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manuti's review against another edition
3.0
A ver si voy cogiendo ritmo y me pongo al día de las reseñas de los libros que he leído.
Este volumen es la continuación del libro que comenté anteriormente y que como su propio nombre indica, está dedicado al "rey de los vagabundos" Jack Shaftoe, miembro de una de las sagas familiares claves de Neal Stephenson junto a la familia Waterhouse.
A pesar de que me ha parecido muy entretenido, creo que en su mayor parte es relleno de la historia principal y que sirve de introducción al personaje clave del tercer volumen de este libro, la odalisca. La historia está mucho más centrada en la política que en la ciencia, y eso en parte puede ser su virtud o su defecto, según el gusto del lector. El libro está bastante bien, pero creo que se queda un poco por debajo del primer y tercer volumen de este ciclo.
Reseña en BEM on Line
Reseña en Stardust
Este volumen es la continuación del libro que comenté anteriormente y que como su propio nombre indica, está dedicado al "rey de los vagabundos" Jack Shaftoe, miembro de una de las sagas familiares claves de Neal Stephenson junto a la familia Waterhouse.
A pesar de que me ha parecido muy entretenido, creo que en su mayor parte es relleno de la historia principal y que sirve de introducción al personaje clave del tercer volumen de este libro, la odalisca. La historia está mucho más centrada en la política que en la ciencia, y eso en parte puede ser su virtud o su defecto, según el gusto del lector. El libro está bastante bien, pero creo que se queda un poco por debajo del primer y tercer volumen de este ciclo.
Reseña en BEM on Line
Reseña en Stardust
sansserifsigma's review against another edition
4.0
Slightly worse since there's not enough scientific digressions, slightly better since there's better characters. Let's see what happens.
REREAD:
Huh, I forgot how well this book actually functions as a proper story, as long as you ignore it cuts out right at the end of the second act. Action? Romance? Not just expository Dialogue? I also tried my best to follow the financial and political plots going on, but it was still quite difficult. I also forgot Jack's drug addled trip trying to escape from a cult of Satan-worshippers in the woods . Good times.
Reread, still 4/5.
REREAD:
Huh, I forgot how well this book actually functions as a proper story, as long as you ignore it cuts out right at the end of the second act. Action? Romance? Not just expository Dialogue? I also tried my best to follow the financial and political plots going on, but it was still quite difficult. I also forgot
Reread, still 4/5.
citizenkahn's review against another edition
4.0
Who wouldn't like a historical tale of a syphilitic scoundrel in 17th century Europe.
sanserifsigma's review against another edition
4.0
Slightly worse since there's not enough scientific digressions, slightly better since there's better characters. Let's see what happens.
REREAD:
Huh, I forgot how well this book actually functions as a proper story, as long as you ignore it cuts out right at the end of the second act. Action? Romance? Not just expository Dialogue? I also tried my best to follow the financial and political plots going on, but it was still quite difficult. I also forgot Jack's drug addled trip trying to escape from a cult of Satan-worshippers in the woods . Good times.
Reread, still 4/5.
REREAD:
Huh, I forgot how well this book actually functions as a proper story, as long as you ignore it cuts out right at the end of the second act. Action? Romance? Not just expository Dialogue? I also tried my best to follow the financial and political plots going on, but it was still quite difficult. I also forgot
Reread, still 4/5.
darwin8u's review
4.0
"Jack had been presented with the opportunity to be stupid in some, way that was much more interesting than being shrewed would've been. These moments seemed to come to Jack every few days."
- Neal Stephenson, King of the Vagabonds
Stephenson continues his Quicksilver Volume with Book 2: King of the Vagabonds. Where Book 1: 'Quicksilver' dealt primarily with Isaac Newton and Daniel Waterhouse, King of the Vagabonds centers around the adventures of "Half-Cocked" Jack Shaftoe*, Doctor Leibniz, and Eliza. It seems to have taken stock of Joseph de la Vega's .
'[b:Confusión de confusiones|18044042|Confusión de confusiones|José de la Vega|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1370550645s/18044042.jpg|25321539] (1688),' and perhaps also Charles Mackay's later [b:Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds|162120|Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds|Charles Mackay|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1328696270s/162120.jpg|1033191], and even Frances Gies 'Life in a Medieval City'. Much of the book involves the adventures of two or three of the above Jack, Liebniz, Eliza making their way across many of the markets and cities of Europe. It allows Stephenson to discuss not only the politics of the age of Louis XIV, but also the changing markets (Leipzig, Paris, London, Amsterdam), politics, religion, and birth of the Age of Resaon.
Stephenson has said in Book 1 he was primarily dealing with nobility and the top-end of the economic ladder. So, in Book 2 he wanted to spend a bit of time at the bottom of the ladder (hence Vagabonds).
* "Half-Cocked" Jack Shaftoe, Daniel Waterhouse, and Eliza (of Qwghlm) are all ancestors of characters from Stephenson earlier book, Cryptonomicon. Enoch Root appears in this book as well as in Quicksilver AND Cryptonomicon. He is like a Zelig for science. Always appearing just where he needs to be to give the wheel a turn, the cart a push, the clock of progress a wind.
- Neal Stephenson, King of the Vagabonds
Stephenson continues his Quicksilver Volume with Book 2: King of the Vagabonds. Where Book 1: 'Quicksilver' dealt primarily with Isaac Newton and Daniel Waterhouse, King of the Vagabonds centers around the adventures of "Half-Cocked" Jack Shaftoe*, Doctor Leibniz, and Eliza. It seems to have taken stock of Joseph de la Vega's .
'[b:Confusión de confusiones|18044042|Confusión de confusiones|José de la Vega|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1370550645s/18044042.jpg|25321539] (1688),' and perhaps also Charles Mackay's later [b:Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds|162120|Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds|Charles Mackay|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1328696270s/162120.jpg|1033191], and even Frances Gies 'Life in a Medieval City'. Much of the book involves the adventures of two or three of the above Jack, Liebniz, Eliza making their way across many of the markets and cities of Europe. It allows Stephenson to discuss not only the politics of the age of Louis XIV, but also the changing markets (Leipzig, Paris, London, Amsterdam), politics, religion, and birth of the Age of Resaon.
Stephenson has said in Book 1 he was primarily dealing with nobility and the top-end of the economic ladder. So, in Book 2 he wanted to spend a bit of time at the bottom of the ladder (hence Vagabonds).
* "Half-Cocked" Jack Shaftoe, Daniel Waterhouse, and Eliza (of Qwghlm) are all ancestors of characters from Stephenson earlier book, Cryptonomicon. Enoch Root appears in this book as well as in Quicksilver AND Cryptonomicon. He is like a Zelig for science. Always appearing just where he needs to be to give the wheel a turn, the cart a push, the clock of progress a wind.
dleybz's review
4.0
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.
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