
The Confusion
Books Four & Five of The Baroque Cycle
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By:
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Neal Stephenson
About this listen
In the year 1689, a cabal of Barbary galley slaves, including one “Half-Cocked Jack” Shaftoe, devises a daring plan to win freedom and fortune. A great adventure ensues that will place the intrepid band at odds with the mighty and the mad, with alchemists, Jesuits, great navies, pirate queens, and vengeful despots across vast oceans and around the globe.
Back in Europe, the exquisite and resourceful Eliza, Countess de la Zeur, master of markets, pawn and confidante of enemy kings, onetime Turkish harem virgin, is stripped of her immense personal fortune by France’s most dashing privateer. Penniless and at risk from those who desire either her or her head (or both), she is caught up in a web of international intrigue, even as she desperately seeks the return of her most precious possession -- her child.Meanwhile, Newton and Leibniz continue to propound their grand theories as their infamous rivalry intensifies. And Daniel Waterhouse seeks passage to the Massachusetts colony in hopes of escaping the madness into which his world has descended.
The Baroque Cycle, Neal Stephenson’s award-winning series, spans the late 17th and early 18th centuries, combining history, adventure, science, invention, piracy, and alchemy into one sweeping tale. It is a gloriously rich, entertaining, and endlessly inventive historical epic populated by the likes of Isaac Newton, William of Orange, Benjamin Franklin, and King Louis XIV, along with some of the most inventive literary characters in modern fiction.
Audible’s complete and unabridged presentation of The Baroque Cycle was produced in cooperation with Neal Stephenson. Each volume includes an exclusive introduction read by the author.
Listen to more titles in the Baroque Cycle.©2004 Neal Stephenson (P)2010 Audible, Inc.Listeners also enjoyed...
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Story
One man—visionary billionaire restaurant chain magnate T. R. Schmidt, Ph.D.—has a Big Idea for reversing global warming, a master plan perhaps best described as “elemental.” But will it work? Ranging from the Texas heartland to the Dutch royal palace in the Hague, from the snow-capped peaks of the Himalayas to the sunbaked Chihuahuan Desert, Termination Shock brings together a disparate group of characters from different cultures and continents who grapple with the real-life repercussions of global warming.
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The Men Who Shoot at Feral Hogs
- By Kindle Customer on 12-02-21
By: Neal Stephenson
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Seveneves
- A Novel
- By: Neal Stephenson
- Narrated by: Mary Robinette Kowal, Will Damron
- Length: 31 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
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A catastrophic event renders the earth a ticking time bomb. In a feverish race against the inevitable, nations around the globe band together to devise an ambitious plan to ensure the survival of humanity far beyond our atmosphere, in outer space.
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Odd narrator choice
- By Josh Mitchell on 05-30-15
By: Neal Stephenson
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Snow Crash
- By: Neal Stephenson
- Narrated by: Jonathan Davis
- Length: 17 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
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Neal Stephenson is a blazing new force on the sci-fi scene. With the groundbreaking cyberpunk novel Snow Crash, he has "vaulted onto the literary stage." It weaves virtual reality, Sumerian myth, and just about everything in between with a cool, hip cybersensibility - in short, it is the gigathriller of the information age.
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A solid sci-fi novel
- By Brent on 02-05-03
By: Neal Stephenson
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Cryptonomicon
- By: Neal Stephenson
- Narrated by: William Dufris
- Length: 42 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
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In 1942, Lawrence Pritchard Waterhouse - mathematical genius and young Captain in the US Navy - is assigned to detachment 2702. It is an outfit so secret that only a handful of people know it exists, and some of those people have names like Churchill and Roosevelt. The mission of Watrehouse and Detachment 2702 - commanded by Marine Raider Bobby Shaftoe - is to keep the Nazis ignorant of the fact that Allied Intelligence has cracked the enemy's fabled Enigma code. In the present, Waterhouse's crypto-hacker grandson, Randy, is attempting to create a "data haven" in Southeast Asia....
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Two thirds through and quit
- By Joshua on 06-20-16
By: Neal Stephenson
- Neal Stephenson, The Confusion
Volume Two of Stephenson's massive Baroque Cycle consists of Books 4 and 5 (Part One, if it isn't obvious, consisted of Books 1-3). Since both books 4. Bonanza and5. Juncto are concurrent, Stephenson threads/interleaves the two books together (hence Con-Fusion).
This volume continues with the major characters: Daniel Waterhouse, Eliza, Bob Shaftoe, & Jack Shaftoe, along with a host of other fantastic characters both real (Newton, Leibniz, Louis IV, Pepys) and imagined. Like the previous volume, 'The Confusion' takes place during the end of the Nine Years' War (and the period shortly after) and explores the beginning of the Enlightenment, complete with politics, war, modern economics, science and the scientific method, currency, information technology, trade, religion and cryptography. Usually, when Newton or Leibniz are discoursing, Stephenson is waxing philosophic about atoms, thinking machines, or currency.
Fundamentally, these books are historical fiction for geeks. He pushes some people and events to the point of soft-SF/mysticism (I'm thinking of Enoch Root, a man who appears and disappears and acts as a catalyst for change throughout time). It wasn't perfect and there were some points where I was a turned-off by the jocular humor, but these were minor issues. It isn't close to high art, but it is a fascinating read.
Two Books Con-Fused
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Books 4&5 - by far The Best
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This is two “books” that have been combined into a single narrative, and I’m very glad Neal decided to confuse the two, as it were. The Shaftoe legacy continues to shape world events in truly jaw-dropping fashion, and I was surprised and relieved to be given an ending that actually felt like one 😅
The best “Cycle” installment so far!
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The two books are companions to each other by flashing back and forth into each plot. You can't read these books separately and will be force to read the complete volume into one set. The best comparison of the second volume is "Cloud Atlas" by David Mitchell. Neal Stephenson has the same style of storytelling in "The Confusion."
Very much like a Swiss Army knife, you get all of the necessary tools to continue on with the series.
I've been on other sites that also reviews books and "The Confusion" has stirred up mix results. Some people love it and other can't seem to get through the first chapter. To all of the naysayers that are cursing Stephenson of writing out of his genre, here are my thoughts. I agree with some of you that it's somewhat weird to see a science fiction author writing about the 18th century. When I first started this series, I wasn't expecting an history lesson, but as a fan boy of Stephenson, I appreciate his efforts at writing out of his comfort zone.
There are many popular authors who writes the same thing over and over by having sequel after sequel like book #26. Neal Stephenson is still an indie author because in all of his novels, the story ends at the last page of the book. He doesn't keep extending the line with the same pen in other novels.
I cannot wait to come to the last period or question mark in the Baroque Cycle.
So far, they have all been excellent and once you stop labeling Neal Stephenson as a stereotypical sci fi writer, you can quickly get into the Cycle.
Swiss Army Knife of Storytelling
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It is wonderfully acted by Simon Prebble who brings the characters so much to life that they are vividly real, and very entertaining. He makes scene, action, mood and emotion just as vivid as are his delightful characterizations. Jack Shaftoe is ever my favorite character/characterization in what I have heard ( 1st 5 books) of this series. Eliza is next, as performed by Mr. P. He conveys more personality and more feelings than does the completely competant Katherine Kellgren, who was, nonetheless, very enjoyable.
Long Awaited!
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awesome book
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Thoroughly enjoyable!
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The performance is great and really brings the characters to life. Overall a good read.
Interesting journey around the world
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Awesome time.
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Page Turner!!!
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