Quicksilver Neal Stephenson, 2003

Stretching the definition of what constitutes sci- fi to breaking point, Neal Stephenson’s Quicksilver is actually a novel set in the past, an epic of the enlightenment- era natural philosophers who invented the modern world. It’s a measure of Stephenson’s ambition that, even at 900- plus pages, it was the opening offering in a trilogy. It’s historical fiction written with an SF sensibility, a brilliantly executed piece of history- of- science fiction.