In "King of the Vagabonds" Neal Stephenson breaks away from the traditional trope in history and historical fiction of focusing on "great men" and instead attempts to portray the daily life of a pair of more everyday people: a poor vagabond and a freed Turkish concubine-slave. This gives the reader a view into what medieval Europe could be like if you're not an important noble or a famous scientist. This perspective on history is incredibly important since it allows us to think about what life was like for 99% of the population, instead of romanticizing a time period based on accounts of the lives of a small fraction. Stephenson's attention to detail, background research, and writing abilities are apparent in this book, though not to the same degree as in my favorite Stephenson books.

To do justice to Neal Stephenson at his best is inevitably doomed to some form of stylistic copying or more ponderously yet, outright quotation. This book is very well written, in a tone I'll describe as Pratchett-Wallaceian, with humor you'll laugh over, poetic description you'll admire and innumerable sly historical tie-ins you'll catch delightfully, but only you're a nerd and that makes it even better.

Yes history: it's historical fiction, although the emphasis is on the fiction. Suffice it to say there is somehow, in reformation-era Europe, a dose of science, and even heroes thereof, and love and swashbuckling and fantastical romps through labyrinths. You can't beat it, really. Can I even describe it? Here goes:

Elizabethan era 007 makes reluctant rescues and demonstrates unintentional heroism, saving the future we now know as the past and vanishing without a trace, but he gets the girl so who needs a legacy?

Well, Stephenson has now given Jack Shaftoe that too. A fantastic read, and no, you needn't complete the somewhat ponderous precursor "Quicksilver" as prerequisite to your enjoyment.

Would have given it 5 stars if not for all the bad language. At least the bad language made sense to fit the characters who used it. Not at all like the first book in the series. This one showed the period from the perspective of a much lower class of people. Still very interesting.

Madcap second part of the massive “Quicksilver”—Stephenson’s ability to connect an individual to history in a way that remains historically plausible even as one accepts the necessity of fantasy is fascinating. It’s like the first book approached history from above, while this one treats the same material from beneath—connecting them are events, sure, but beyond that the rapid expansion of a certain set of ideological ideals and philosophical perspectives perforate the material in both books, manifesting as both blessing and curse. Can’t wait for the third part!