The Confusion is the second volume in the Baroque Cycle consisting of two books: Bonanza and The Juncto. These two books are interwoven in the novel so that the timeline between them stays consistent.

I really don’t have much to say about this book that differs from my review of Quicksilver. Stephenson continues expanding on two main story lines and their corresponding characters, and at times the effects from one novel are seen in the other. The scope is now widened (mostly in Bonanza) to include the Middle East, India, Japan and Mexico / Central America. I do not want to go into too many details of the plot as the stories are long and convoluted and may spoil events in Quicksilver. The end of the novels set up well for the final volume of the series.

Again I greatly enjoyed the books and recommend them.

Quicksilver is a volume consisting of the first three Baroque Cycle books, Quicksilver, King of the Vagabonds, and Odalisque.

The series is based in the mid 1600’s to early 1700’s and is based predominantly in Europe. It is a fictional work although it features many historical figures as characters and follows historical events.

I am greatly enjoying this latest series of books by Stephenson as they provide a rich complexity provided not only by a fascinating story over a backdrop largely based on actual events and the political, religious, and scientific intrigues and machinations of the characters, but by Stephenson’s abilities to play on words and situations that bring you out another layer of abstraction above the story.

Stephenson paints with a wide brush in this series, covering in detail everything from the early experiments of the Royal Society to the operations of Amsterdam’s economy and trade, to adventures in Vienna. (This makes for some hefty volumes, each of the three being 800-900 pages long). It is clear that Stephenson has done his research on the time period, although much is clearly fiction in the name of telling a good story. It has certainly piqued my interest in an era that I did not know much about, and has presented it in a way that has often sent me to Wikipedia to learn more about the actual historical figures and events (and also renewed a desire to learn various European languages). Highly recommended.