Product Description

Neal Stephenson continues his extraordinary Baroque Cycle in this sequel to his bestselling "Quicksilver", bringing to life a cast of unforgettable characters in a time of breathtaking genius and discovery. It is the late 1600s on the high seas. A group of Barbary galley slaves plot as they ply the oars of a pirate ship, hatching a daring scheme to find an enormous cache of Spanish gold. Amazingly, they succeed - leaving some very unhappy men behind who vow to hunt down the vagabonds and bring them to justice, no matter the cost. Meanwhile, back in France, the beautiful Eliza - toast of Versailles and spy extraordinaire - attempts to return to London with her baby, a child whose paternity is shrouded in mystery. Making her way home, her ship is stopped by a French privateer and she is returned to the Sun King's court. Thrown back into a web of international intrigue, Eliza must contend with all manner of characters, including buccaneers, poisoners, Jesuits, financial manipulators, and even a stray cryptographer or two...

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #5539 in Books
• Published on: 2005-04-07
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 926 pages

Time Out
‘This weird, wonderful collision of scholarship and story telling has no peer. Roll on, October’

Jack
‘a hugely talented author’

Guardian
‘Stephenson excels in marrying geekspeak with riotous action’

Customer Reviews

The 1600's come to life
I cannot find words for how good The Confusion is. We still follow the people from Quicksilver as they strive to find their way in the chaotic world of the late 1600's and early 1700's. The themes are still money, piracy, sex, slavery, science, black magic, etc. and the cast is still comprised of vagabonds, galley slaves, scientists, royalty, soldiers, priests, alchymists and much, much more. The action goes (literally) round the world, to places like Egypt, India, Japan, the Philippines, all of Europe and, of course, Qwghlm, the fictional Island that also appears in Cryptonomicon.

I am in awe of how many themes are woven together in this book, and of the amount of research it must have taken. I have never had any sense of what the rennaisance was like, and suddenly the 1600's seem real and present to me. I've done some fact-checking in Wikipedia, and it only serves to expand and deepen the picture that Stephenson paints of that period.

The ending is just about the funniest, saddest, most satisfying, most intriguing and most annoying thing I've ever read. And I can't wait to read the final book in the series which is The System of the World.

A word of caution: These books are subtle. Much of the actions is hinted at rather than described explicitly. Once you get the hang of it, it is immensely satisfying to read.

Standing on the shoulders of giants
Cryptonomicon was astounding. Weaving together multiple periods in time isn't a new idea but in the right hands it is a powerful tool.

Quicksilver, a massively-pre prequel, was almost as good. A huge book, a real epic, but you're forever stuck with idea that the sheer good fortune of our central characters - just how lucky did Jack, Eliza and Daniel have to be in order to mix with the factual people they did - was a little bit too much. But you were having so much fun, you gave Stephenson more slack.

And so the sequence rolls on - The Confusion will be just that if you've not read Quicksilver (which itself was probably better if you'd read Cryptonomicon). It's a huge endeavour - it took me an age to finish it, and while it starts slowly it's a real slow burner. By the end you'll be as gripped as with the best cinematic thriller.

It's a subtle read, you really do need to pay close attention (or to have access to the Megaweb wiki to look up those previous threads) or you'll lose track completely, but ultimately it is worth it.

Superb just doesn’t do it justice!
This novel has everything; humour, adventure, intrigue, sex and naval warfare! It's all extremely well written with excellent dialogue and a cast of characters that will split your sides with laughter (my particular favourite was a Spanish nobleman galley slave with Tourette's syndrome…….).If you haven’t read Quicksilver, buy it together with this one and be prepared for a literary feast!