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[–] l-emmerdeur 0 points 6 points (+6|-0) ago  (edited ago)

The Baroque Cycle by Neal Stephenson

It is a magnum opus.

Edit: Why it's great: 1st of all, Stephenson's prose is grand. The dude is just an amazing wordsmith. 2ndly, the scope of the series is grand. It's about the English civil war (kinda), the glorious revolution (kinda), the founding of calculus (kinda) and the resulting feud between Newton and Liebniz, the founding of the royal society and the general shift towards a more skeptic society and system of the world in general, the abolition of the alchemic way of thought.

and C, motherfuckin half-cock Jack Shaftoe.

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[–] kontroll 0 points 1 point (+1|-0) ago 

Oh man, I'm looking forward to that one! I loved the shit out of Cryptonomicon, and while The Baroque Cycle is on my list it's kinda fallen behind a bunch of other books for no good reason.

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[–] srgmpdns ago  (edited ago)

Stephenson reminds mo of a quote about Wagner:

Wagner has good moments, but dull hours.

Some scenes he's written have really stuck with me- the digressions about wootz and the manufacture of phosphorus for example- but I can't really say can recall the plots or any vivid characters of any of his novels.

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[–] examors ago 

I started reading this, and got about 1/3 of the way into the second book, but I ended up quitting. It wasn't that I thought it was bad -- far from it -- but it was just too dense and vast and complex for me at the time, to the extent that it just felt like a slog. There were many great moments though, and I plan to try to tackle it again to the end some time in the future when I feel like it.

Also: relevant username!

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[–] l-emmerdeur ago 

Even in places where the story ~maybe~ drags, which I found few of, I think Stephenson's knack for amazing prose helps keep interest. My god does he've a way with words.