One of the most hotly discussed books on the web at the moment is Neal Stephenson’s Quicksilver (The Baroque Cycle, Vol. 1). Stephenson enjoys cult status among science fiction fans and techie types thanks to his 1992 novel Snow Crash, which redefined conventional notions of the high-tech future. Quicksilver is the follow-up to Cryptonomicon, published in 2000.

Internet discussion is not usually a reliable guide to book popularity, because most of the ‘chat’ is from webheads and bedroom geeks. But Quicksilver has been attracting a lot of comment for several months now, and is in the Amazon Top 100 list. So it’s crossed over from the fantasy realm into the mainstream.

Things you should know about this book: first, it’s big. A whopping 944 pages. Second, it’s a high-tech epic set in the seventeenth century. Third, Neal Stephenson was born on Halloween. Fourth, his birthplace was home of the National Security Agency - Fort Meade in Maryland. And fifth, the Village Voice newspaper described Stephenson as “the Quentin Tarantino of postcyberpunk science fiction”.

The Herald has reviewed Quicksilver here. And if you’re intrigued to see what all the fuss is about, you can buy the US edition hardback here.