Synopses & Reviews
'Tis done.
The world is a most confused and unsteady place especially London, center of finance, innovation, and conspiracy in the year 1714, when Daniel Waterhouse makes his less-than-triumphant return to England's shores. Aging Puritan and Natural Philosopher, confidant of the high and mighty and contemporary of the most brilliant minds of the age, he has braved the merciless sea and an assault by the infamous pirate Blackbeard to help mend the rift between two adversarial geniuses at a princess's behest. But while much has changed outwardly, the duplicity and danger that once drove Daniel to the American Colonies is still coin of the British realm.
No sooner has Daniel set foot on his homeland when he is embroiled in a dark conflict that has been raging in the shadows for decades. It is a secret war between the brilliant, enigmatic Master of the Mint and closet alchemist Isaac Newton and his archnemesis, the insidious counterfeiter Jack the Coiner, a.k.a. Jack Shaftoe, King of the Vagabonds. Hostilities are suddenly moving to a new and more volatile level, as Half-Cocked Jack plots a daring assault on the Tower itself, aiming for nothing less than the total corruption of Britain's newborn monetary system.
Unbeknownst to all, it is love that set the Coiner on his traitorous course; the desperate need to protect the woman of his heart the remarkable Eliza, Duchess of Arcachon-Qwghlm from those who would destroy her should he fail. Meanwhile, Daniel Waterhouse and his Clubb of unlikely cronies comb city and country for clues to the identity of the blackguard who is attempting to blow up Natural Philosophers with Infernal Devices as political factions jockey for position while awaiting the impending death of the ailing queen; as the "holy grail" of alchemy, the key to life eternal, tantalizes and continues to elude Isaac Newton, yet is closer than he ever imagined; as the greatest technological innovation in history slowly takes shape in Waterhouse's manufactory.
Everything that was will be changed forever...
Review
"[A] hell of a way to finish things off....Learned, violent, sarcastic, and profound: a glorious finish to one of the most ambitious epics of recent years." Kirkus Reviews
Review
"[Daniel's] capacity for wonder will make it easy for fans of Stephenson's science fiction to identify with him and will resonate with all readers who've realized that learning the way the world works is the greatest adventure of all." The Seattle Times
Review
"[L]ong-winded but compulsively readable....[D]etails are profuse, but each detail speedily draws readers into the narrative rather than impeding it. The language...is done in a stately but not overwrought style." Booklist
Review
"[Stephenson] has a sharp imagination, a keen sense of humor and a gift for some memorable descriptions...The System of the World ups the ante on Stephenson's fantastic adventures through raucous times in history and gives his fans plenty to chew on." Kansas City Star
Review
"[T]he rich characterizations, minutely imagined world and mental fodder are so expertly interwoven, and Stephenson's gift with language is so intoxicating, that even the most bleary-eyed will greet the final resolution with a plaintive, 'That's all?'" The Oregonian (Portland, OR)
Review
"Stephenson's wondrous personages give life to his stories, and if it weren't for an array of articulate characters...we'd be left with an interesting but not terribly compelling final chapter in an epic that's still quite an achievement." Denver Post
Review
"Neal Stephenson practices alchemy of the literary variety, turning words into gold in the successful conclusion of his Baroque Cycle, The System of the World." BookPage
Review
"There is a danger in cultivating wacky excess self-indulgence on such a grand scale can obscure the greater narrative and runs the risk of coming off as wanking just for wanking's sake....But, and this is one of the joys of reaching the finish line of the Cycle, there is more method to Stephenson's madness in these tomes than in any of his previous works. By the end, one realizes that in many cases what once seemed a foray into insubstantial irrelevance was a carefully placed foundation stone." Andrew Leonard, Salon.com (read the entire Salon.com review)
Synopsis
New York Times bestselling author Neal Stephenson pens the final volume in his hugely ambitious and compelling epic of intrigue, adventure, and excitement, filled with a remarkable cast of characters in a time of genius, discovery, and change.
Synopsis
The year is 1714. Daniel Waterhouse has returned to England, where he joins forces with his friend Isaac Newton to hunt down a criminal gang attempting to blow up Natural Philosophers with "Infernal Devices," or time bombs. Unbeknownst to Daniel, however, Newton has an ulterior motive: to wrest the Solomonic Gold from the control of his arch-enemy, the master counterfeiter Jack the Coiner, a.k.a Jack Shaftoe, King of the Vagabonds. As Daniel and Newton machinate and maneuver, an increasingly vicious struggle rises for control of the Bristish Crown: Who will take control when the queen dies? Tories and Whigs are set against each other as people jockey to replace Queen Anne with the Hanoverian dynasty of Princess Caroline, with whom the multi-talented Eliza has become closely associated...
About the Author
Neal Stephenson is the author of the bestselling Baroque Cycle(Quicksilver, The Confusion, and The System of the World) as well as the novels Cryptonomicon, The Diamond Age, Snow Crash, and Zodiac. He lives in Seattle, Washington.