4 ms·
> ...if you've read Neal Stephenson's The Baroque Cycle, you probably have some idea. I looked up The Baroque Cycle on GoodReads and the reviews weren’t very p
by dilippkumar 6y ago
> ...if you've read Neal Stephenson's The Baroque Cycle, you probably have some idea.
I looked up The Baroque Cycle on GoodReads and the reviews weren’t very positive. One reviewer compared it to the London phone directory in terms of number of characters vs plot complexity.
Is this series worth reading? I have found HN gives better book reviews than goodreads in general - want to hear what you all have to say.
- tomgp 6y agoI enjoyed it. It’s long and undoubtedly overstuffed but the set pieces (Stephenson write fantastic action scenes) and the ideas are great fun.
- SubiculumCode 6y agoI found it interesting at times. I don't know how historically accurate were its portrayals of events and personalities though.
- libraryofbabel 6y agoI thought it was great, a wild journey through the 17th century. But maybe not to everyone’s taste - massive sprawling scope and there is indeed a huge cast of characters; it’s packed with various (mostly super interesting!) digressions into things like coinage, banking, alchemy, court politics. It will take you a while to get through. If you’re not sure, you could read his Cryptonomicon first, and if you like that, and are good with even more so, and in the 17th century, then Baroque Cycle is probably your thing.