I'm about 66% of the way through Neal Stephenson's new book, "The Confusion", and I'm so incredibly enthralled that I considered calling in sick so that I could finish it (don't worry, I'm at work on a break right now). I always have high hopes for any of his books, but Neal really tops himself on this one. The first books of his I read was "Snow Crash," an important entry into the cyberpunk genre and also a compendium of great names like Hiro Protagonist. Then I read "Cryptonomicon" and was amazed. Absolutely fantastic. Though it could easily be described as historical fiction, the feel of the book is definitely sci-fi. "Quicksilver", the first book in the the trilogy that continues with "The Confusion" and will finish in 6 months with "System of the World," was disapponting, but I decided to read the second one out of loyalty. I'm glad I did. Although these books make an even stronger case to be branded as historical fiction, I like to think of them as a new genre of science-fiction. Instead of looking forward to the future, as most sci-fi does, Stephenson seems to be looking forward to the past, and he does it damn well. As soon as I'm finished with it, I plan to get a couple of books on pre-British Empire India, as the portion of the book that deals with India has left me both fascinated and mystified. Any time I read a fictional work and then want to read a non-fiction book to find out more, I know the author did a great job.