The Confusion (The Baroque Cycle, Vol. 2)

Book 2 in the massive Baroque Cycle, The Confusion mostly follows the stories of Jack Shaftoe, King of the Vagabonds in one "book" ("Bonanza") in a rousing round the world adventure, while in other book, "The Juncto", stars Eliza, who works her way through European royalty. Nearly impossible to describe yet written with boundless energy, The Confusion and the Baroque Cycle continues to enthrall me.

In "Bonanza", Jack Shaftoe is a galley slave, in amongst the lowest of the low. Him and his bunkmates come up with a daring plan to steal a ship to buy their freedom. They talk up some backers, get the ship and embark on a round the world adventure as they stay one step ahead of the authorities, as the ship contained far more than they bargained for. Long periods spent doing things like ruling an Indian nation, barely escaping with their lives trading with the reclusive Japanese, and somehow making it across the Pacific for further adventures in Mexico and then Spain.

In "The Juncto", Jack's long lost love Eliza gets mixed up in European royalty, its deceptions and intrigue, while she tries to regain her lost fortune. She is also involved in money laundering, timber rustling and anything else she can do to help herself and her child.

A subplot also features the adventures of Daniel Waterhouse, the mathematician Liebniez and Sir Isaac Newton, as they do some alchemy, philosophizing and sometimes even a little science.

What a wild and massive book. Not quite a freewheeling as the first book in the Cycle, [b:Quicksilver|823|Quicksilver (The Baroque Cycle, #1)|Neal Stephenson|http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1293342164s/823.jpg|1610031] (for instance, there are no plays(!) in this one), but made even more confusing by the interwoven books (I guess in Europe, it was actually published as two separate books). Weighing in a over 1000 pages, I obviously didn't finish this in one setting. But I would also take longer breaks from its intensity, which is why it took me about 6 months to read it.

But it was a worthwhile six months, make no mistake about it. Pretty much every evening I would read it, I would learn a new word (and tweet about it even). It sure was nice to read it on my Nook, where I could easily look up the word (and only a few times was it not even there). I love the indirect way [a:Neal Stephenson|545|Neal Stephenson|http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/authors/1314902446p2/545.jpg] sometimes told the story, like say through an oblique conversation or a set of letters. And I am not usually a fan of that either.

So yeah, I really liked it and can't wait to get to [b:The System of the World (The Baroque Cycle, Vol. 3)|459504|The System of the World (The Baroque Cycle, Vol. 3, Book 3) |Neal Stephenson|http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1251290378s/459504.jpg|5346930], which I guess brings the focus back to Daniel Waterhouse, one of the main characters of the first book. Deliciously entertaining, The Baroque Cycle is one amazing piece of work.

I picked up and put down Quicksilver over the course of a few years... Books of that physical size tend to intimidate me, so I was in no hurry to start The Confusion.. But once I got an ebook reader the physical size was no longer a factor. While I ostensibly started this book a few years ago, I really started it mid Jan 2013. Once I got into it I couldn't stop, finishing it two weeks later (though with a massive assist from a beach vacation).

It took me way too long, as so much time had passed since I had read it, to recall the events of Quicksilver, even with a Wikipedia assist. Other than that I found the book to be interesting and engaging, and I honestly cared about the characters.

On one hand it could be (easily) argued that this book could use some editing, the length really did allow for some serious pondering on the characters and their story.. That said, this book s certainly not for everyone..