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The System of the World
 
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The System of the World (Paperback)

by Neal Stephenson (Author)
4.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
RRP: £9.99
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Frequently Bought Together

The System of the World + The Confusion (Baroque Cycle 2) + Quicksilver: The Baroque Cycle (Baroque Cycle 1)
Price For All Three: £20.97

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Product details

  • Paperback: 912 pages
  • Publisher: Arrow Books Ltd (6 Oct 2005)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0099463369
  • ISBN-13: 978-0099463368
  • Product Dimensions: 19.6 x 13 x 5.2 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 10,153 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

    Popular in this category:

    #4 in  Books > Science Fiction & Fantasy > Authors, A-Z > S > Stephenson, Neal

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Product Description

Product Description
The year is 1714. Daniel Waterhouse has returned to England, where he joins forces with his friend Isaac Newton to hunt down a shadowy group attempting to blow up Natural Philosophers with 'Infernal Devices' - time bombs. As Daniel and Newton conspire, an increasingly vicious struggle is waged for England's Crown: who will take control when the ailing queen dies? Tories and Whigs clash as one faction jockeys to replace Queen Anne with 'The Pretender' James Stuart, and the other promotes the Hanoverian dynasty of Princess Caroline. Meanwhile, a long-simmering dispute between Newton and Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz comes to a head, with potentially cataclysmic consequences. Wildly inventive, brilliantly conceived, "The System of the World" is the final volume in Neal Stephenson's hugely ambitious and compelling saga. Filled with a remarkable cast of characters in a time of genius, discovery and change, "The Baroque Cycle" is a magnificent and unique achievement.

From the Publisher
Neal Stephenson follows his highly-praised historical novels, Quicksilver and The Confusion, with the extraordinary third and final volume of the Baroque Cycle.

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Customer Reviews

16 Reviews
5 star:
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3 star:
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2 star:    (0)
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Average Customer Review
4.7 out of 5 stars (16 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Read it!, 24 Jan 2005
By D. A. Harris "davidharris52" (Oxford, UK) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   
This review is from: The System of the World (Baroque Cycle 3) (Hardcover)
This is a very, very, very good book. Get your hands on it as soon as you can and read it. For best effect, read its predecessors, "Quicksilver" and "The Confusion", first. It is the third and (apparently) final volume in a series - the Baroque Cycle - and the overall impact builds up steadily over the three books.

The entire cycle (the author apparently doesn't like the term "trilogy") is set in the late 17th and early 18th centuries and views its characters though a number of themes - Natural Philosophy, war, money, commerce, alchemy, slavery, religion and many more. My impression was that in this volume, the themes go deeper, and Stephenson works harder on them, than in the preceding volumes. Despite this he succeeds in maintaining the pace, a trick which the earlier two (especially "Quicksilver") didn't always manage quite so well (though they were still excellent overall). It could be though that those earlier books did the hard work and set the scene.

Anyway, "System of the World" brings things to a tidy(ish) conclusion. There are suprises. There is a detective sub plot (along the lines of Samuel Pepys meets John Rebus). There is minute detail on London. (Please, someone, organise a Baroque Cycle walking tour - I'm sure it would be more rewarding than for certain bestselling historical novels I could name).

Actually this is the third in a series of four - the fourth, Cryptonomicon, which is set in the 20th century, was published first. The relationship with Cryptonomicon is loose - broadly the characters here are ancestors of those in the later (er, earlier) book and there is geekish fun to be had in watching Stephenson dispose everyone correctly by the end of "System". However many of the themes are the same, and in fact the ending of "Cryptonomicon", which I have seen some reviewers here criticise as just too implausible, fits better with the earlier volumes - where fortunes are gained and lost through treachery and chance - as background.

I do hope that Stephenson will follow up this story, in some way - I think I see hints in the text that he might: at least one character remains a real mystery and some of the themes are left open. Perhaps, though, for reasons of symmetry, that would have to be set in the far future.

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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars A staggering achievement, 19 Jan 2006
I've almost finished this book, only a few precious pages remain. In truth I'm dreading the moment that I do. Stephenson's characters have lived in my mind for many a month now, since I first picked up Quicksilver in April last year, and I'll miss them terribly. During that time I've come to know the streets of London in the last part of the 17th century almost as well as I know the London of today, and I've travelled across Europe, the Middle East, India, and the American colonies. I have come to know Isaac Newton and Louis XIV as real people. I have been made to think, and to laugh out loud, and to cry. Stephenson's skill with language is such that one constantly notices the beauty, power, and skill of the writing, and yet it never draws attention away from what he is describing, which comes across in almost cinematically atmospheric scenes. If you liked the war scenes in Cryptonomicon the best, this is the book for you; only start with Quicksilver!
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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars a fine ending to the trilogy, 30 Oct 2004
By Travelling Jen (North Yorkshire UK) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The System of the World (Baroque Cycle 3) (Hardcover)
Neal Stephenson has written a fine ending to his Baroque Cycle Trilogy. Despite being a little fragmented it held my attention and engrossed me right to the end (886 pages!)The stories all conclude in satisfying and appropriate ways. Nearly all my favourite characters were present to push their stories forward. Many loose ends were tied, some were only recognised as stray plots when the extra details arrived to tie the bow!
As usual, Stephenson has pushed the action into the entertaining and only just possible.The action is so gripping that it had me reading into the night. His grasp of period detail is such that it can be hard to realise that he didn't live in the period he is descibing. I found it hard to pick out his exaggerations and fabrications, so for me, the only jarring is his persistant use of american vocabulary. (Which I try to forgive as Daniel lived for so long near Boston!)
However, I'm not sure that a reader could enjoy to this book without reading the previous volumes (Quicksilver, The Confusion). There is too much assumed knowledge for the plot to be comprehensible at this stage of its development.
This trilogy is recommended reading for lovers of a good tale, enthusiasts of military, scientific, nautical, medical and social history,and everyone who enjoys an intelligent book with a fabulous plot. Read all three volumes!!!
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars I wish I could have written this.
The Baroque trilogy.
I wish I could have written even just one of these books but I'm glad I didn't because I wouldn't have enjoyed reading them as much as I did, if I had... Read more
Published 3 months ago by Wavewobbler

4.0 out of 5 stars A satisfactory conclusion
I approached this book with some trepidation. Having struggled to make my way through the turgid, prose heavy text of Quicksilver and flown through the exciting, action packed... Read more
Published 3 months ago by Charlie Mount

5.0 out of 5 stars Set aside some time for these books or go on a LOOONG holiday...
They're absolutely amazing...
Of the three of the Cycle (discounting Cryptonomicon) Quicksilver is possibly the hardest to get in to and subsequently can put you off reading... Read more
Published 3 months ago by Mr. A. G. Sambrook

5.0 out of 5 stars Incredible!
'Genius' and 'Mansterpiece' are overused words in book reviews, but both apply to the Baroque Cycle. Read more
Published 3 months ago by A. Baillie

4.0 out of 5 stars Lord! I wish'd it had not been so long!
Any Man, when he shall have completed a Task, be it one which he has assigned to Himself, or an Imposition from some external Party, may experience a certain Euphoria. Read more
Published on 28 Oct 2006 by Nicholas Whyte

5.0 out of 5 stars Next time cut it short, Neal...
It takes weeks to read "Quicksilver", "The Confusion" and "The System of the World". Is it worth it? Definitely yes. Read more
Published on 17 Sep 2006 by Rizzo Loris

5.0 out of 5 stars 'Tis Pleasing to Enjoy Nearly 3000 Pages of Satisfaction
It's taken me roughly 6 months to read all three books of the `Baroque Cycle' and I have just finished the last one, 'The System of the World'. Read more
Published on 4 Aug 2006 by Simon Drake

3.0 out of 5 stars Epic, yes. But well-written?
I can't quite join in the unadulterated praise for the Baroque Cycle - particularly by the time you get to the flabbiest instalment yet: the System of the World. Read more
Published on 17 Mar 2006 by neil_wotan

5.0 out of 5 stars Perfect writing
This is an amazing conclusion to an amazing trilogy.

It's long and it meanders and the attention to detail is phenomenal! Read more

Published on 3 Oct 2005 by Steven Wood

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful conclusion
A marvellous conclusion to the baroque cycle. Loose ends tied up, more strands revealed and minor characters growing in stature as only Stephenson can do. Read more
Published on 8 Aug 2005 by Rowan Manahan

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