Neal Stephenson continues his beautifully written, witty and informative historical cultural science-fictionish cycle of novels about Western Europe in the 17th century--featuring Daniel Waterstone (a Puritan who is also General Secretary of the Royal Society for Science, Gottfried Leibniz, Sir Isaac Newton, the various English and French kings and courts, as well as Willem of Orange and the irrepressible Eliza and the financial markets especially of Amsterdam.

Odalisque is #3 in the cycle--in my view perhaps not quite as stunning as its predecessors, Quicksilver and King of the Vagabonds, but still thoroughly enjoyable. Can there be a special "revolution" without violence--is a central question leading to the Glorious Revolution in England in 1688 in which the Dutch king Willem becomes the "William" of William and Mary, restoring Protestantism and the northern European nexus of the nascent bourgeois free enterprise system versus the French and Spanish systems, whereby we are given to the view that the Sun King used his over the top Palace of Versailles and its emphasis on nobility and high end clothing as an effective means of keeping his aristocrats occupied, poor, and not a threat to his further rule, but states that this "system" is ultimately defeated by a civil and commercially free bourgeois democracy.

But along the way, Stephenson satisfies richly our appetite for wit, irony, and desire to understand what was really happening (and why) in late 17th Century England, France and the Netherlands. Or at least what could have been happening in what may be the most outrageous possible interpretation of real historical events.

As perhaps a few examples:

Speaking of King Charles II's reign rowing back Cromwell's Puritans, restoring his version of Catholicism, and being openly in the pay of the King of France: "It had been--in other words--a reign. Charles II's reign. He was the King, he loved France and hated Puritans and was always long on mistresses and short on money, and nothing ever really changed...Whole sections had been taken over by the King's pack of semi-feral spaniels, who'd become inbred even by Royal standards and thus hare-brained even by Spaniel standards."

and

"In Amsterdam, they have investments instead of emotions...We could destroy all the treasures of the Classical world and they would not care; but if they hear bad news that touches the V.O.C. (Dutch East Indies Company), they are plunged into despair--or rather, the price of the stock falls, which amounts to the same thing."

As some examples of Stephenson's writing:

"He was not a handsome man: ...his nose stuck out like a beak, and in general he had the exhausting intensity of a trapped bird."

"The result of his lucubrations was classically French in that it did not square with reality but it was very beautiful, and logically coherent."

"A hill of water had piled up on the upstream side of the bridge and was finding its way through the arches like a panicked crowd trying to bolt from a burning theatre."

Finally, Stephenson quotes eminent writers of the era, such as Hobbes:

"For to accuse, requires less eloquence, such is man's nature, than to excuse; and condemnation, than absolution, more resembles justice."

All in all, it is such a great pleasure to read Stephenson one can only conclude one of his books by asking for a new offering--which thankfully came through the Confusion--next in the cycle.

Historical fiction mixed with cryptology, espionage and action yields a throughly enjoyable read.

This one is a little dense, full of political intrigue and further exploits of half-cocked Jack. I found it a little harder to get through. Still, a great conclusion to the series.

A lovely series about a part of history that rarely gets the historical fiction treatment. Stephenson has a marvelous knack for sardonic prose. The characters are vital and engaging. Still thrown off by the weird disjointed narrative though.

I just dont like this style and I found it so dull. the more I got into it the more I enjoyed it but I dont feel reading should be such a chore.

The fun continues.

Good conclusion to the Baroque Cycle.

The romp continues. If the Glorious Revolution, Newton, cryptology, Royal Society, Louis XIV etc fascinates you and you enjoy original and great writing, this a book for you. Third book in the Baroque Cycly unfortunately only 6 more to :-)

"Odalisque" is the last book in the first volume and there are two more volumes to go. I'm not too sure why Audible decided to split up the three volumes into eight books, but so far, the third book is my favorite. The story is finally moving along in Baroque Cycle.

Unlike Quicksilver, which was basically the premise, and King of the Vagabonds, which was explaining the day wagers, Odalisque goes back at exams the hierarchy of the monarch. The story between of Daniel and Eliza makes it more compelling to read. The best part of this chapter in the series is the science and astronomy from Newton and his peers.

In any series that I listens to, at certain point I need to read something else because after the third book, I loose interest. Maybe because I'm a fan of Stephenson or been waiting to read Baroque Cycle, I'm powering through these books and can't wait for more.

Really enjoying this series. Not essential but a whole lot more enjoyable if you read them all in order. The era in which this story is set is the late 17th century.

Well... read it in it's final form as a part of the 3-book version of the baroque cycle...

Still going strong. We have all the characters from the first two books plus a few entries that only deepen the sense of the world of Europe. In the previous two, we got to see a lot of England and then a massive amount of the Dutch world in the second, but this one focused mainly on the French.

Our favorite tease/spy lives her life as a fake noble (but not so fake that no one fails to realize it), but that's all right. It's the life of intrigue in Louis the Fourteenth's court. Truly fascinating.

We also return in full force to Daniel, and while everyone is older, the political intrigue is nevertheless as dangerous as ever with the new English king.

The immensity of detail is such that I'm thrown deep into the late sixteen hundreds without pause or breath and I feel like I'm getting one hell of an immersion. It's also so full of interesting plots and twists, going back fully into the anti-slavery angle even while whole parts of Christiandom want to enslave whole other parts of Christendom just because of their beliefs, it feels like an insane move to go any further or wider in scope when there's such dissension everywhere you look.

And then there's the science and the economics and the way that the perennially tapped nobles play the markets in order to regain their wealth. The science bits are always the most fascinating for me, but I have to be honest. The economics bits are pretty damn close to the top as a favorite.

Let me be clear: I read and loved Cryptonomicon which is like an Epic Economics treatise as well as a cryptography primer, so getting the early explorations of these same topics but within the frame of Europe during this time is a real treat. So much to learn!

I'm really impressed by these, and I've still got five more to go! What will happen next to my poor MCs? *cry*