This is the first book in the Commonwealth Saga. It has a lot going on. A murder-mystery storyline. A spy story. A first-contact story. And some action-adventure happening too.
Hamilton creates an interesting universe and spends many, many pages filling it in. Long, but I enjoyed it.
Polostan by Neal Stephenson
I’m not sure what to say about this one. It’s historical fiction set during the cold war following a woman born in the US, taken by her parents to the USSR, returned to the US as an older child, then back to the USSR as an adult. Her life is not smooth.
It’s the first in a series so hopefully more happens later–making this all foundational, but otherwise it never seems like much happens.
After having been disappointed in the last few non-fiction books I read for being shallower than I was looking for, The Telescope in the Ice made up the difference.
A deep dive into the history of modern particle physics and what we now call the “standard model” with a focus on the neutrino. The book follows the global efforts to detect neutrino interactions culminating in the IceCube neutrino observatory at the South Pole.
I found it really interesting. The author gives the history, science, and engineering of the topic with first-person accounts providing details along the way.
And that was the only book I got finished in September. It was lengthy and not exactly light reading. Then I started another massive sci-fi tome which took up the rest of the month. I’m almost done with it.
Did lots of reading but volumes two and three of the Baroque Cycle took a long time to get through.
The Confusion by Neal Stephenson
Volume two of the Baroque Cycle. The adventures continue around the world. Capers, betrayals, antics, and science.
The System of the World by Neal Stephenson
Volume three of the Baroque Cycle. We bring the 4300+ page story to a conclusion back in England. Isaac Newton’s mastery of the Mint is called in question after an epic heist. Our protagonist is imprisoned and led to the gallows. And alchemy brings someone back from the dead.
I enjoyed the series, but as I mentioned on volume one, I’m not sure how it would land for someone with no prior knowledge or interest in the early scientific revolution and its characters. Some knowledge of France and French helps too throughout.
An excerpt from The System of the World which I connected with from the end of Book 7 (Currency) – Chapter 8 (Westminster Palace):
Other men seemed to’ve been blessed with the ability to live in the moment, and to have experiences (Daniel imagined) in the raw vivid way that animals did. But not he. How would the ceremony, the pageantry of the Queen’s visit to Parliament look, to one who could see them thus? Colorful, magnificent, mesmerizing, Daniel supposed. He’d never know. Daniel could only see this as a sick old lady paying a call on a room full of anxious blokes who hadn’t bathed in a while.
I often feel like other people exist in a state of immersion that doesn’t exist for me. Seen most particularly in things like crowds. Many people seem to become one with a crowd (like at a sporting event) where the crowd becomes their own and whole self. Only as the crowd disperses do they regain their sense of self and individuality. I, rather, look around and wonder what’s happening to everyone and have the continual dialog running through my head wherein I see, process, and analyze the events around me but perhaps don’t experience them. At least, by outward appearances, I don’t seem to experience them in the same way as others anyway.
The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
And now, for something completely different. This is one of Jess’ favorite authors, so I thought I’d give it a try.
It’s written entirely in present tense which gives it a strange feeling–which goes well with the story which is about a strange circus.
There are competing magic systems at play, but unlike, say, Sanderson, we’re not giving some in-depth explanation of how they work. It’s left vague and dreamlike.
It was certainly different than anything I’ve read recently. I liked it alright.
Set during the end of the Scientific Revolution we get a historical-fiction look into the lives of members of the Royal Society and Louis XIV’s court as well as happenings around the world. Court intrigue. Vagabond action and adventure. Scientific discovery. Technical advancement.
Long. Very long. 944 pages in print. But I enjoyed the story. Not sure how much appeal it would have to someone with no existing knowledge of Newton, Hook, Huygens, Leibniz, Louis XIV, etc.
A Burglar’s Guide to the City by Geoff Manaugh
Nominally a discussion on urban design and architecture and its impact on criminology, but I was a little disappointed in the depth. Can’t put my finger on exactly what was missing, but I wanted more.
Wedding of the Waters by Peter Bernstein
Our vacation was going to take us across midstate New York so I thought it appropriate to visit the Erie Canal and to learn more about it before the trip.
Interesting exposition of why build the canal where they did as well as the political interest of using a canal to bind the interior of the country to the seaboard via commerce.
Quicksilver took up most of June and after Wedding of the Waters I started the 2nd book in the Baroque Cycle which I haven’t finished by the end of July.
I guess it’s a credit to Sanderson’s writing ability that I find the main character of this story so annoying. Immature, rash, flippant, lucky. But I suppose the point of the story was the character realizing many of these things by the end and begins to understand she’s going to have to take life more seriously in the future.
Perhaps the next time she shows up I’ll like her more.
Mountains Beyond Mountains by Tracy Kidder
The non-fiction, biographical narrative of Dr. Paul Farmer. Farmer came from poverty and dedicated his life to providing medical care for the impoverished–not just individually but at the public-health level too. Though “impoverished” isn’t quite the right word. The poor, the abandoned, the abused–les misérables. Those in the worst imaginable conditions throughout the world.
Fascinating story. Inspiring and humbling to consider how Farmer spent his life compared to what pretty much any the rest of us are doing to help our fellow beings.
Then I got bogged down starting Neal Stephenson’s massive Baroque Cycle. I might finish the first book in the trilogy within another week or two.
