Reviews

Quicksilver by Neal Stephenson

erikars's review against another edition

I enjoyed it, although I can see how the style might be somewhat laborious to some. It's the first in a trilogy, so full opinion will be awhile in coming.

danandthedominoes's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark informative slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

shane_tiernan's review against another edition

1.0

Listened to 5 out of 12 CD's, and to quote Colin Hay, "Suddenly, nothing happened."

Loved Snow Crash, liked Diamond Age, hated Anathem, Mongoliad, and now Quicksilver. I keep giving Stephenson a chance to win back my heart, but it seems that it was meant to be a one and a half night stand. I just don't have time to walk down the streets of history on a normal, calm day, when nothing exciting is happening. I might enjoy the vignette, but not the epic door-stopper-sized books Stephenson keeps writing.

mementomaggie's review against another edition

5.0

Formula for a Stephenson novel:
A maladroit nerd who gets shit done
A thief/ soldier
A very smart woman who, no less than 500 pages after the nerd falls in love with her, will reciprocate his affections
A genius
Enoch Root
A foreign and off kilter naval officer

Somehow it doesn’t get old.

bgrotta's review against another edition

adventurous challenging funny slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

solaana's review against another edition

4.0

As per usual, shit gets interesting once a Shaftoe shows up.

In other news, this should/could be adapted Game-of-Thrones-style, into an HBO miniseries I would watch religiously.

kmayy's review against another edition

3.0

Stephenson is hit or miss for me, and this was a miss. I think my love for this period of history was actually a hinderance to my enjoyment. *Quicksilver* just didn’t really add anything, or retell anything about these events or people in an interesting way. It felt pointless and made me wish I was reading something else about this era. The parts with the pirates were sort of fun, at least. I’m also getting tired of Stephenson’s nearly identical male narrators. In general, it’s not a bad novel, but there’s no way I’m reading 1000+ pages of something I just feel “meh” about.

tarakingwrites's review against another edition

5.0

It's just so fucking frustrating to read someone who is such a fucking genius. Hats off to you, Mr. Stephenson.

Amended to add: I really loved this book. Just in case that wasn't clear. It's so good that it plunges me into despair, that's all.

nicolaspratt's review against another edition

2.0

Interesting premise, somewhat slow and hard to follow all of the details.

just_justin's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark informative slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0