Quicksilver, the first book of Neal Stephenson's newest series, The Baroque Cycle, is frustrating in some ways. In a very real sense it is plotless. This isn't a mark against it, actually; it is character driven, which is theoretically the point of fiction, really (if such a point exists). The characters are enchanting, engaging, and erratic, so no faults there. It is very thick reading, if you will: meaning it does not go by swiftly. I did some calculations as to length. I am used to gauging books' lengths in terms of paperbacks. 'X' number of pages paperback means more to me than 'x' number hardcover. So I calculated how many pages, paperback, Quicksilver would be. (I used A Wheel of Time novel as reference, I own both versions) It is 926 pages in hardcover, which comes out to over 1100 pages. I had the exact number written down, but I seem to have lost it. I still adore the book, but one must take breaks from it. In fact, I am already over half-finished with Smoke & Mirrors, and have even read a bit of The Hero with a Thousand Faces. Ah, there we are: 1193 pages, rounded up.

This is a very amusing article. Whether you support, despise, or (joining my party) are ambivalent towards George W. Bush. The system exists to some extent with every president I've seen (which would be a round three now, really).

Joe has a point. That's a bit of an odd decision for a fourteen-year old, isn't it? Here's a better article. Er - and a lot of strange people commenting. Strange piece of news really.