Quicksilver: Volume One of the Baroque Cycle - Neal Stephenson
Set against the backdrop of the late 17th and early 18th centuries, Quicksilver brings to life a cast of unforgettable characters in a time of breathtaking genius and discovery, men and women whose exploits defined an age. \n \nQuicksilver is the story of Daniel Waterhouse, fearless thinker and conflicted Puritan, pursuing knowledge in the company of the greatest minds of Baroque-era Europe, in a chaotic world where reason wars with the bloody ambitions of the mighty, and where catastrophe, natural or otherwise, can alter the political landscape overnight.\n \nIt is a chronicle of the breathtaking exploits of Half-Cocked Jack Shaftoe -- London street urchin turned swashbuckling adventurer and legendary King of the Vagabonds -- risking life and limb for fortune and love while slowly maddening from the pox.\n \nAnd it is the tale of Eliza, rescued by Jack from a Turkish harem to become spy, confidante, and pawn of royals in order to reinvent Europe through the newborn power of finance.\n \nA gloriously rich, entertaining, and endlessly inventive novel that brings a remarkable age and its momentous events to vivid life, Quicksilver is an extraordinary achievement from one of the most original and important literary talents of our time.\n \nAnd it's just the beginning ...\n