Kyle Harrison
to-read
The Baroque Cycle
The Baroque Cycle: Quicksilver, The Confusion, The System of the World
- Author
- Neal Stephenson
- Published
- 2003
- Pages
- 936
- Recommended
- Once
Why it’s on the list: Neal Stephenson’s three-volume novel of the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries — natural philosophers, vagabonds and coiners through the birth of the Royal Society, joint-stock finance and the recoinage of England. A novel-length argument that science, money and commerce were invented at the same time by the same people.
Where I heard about it
- A reply to @moseskagan — named in answer to his question “What historical fiction should I read next? (Bonus points for something involving building or trade, rather than violence)” in a thread on X, April 2025 — the canonical answer to that brief. The full recovered list lives on What historical fiction should I… (tweet).
About this edition
Three volumes — Quicksilver (2003), The Confusion (2004) and The System of the World (2004). The page count on this card is Quicksilver, the first volume.
Connections
- What historical fiction should I… (tweet) — the thread this came out of; the full recovered list lives there.
- Neal Stephenson — the author; already in the wiki.