild interest in Newton’s scientific era, I could not get into the Daniel Waterhouse story. That’s not to say he doesn’t have some great moments, as when he’s wandering around London during the plague and unconcernedly watches a tide of fleas deserting dead bodies and heading his way…only to have them bounce harmlessly off his boots. Phew. The second book onwards really picks up.

My real interest for the first volume was Eliza and Jack, and The Confusion is focused almost solely on these two as they pursue their separate adventures. And, oh boy, does Stephenson knock it out of the park when it comes to Jack Shaftoe, the most fun, swash-buckling, crafty and yet hopelessly unlucky bastard ever to grace the pages of a historical doorstopper novel.

Though Eliza’s story kind of fizzles out at the end, she too goes through the 17th and 18th century with such style. You have to admire a woman who takes her enemies out with smallpox in the manner that she does…

I adore both characters, and I laughed and gasped out loud all the way through the hundreds of pages. I was thrilled when I worked out what Eliza’s revenge for the kidnapping of her son was going to be (did I call Jack crafty?), and I threw the book down in astonished dread for Jack when the name of the shipwreck survivor was revealed…

It’s long, it’s detailed, it’s complex and it is so much fun. The third volume is The System of the World, and the cycle has links with Stephenson’s earlier book Cryptonomicon. Author’s website is here.

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