Neal Stephenson and Baroque Cycle characters

''The Baroque Cycle'' is a series of novels by American writer

Neal Stephenson Neal Town Stephenson (born October 31, 1959) is an American writer known for his works of speculative fiction. His novels have been categorized as science fiction, historical fiction, cyberpunk, postcyberpunk, and baroque. Stephenson's work e ...

. It was published in three volumes containing eight books in 2003 and 2004. The story follows the adventures of a sizable cast of characters living amidst some of the central events of the late 17th and early 18th centuries in Europe, Africa, Asia, and Central America. Despite featuring a literary treatment consistent with historical fiction, Stephenson has characterized the work as

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel uni ...

, because of the presence of some anomalous occurrences and the work's particular emphasis on themes relating to science and technology. The sciences of

cryptology Cryptography, or cryptology (from grc, , translit=kryptós "hidden, secret"; and ''graphein'', "to write", or ''-logia'', "study", respectively), is the practice and study of techniques for secure communication in the presence of adver ...

and

numismatics Numismatics is the study or collection of currency, including coins, tokens, paper money, medals and related objects. Specialists, known as numismatists, are often characterized as students or collectors of coins, but the discipline also inc ...

feature heavily in the series, as they do in some of Stephenson's other works.

Books

The ''Baroque Cycle'' consists of several novels "lumped together into three volumes because it is more convenient from a publishing standpoint"; Stephenson felt calling the works a ''trilogy'' would be "bogus". Appearing in print in

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A ...

and

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight ...

, the cycle contains eight books originally published in three volumes: * '' Quicksilver, Vol. I of the Baroque Cycle'' –

Arthur C. Clarke Award The Arthur C. Clarke Award is a British award given for the best science fiction novel first published in the United Kingdom during the previous year. It is named after British author Arthur C. Clarke, who gave a grant to establish the award i ...

winner,

Locus Award The Locus Awards are an annual set of literary awards voted on by readers of the science fiction and fantasy magazine ''Locus'', a monthly magazine based in Oakland, California. The awards are presented at an annual banquet. In addition to the p ...

nominee, 2004 ** Book 1 – Quicksilver ** Book 2 – King of the Vagabonds ** Book 3 – Odalisque * ''

The Confusion ''The Confusion'' is a novel by Neal Stephenson. It is the second volume in ''The Baroque Cycle'' and consists of two sections or books, ''Bonanza'' and ''The Juncto''. In 2005, ''The Confusion'' won the Locus Award, together with ''The System o ...

, Vol. II of the Baroque Cycle'' – Locus Award winner ** Book 4 – Bonanza ** Book 5 – The Juncto * '' The System of the World, Vol. III of the Baroque Cycle'' – Locus Award winner, Arthur C. Clarke Award nominee, 2005 ** Book 6 – Solomon's Gold ** Book 7 – Currency ** Book 8 – The System of the World

Setting

The books travel throughout

early modern Europe Early modern Europe, also referred to as the post-medieval period, is the period of European history between the end of the Middle Ages and the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, roughly the late 15th century to the late 18th century. Histor ...

between the Restoration of the Stuart monarchy and the beginning of the 18th century. Though most of the focus is in Europe, the adventures of one character, Jack Shaftoe, do take him throughout the world, and the fledgling British colonies in North America are important to another (Daniel Waterhouse). ''Quicksilver'' takes place mainly in the years between the Restoration of the Stuart monarchy in England (1660) and the

Glorious Revolution The Glorious Revolution; gd, Rèabhlaid Ghlòrmhor; cy, Chwyldro Gogoneddus , also known as the ''Glorieuze Overtocht'' or ''Glorious Crossing'' in the Netherlands, is the sequence of events leading to the deposition of King James II and ...

of 1688. ''The Confusion'' follows ''Quicksilver'' without temporal interruption, but ranges geographically from Europe and the Mediterranean through

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...

to the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the n ...

and

Mexico Mexico (Spanish language, Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a List of sovereign states, country in the southern portion of North America. It is borders of Mexico, bordered to the north by the United States; to the so ...

. ''The System of the World'' takes place principally in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

in 1714, about ten years after the events of ''The Confusion''.

Themes

A central theme in the series is Europe's transformation away from feudal rule and control toward the rational, scientific, and more merit-based systems of government, finance, and social development that define what is now considered "western" and "modern". Characters include Sir

Isaac Newton Sir Isaac Newton (25 December 1642 – 20 March 1726/27) was an English mathematician, physicist, astronomer, alchemist, Theology, theologian, and author (described in his time as a "natural philosophy, natural philosopher"), widely ...

Gottfried Leibniz Gottfried Wilhelm (von) Leibniz . ( – 14 November 1716) was a German polymath active as a mathematician, philosopher, scientist and diplomat. He is one of the most prominent figures in both the history of philosophy and the history of mathem ...

, Nicolas Fatio de Duillier, William of Orange,

Louis XIV of France , house = Bourbon , father = Louis XIII , mother = Anne of Austria , birth_date = , birth_place = Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France , death_date = , death_place = Palace of ...

Oliver Cromwell Oliver Cromwell (25 April 15993 September 1658) was an English politician and military officer who is widely regarded as one of the most important statesmen in English history. He came to prominence during the 1639 to 1651 Wars of the Three ...

Peter the Great Peter I ( – ), most commonly known as Peter the Great,) or Pyotr Alekséyevich ( rus, Пётр Алексе́евич, p=ˈpʲɵtr ɐlʲɪˈksʲejɪvʲɪtɕ, , group=pron was a Russian monarch who ruled the Tsardom of Russia from t ...

John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough General John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough, 1st Prince of Mindelheim, 1st Count of Nellenburg, Prince of the Holy Roman Empire, (26 May 1650 – 16 June 1722 O.S.) was an English soldier and statesman whose career spanned the reign ...

and many other people of note of that time. The fictional characters of Eliza, Jack and Daniel collectively cause real historic effects. The books feature considerable sections concerning

alchemy Alchemy (from Arabic: ''al-kīmiyā''; from Ancient Greek: χυμεία, ''khumeía'') is an ancient branch of natural philosophy, a philosophical and protoscientific tradition that was historically practiced in China, India, the Muslim wo ...

. The principal alchemist of the tale is the mysterious Enoch Root, who, along with the descendants of several characters in this series, is also featured in the Stephenson novels ''

Cryptonomicon ''Cryptonomicon'' is a 1999 novel by American author Neal Stephenson, set in two different time periods. One group of characters are World War II-era Allied codebreakers and tactical-deception operatives affiliated with the Government Code an ...

'' and '' Fall''.

Inspiration

Stephenson was inspired to write ''The Baroque Cycle'' when, while working on ''

'', he encountered a statement by George Dyson in ''

Darwin among the Machines "Darwin among the Machines" is an article published in ''The Press'' newspaper on 13 June 1863 in Christchurch, New Zealand, which references the work of Charles Darwin in the title. Written by Samuel Butler but signed '' Cellarius'' ( q.v.), th ...

'' that suggests Leibniz was "arguably the founder of

symbolic logic Mathematical logic is the study of formal logic within mathematics. Major subareas include model theory, proof theory, set theory, and recursion theory. Research in mathematical logic commonly addresses the mathematical properties of formal ...

and he worked with computing machines".Stephenson, Neal. "How the Baroque Cycle Began" in P.S. of '' Quicksilver'' Perennial ed. 2004. He also had heard considerable discussion of the Leibniz–Newton calculus controversy and Newton's work at the treasury during the last 30 years of his life, and in particular the case against Leibniz as summed up in the Commercium Epistolicum of 1712 was a huge inspiration which went on to inform the project. He found "this information striking when ewas already working on a book about money and a book about computers". Further research into the period excited Stephenson and he embarked on writing the historical piece that became ''The Baroque Cycle''.

Characters

Main characters

*Daniel Waterhouse, an English

natural philosopher Natural philosophy or philosophy of nature (from Latin ''philosophia naturalis'') is the philosophical study of physics, that is, nature and the physical universe. It was dominant before the development of modern science. From the ancient wo ...

and

Dissenter A dissenter (from the Latin ''dissentire'', "to disagree") is one who dissents (disagrees) in matters of opinion, belief, etc. Usage in Christianity Dissent from the Anglican church In the social and religious history of England and Wales, ...

Jack Shaftoe Jack Shaftoe (also known, at various points, as King of the Vagabonds, ''L'Emmerdeur'', Half-Cocked Jack, Quicksilver, Ali Zaybak, Sword of Divine Fire, and Jack the Coiner) is one of the three primary fictional characters in Neal Stephenson's 2,6 ...

, an illiterate adventurer of great resourcefulness and charisma *Eliza, a girl abducted into slavery, and later freed, who becomes a spy and a

financier An investor is a person who allocates financial capital with the expectation of a future return (profit) or to gain an advantage (interest). Through this allocated capital most of the time the investor purchases some species of property. Type ...

*Enoch Root, a mysterious and ageless man who also appears in ''

'', set in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

and the 1990s. He also appears in '' Fall; or, Dodge in Hell''. *Bob Shaftoe, a soldier in the service of John Churchill, and brother of Jack Shaftoe

Minor characters

*Louis Anglesey, Earl of Upnor, best swordsman in England *Thomas More Anglesey, Cavalier, Duke of Gunfleet *Duc d'Arcachon, French admiral who dabbles in slavery *Etienne d'Arcachon, son of the duke; most polite man in France *Henri Arlanc,

Huguenot The Huguenots ( , also , ) were a religious group of French Protestants who held to the Reformed, or Calvinist, tradition of Protestantism. The term, which may be derived from the name of a Swiss political leader, the Genevan burgomaster Be ...

, friend of Jack Shaftoe. *Henry Arlanc, Son of Henri Arlanc, porter of the

Royal Society The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...

*Mrs. Arlanc, wife of Henry *Gomer Bolstrood, dissident agitator, future legendary furniture maker *Clarke, English alchemist, boards young Isaac Newton *Charles Comstock, son of John Comstock *John Comstock, Earl of Epsom and Lord Chancellor *Roger Comstock, Marquis of Ravenscar, Whig Patron of Daniel Waterhouse *Will Comstock, Earl of Lostwithiel *Moseh de la Cruz, galley slave, Spanish Jew *Dappa, Nigerian linguist aboard ''Minerva'' *Vrej Esphanian, galley slave, Armenian Trader *Mr. Foot, galley slave, erstwhile bar-owner from Dunkirk *Édouard de Gex, Jesuit fanatic, court priest at Versailles *Gabriel Goto, galley slave, Jesuit priest from Japan *Lothar von Hacklheber, German banker obsessed with alchemy *Thomas Ham, of Ham Bros Goldsmiths, half-brother-in-law of Daniel Waterhouse *Otto van Hoek, galley slave, Captain of the ''Minerva'' *Jeronimo, galley slave, a high-born

Spaniard Spaniards, or Spanish people, are a Romance ethnic group native to Spain. Within Spain, there are a number of national and regional ethnic identities that reflect the country's complex history, including a number of different languages, both ...

with

Tourette's syndrome Tourette syndrome or Tourette's syndrome (abbreviated as TS or Tourette's) is a common neurodevelopmental disorder that begins in childhood or adolescence. It is characterized by multiple movement (motor) tics and at least one vocal (phonic) ...

*Mr. Kikin, Russian diplomat in London *Nyazi, galley slave, camel-trader of the Upper Nile *Norman Orney, London shipbuilder and Dissenter *Danny Shaftoe, son of

*Jimmy Shaftoe, son of Jack Shaftoe *Mr. Sluys, Dutch merchant and traitor *Mr. Threader,

Tory A Tory () is a person who holds a political philosophy known as Toryism, based on a British version of traditionalism and conservatism, which upholds the supremacy of social order as it has evolved in the English culture throughout history. The ...

money-scrivener *Drake Waterhouse, Puritan father of Daniel Waterhouse *Faith Waterhouse, wife of Daniel Waterhouse *Godfrey Waterhouse, son of Daniel Waterhouse *Mayflower Waterhouse, half-sister of Daniel Waterhouse, wife of Thomas Ham *Raleigh Waterhouse, half-brother of Daniel Waterhouse *Sterling Waterhouse, half-brother of Daniel Waterhouse *Charles White, Tory, Captain of the King's Messengers, who has the habit of biting off people's ears *Yevgeny the

Raskolnik The Schism of the Russian Church, also known as Raskol (russian: раскол, , meaning "split" or "schism"), was the splitting of the Russian Orthodox Church into an official church and the Old Believers movement in the mid-17th century. It ...

, Russian heretic, whaler and anti-tsarist rebel *Peter Hoxton (Saturn), horologist *Colonel Barnes, peg-legged commander of dragoons *Queen Kottakkal, sovereign of the Malabar pirates *Teague Partry, distant relative of the Shaftoes in Connaught, Ireland

Historical figures who appear as characters

* Jean Bart * Catherine Barton *

Henry St John, 1st Viscount Bolingbroke Henry St John, 1st Viscount Bolingbroke (; 16 September 1678 – 12 December 1751) was an English politician, government official and political philosopher. He was a leader of the Tories, and supported the Church of England politically de ...

Robert Boyle Robert Boyle (; 25 January 1627 – 31 December 1691) was an Anglo-Irish natural philosopher, chemist, physicist, alchemist and inventor. Boyle is largely regarded today as the first modern chemist, and therefore one of the founders ...

* Henrietta Braithwaite, mistress of George II *

Caroline of Ansbach , father = John Frederick, Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach , mother = Princess Eleonore Erdmuthe of Saxe-Eisenach , birth_date = , birth_place = Ansbach, Principality of Ansbach, Holy Roman Empire , death_date = , death_place = St James's Pa ...

Charles II of England Charles II (29 May 1630 – 6 February 1685) was King of Scotland from 1649 until 1651, and King of England, Scotland and Ireland from the 1660 Restoration of the monarchy until his death in 1685. Charles II was the eldest surviving child o ...

* John Churchill, later 1st Duke of Marlborough * Sir William Curtius, Baron Curtius of Sweden *

D'Artagnan Charles de Batz de Castelmore (), also known as d'Artagnan and later Count d'Artagnan ( 1611 – 25 June 1673), was a French Musketeer who served Louis XIV as captain of the Musketeers of the Guard. He died at the siege of Maastricht in the ...

* Nicolas Fatio de Duillier *

John Flamsteed John Flamsteed (19 August 1646 – 31 December 1719) was an English astronomer and the first Astronomer Royal. His main achievements were the preparation of a 3,000-star catalogue, ''Catalogus Britannicus'', and a star atlas called '' Atlas C ...

Benjamin Franklin Benjamin Franklin ( April 17, 1790) was an American polymath who was active as a writer, scientist, inventor, statesman, diplomat, printer, publisher, and political philosopher. Encyclopædia Britannica, Wood, 2021 Among the leading int ...

(as a young boy) * Eleanor Erdmuthe Louise, widow of John Frederick * Elizabeth Charlotte of the Palatine *

George I of Great Britain George I (George Louis; ; 28 May 1660 – 11 June 1727) was King of Great Britain and Ireland from 1 August 1714 and ruler of the Electorate of Hanover within the Holy Roman Empire from 23 January 1698 until his death in 1727. He was the fir ...

George II of Great Britain George II (George Augustus; german: link=no, Georg August; 30 October / 9 November 1683 – 25 October 1760) was King of Great Britain and King of Ireland, Ireland, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg (Electorate of Hanover, Hanover) and a prince-ele ...

, the Prince of Wales *

Nell Gwyn Eleanor Gwyn (2 February 1650 – 14 November 1687; also spelled ''Gwynn'', ''Gwynne'') was a celebrity figure of the Restoration period. Praised by Samuel Pepys for her comic performances as one of the first actresses on the English stag ...

George Frideric Handel George Frideric (or Frederick) Handel (; baptised , ; 23 February 1685 – 14 April 1759) was a German-British Baroque music, Baroque composer well known for his opera#Baroque era, operas, oratorios, anthems, concerto grosso, concerti grossi, ...

Robert Hooke Robert Hooke FRS (; 18 July 16353 March 1703) was an English polymath active as a scientist, natural philosopher and architect, who is credited to be one of two scientists to discover microorganisms in 1665 using a compound microscope that ...

Christiaan Huygens Christiaan Huygens, Lord of Zeelhem, ( , , ; also spelled Huyghens; la, Hugenius; 14 April 1629 – 8 July 1695) was a Dutch mathematician, physicist, engineer, astronomer, and inventor, who is regarded as one of the greatest scientists o ...

* James Stuart, Duke of York, then James VII and II * George Jeffreys * Johann Georg IV, Elector of Saxony * Arnold Joost van Keppel * Jack Ketch *

Mary II of England Mary II (30 April 166228 December 1694) was Queen of England, Scotland, and Ireland, co-reigning with her husband, William III & II, from 1689 until her death in 1694. Mary was the eldest daughter of James, Duke of York, and his first wife A ...

Thomas Newcomen Thomas Newcomen (; February 1664 – 5 August 1729) was an English inventor who created the atmospheric engine, the first practical fuel-burning engine in 1712. He was an ironmonger by trade and a Baptist lay preacher by calling. He ...

Henry Oldenburg Henry Oldenburg (also Henry Oldenbourg) FRS (c. 1618 as Heinrich Oldenburg – 5 September 1677), was a German theologian, diplomat, and natural philosopher, known as one of the creators of modern scientific peer review. He was one of the fo ...

William Penn William Penn ( – ) was an English writer and religious thinker belonging to the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), and founder of the Province of Pennsylvania, a North American colony of England. He was an early advocate of democracy a ...

Samuel Pepys Samuel Pepys (; 23 February 1633 – 26 May 1703) was an English diarist and naval administrator. He served as administrator of the Royal Navy and Member of Parliament and is most famous for the diary he kept for a decade. Pepys had no mariti ...

traveling incognito as Peter Romanov * Bonaventure Rossignol, a French cryptanalyst * James Scott, Duke of Monmouth *

John III Sobieski John III Sobieski ( pl, Jan III Sobieski; lt, Jonas III Sobieskis; la, Ioannes III Sobiscius; 17 August 1629 – 17 June 1696) was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1674 until his death in 1696. Born into Polish nobility, Sobi ...

, King of Poland *

Sophia of Hanover Sophia of Hanover (born Princess Sophia of the Palatinate; 14 October 1630 – 8 June 1714) was the Electress of Hanover by marriage to Elector Ernest Augustus and later the heiress presumptive to the thrones of England and Scotland (later Gre ...

* Sophia Charlotte of Hanover * Edward "Blackbeard" Teach * Elizabeth Villiers *

John Wilkins John Wilkins, (14 February 1614 – 19 November 1672) was an Anglican clergyman, natural philosopher, and author, and was one of the founders of the Royal Society. He was Bishop of Chester from 1668 until his death. Wilkins is one of the ...

William III of England William III (William Henry; ; 4 November 16508 March 1702), also widely known as William of Orange, was the sovereign Prince of Orange from birth, Stadtholder of Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Guelders, and Overijssel in the Dutch Republic f ...

, Prince of Orange *

Christopher Wren Sir Christopher Wren PRS FRS (; – ) was one of the most highly acclaimed English architects in history, as well as an anatomist, astronomer, geometer, and mathematician-physicist. He was accorded responsibility for rebuilding 52 church ...

John Locke John Locke (; 29 August 1632 – 28 October 1704) was an English philosopher and physician, widely regarded as one of the most influential of Enlightenment thinkers and commonly known as the "father of liberalism". Considered one of ...

* Mary Goose * John Keill

Critical response

Robert Wiersem of ''

The Toronto Star The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. The newspaper is the country's largest daily newspaper by circulation. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and part ...

'' called ''The Baroque Cycle'' a "sublime, immersive, brain-throttlingly complex marvel of a novel that will keep scholars and critics occupied for the next 100 years".

References

External links

''Locus Magazine'' interview with Neal StephensonThe Source of the Modern World
interview by Glenn Reynolds at

Tech Central Station ''TCS Daily'' was an online magazine with commentary and analysis on current news from a free-market perspective. It was active between 2000 and 2010. History and profile ''TCS'' is an initialism that now stands for "Technology, Commerce, Society" ...

Back to the Baroque
review by Reynolds in ''

The Weekly Standard ''The Weekly Standard'' was an American neoconservative political magazine of news, analysis and commentary, published 48 times per year. Originally edited by founders Bill Kristol and Fred Barnes, the ''Standard'' had been described as a "re ...

''
"Neal Stephenson – the interview" on Guardian Unlimited
regarding ''The Baroque Cycle'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Baroque Cycle Historical novels by series Novels by Neal Stephenson Picaresque novels Cultural depictions of Benjamin Franklin Cultural depictions of Blackbeard Cultural depictions of Isaac Newton