Neal Stephenson - The Baroque Cycle (x-post amazon)

This book, and the two other books in the trilogy, is the most fun i've ever had in historical fiction. I am quite fond of both history and science, and this book makes both more fun than they've ever been before. As far as i can remember the first book takes place in Europe and America, and you get some nice insights into the workings of society at the time. The main characters are in some cases pure adventurers, at times opportunistic self-improvers, and at other times close to mad scientists. A charming mix if there ever was one. As in Cryptonomicon the character named Shaftoe deals with the adventure-part whilst the character named Waterhouse deals with the science-part. This is a nice arrangement, and works really well for this kind of book. The shifts from character to character, and scenery to scenery are well done and makes the novel feel like a journey, not a presentation. If you've ever wanted a fly's view of the weirdness of the 17'th century then this novel is for you.