Author Review: Neal Stephenson

I was introduced to Stephenson by my wife's cousin, who'd read Stephenson's first novel Snow Crash and seemed to have enjoyed it. Snow Crash, published in 1994, is a very tongue-in-cheek take on the cyberpunk school of science fiction (any story where the POV character is named 'Hiro Protagonist' is one you've got to love!) Snow Crash took all of the conventional cyberpunk features first popularized by Philip K. Dick and William Gibson—dystopian future driven by technology; corporations supplanting the power of governments in everyday life—and stood them on their ear. It was a very enjoyable read, and caused me to seek out more of Stephenson's work.

Hence, the Baroque Cycle. At over 3,000 pages total, this is not a series for the faint of heart. If the length alone isn't intimidating, Stephenson's consistent use of 17th-century vocabulary conventions and extensive cast of characters will drive away the faint of heart. But for those who stick with it, this is a very, very entertaining story about how civilization as we know it today came into being.

The Baroque Cycle is, perhaps because of its setting, pure science fiction. Science fiction at its heart explores how changes in technology and human thinking affect society in general and individuals in particular. As the story opens, the development of calculus (independently by Isaac Newton and Gottfried Wilhelm von Leibniz—both of whom figure prominently) promises to unlock vast new fields of human inquiry. Not only modern physics but modern finance became possible. Indeed, wealth and commerce as a basis of power, rather than hereditary nobility or military force, becomes a factor in world affairs: the Dutch, and later the English, build globe-spanning empires based not on conquest but on trade. Even the birth of an information-based economy is envisioned, through the efforts by the characters to build a Logic Mill (a precursor to Babbage's Analytical Engine in the 19th century and ultimately to our own computing technology).

Alas, the brave new System of the World is not without dangers of its own: A trip on a Dutch Indiaman to Japan took as long and was filled with just as many poorly-understood dangers as a trip to Mars would be today. Scurvy and outright starvation were as big a threat to the seagoing explorers in that day as the long-term effects of zero gravity and radiation exposure are to today's space explorers. No accurate method to determine one's longitude exists, making getting lost at sea a very real possibility. International trade proves a double-edged sword with the expansion of slavery. And elements of the Old Order seek to maintain their power even as they try to come to grips with the implications of the new system.

But at the heart of this story are its characters: not just the numerous historical figures Stephenson drafts (and just about everyone who was anyone in 17th century Britain, France, and Holland gets inducted) but the more humble characters whom he introduces for points of view. Alongside Newton, Leibniz, and Hooke is Dr. Daniel Waterhouse, a lapsed Puritan member of the Royal Society. He's a Natural Philosopher—what we'd know today as a scientist—who feels as though he's accomplished very little with his life. (Of course, from Waterhouse's perspective it may not have been as obvious but anyone would look like a slacker sitting next to Isaac Newton and Gottfried Wilhelm von Leibniz! Even Albert Einstein and Stephen Hawking would later confess to feeling humbled had they the opportunity to be in the presence of such greatness.) This despite the fact that the greatest minds of his day are constantly seeking his advice and fearing his influence. Waterhouse proves to be the key in stabilizing the British economy and monarchy, helping to establish the Hanover dynasty which brought the British Empire to its height under such monarchs as Kings George I-III and Queen Victoria. And he does this by doing nothing else but being Daniel Waterhouse and offering the soundest advice he can under the circumstances (a well-orchestrated jailbreak didn't hurt, either).

Serving the Duke of Marlborough—Britain's greatest military commander of the day, and at several points a major contender for the throne—is Sergeant Bob Shaftoe, an illiterate vagabond who enlisted as a means of bettering his social position. Bob's courage both within and outside the ranks makes the exploits of many of the other characters possible. His desire to save his love interest, Abigail, from slavery brings him into contact—and conflict—with some of the most powerful people in Britain and France. Bob's brother, Jack, unlike Bob remains an outlaw but nonetheless wields influence over many of the power brokers of the time. Isaac Newton—in his later career as Master of the Mint, overseeing British currency--sees him as a threat. King Louis XIV of France sees Jack as an asset to be used in undermining his British rivals. And Leibniz owes his later fame and career to Jack (the scene where Jack 'assists' Leibniz with publishing his version of calculus is priceless!)

Jack's love interest is Eliza, a onetime harem slave whom Jack liberates during a stint as a mercenary during the siege of Vienna. Eliza uses her considerable intellect to build a financial empire capable of funding entire wars for France and bankrupting the Dutch East India Company all to support her ultimate goal of ending the slave trade. Eliza parlays her knowledge at the French court in Versailles to rise from chambermaid and tutor to Countess and close confidant of the Sun King himself.

Aiding all of them is a mysterious alchemist named Enoch Root—the Wandering Jew of legend, and perhaps the Enoch who 'walked with God' in the book of Genesis. He also knows the implications of the new world system and sees its establishment as not only necessary but inevitable.

The key to understanding all of this is the theme that one person, no matter his or her condition at birth, can rise to make great things possible. Nobility is conferred by deeds, not by birth or decree. Very often the nobility in this series is referred to by the characters as 'Persons of Quality'; in fact, the nobles act in the most treacherous, venal, and self-serving ways possible. The true 'Persons of Quality'--those outlined above—sacrifice themselves and their larger goals in order to make something more possible.

And thus Stephenson shows us that the true revolution which took place during the Baroque era was the notion that nobility is more than just a title. It's a condition of being, and a desire to make things better. From this notion came the Scientific Revolution that the natural philosophers were working toward; the Industrial Revolution that would ultimately destroy slavery; and the American and French revolutions that would end the notion of nobility as separate from and above everyone else. It is this idea, that one person can make a difference, that made the world we now live in more than anything else.

The Baroque Cycle can be seen, therefore, as a prequel to Snow Crash, which completes the story by envisioning a world in which individuals mean nothing beyond how much they're willing to pay for goods and services. There are elites in the world of Snow Crash, but their position is only as secure as their ability to stay ahead of the game. The true hitch in the world system the characters of the Baroque Cycle are trying to create—one which occupies their attention throughout the third volume of that series—is revealed. Wealth as an absolute basis of power and worth is a horribly impersonal criteria. As one of the characters in the Baroque Cycle remarked, a penniless Duke is still a Duke and regarded thus, whereas a rich whore will always be a whore, even if she's made a Countess on account of her wealth. In the dystopia of Snow Crash, being penniless is tantamount to not even existing, regardless of title or station.

For Stephenson (if not for his characters) the ultimate basis of worth is one's deeds. It's a lesson many today would do well to remember, and a reason why his books are fresh and relevant even as they present a timeless theme. Take the time and read them! I plan on reading his World War II epic Cryptonomicon (which follows the descendants of some of the characters in the Baroque Cycle as they work to foil a Nazi plot) as soon as possible, to get a full sense of Stephenson's view of world history.