The Confusion, book two of Neal Stephenson's Baroque Cycle. So far it's better than the first (Quicksilver), but just as hard to keep all the characters and names straight.
If you like Stephenson you have to read his 1996 Wired article,
Mother Earth Mother Board, on the laying undersea fiberoptic cable. It's obviously a little dated now, but probably the best thing ever in Wired. Of course, in the grand tradition of Neal Stephenson, it's long and verbose --I remember getting this issue in college and being overwhelmed at how thick the magazine was -- be sure to set aside a few nights to read it.
Sidenote: I liked Neal Stepenson's old site better, when it was just a bunch of explanations about why he doesn't answer e-mail. I guess times change.