#170 in Historical fiction
Quicksilver
- Arthur C. Clarke Award
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Our view
“Quicksilver” is a vast, deeply researched novel of the Baroque era, some nine hundred pages long. Some readers speak of a wild, entertaining book whose historical figures, Isaac Newton among them, become the versions they remember; others admit it is a struggle, dense and without much of a central plot, even when they like it. It opens “The Baroque Cycle”.
The view of the BookRank editors, written from readers’ ratings and comments. It does not affect the score or the book’s place in a ranking.
About the book
Quicksilver is a historical novel by Neal Stephenson, published in 2003. It is the first volume of The Baroque Cycle, his late Baroque historical fiction series, succeeded by The Confusion and The System of the World. Quicksilver won the Arthur C. Clarke Award and was nominated for the Locus Award in 2004. Stephenson organized the structure of Quicksilver such that chapters have been incorporated into three internal books titled "Quicksilver", "The King of the Vagabonds", and "Odalisque". In 2006, each internal book was released in separate paperback editions, to make the 900 pages more approachable for readers. These internal books were originally independent novels within the greater cycle during composition.
Reading order · The Baroque Cycle
Full order & progress →- QuicksilverThis book
7.67.6 / 10 - The Confusion
8.28.2 / 10 - The System of the World
8.18.1 / 10
Where the score comes from
The sources average 7.4 across 328 ratings — not yet many, so the reader vote carries 69% of the weight and the rest pulls toward the Historical fiction average of 8.0. That is how 7.6 comes out.
| Source | Average | Ratings | Weight |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hardcover | 7.4 | 328 | 100% |
In this book
Themes this book shares with others — each leads to the best books on it.
If you liked this
Same shelf — Historical fiction — with scores between 7.6 and 8.2, closest to this book.
