Neal Stephenson: Quicksilver

Reviewed by STEPHEN JEWELL

Quicksilver is the first volume of Neal Stephenson's ambitious Baroque Cycle trilogy, which is being promoted by its publisher as the literary equivalent of The Matrix, the books being released six months apart.

Stephenson first rose to acclaim with the 1994 cyberpunk classic Snowcrash, but the Seattle-based author moved away from science fiction and embraced scientific fact with 1999's Cryptonomicon, which alternated between the present day and World War II.

Quicksilver is set even deeper in the past, in the 17th century, and it not only stars the distant ancestors of Cryptonomicon's main characters but reprises many of the previous book's themes, including the invention of code and the development of mathematics.

The novel is divided into three sections, and opens with German alchemist Enoch Root visiting exiled English Puritan scientist Daniel Waterhouse in Boston.

Waterhouse is persuaded to return to Europe to resolve a dispute between his old friend Isaac Newton and fellow scientific genius Gottfried Willhelm Liebnitz over who invented calculus - but on the voyage home, his ship is attacked by notorious pirate Blackbeard's fleet.

The remainder of Quicksilver revolves around the swashbuckling King of the Vagabonds, Half-Cocked Jack Shaftoe and his lover, former harem girl turned international spy Eliza.

Unfortunately, while Stephenson's attention to historical detail is impeccable, Quicksilver's thin plot moves at a snail's pace and at over 900 pages it makes for a daunting read.

Quicksilver is peppered with real-life historical figures, from Samuel Pepys to Benjamin Franklin. Some chapters sparkle, such as when Waterhouse's eccentric Puritan father is killed during the Great Fire of London, but Stephenson too often tries to blind us with historical minutiae which ably demonstrate his extensive research but fail to advance his story.

Random House, $37.95

* Stephen Jewell is an Auckland journalist.