Today, using a gift certificate that I got from Tyler for my birthday I went out and grabbed Quicksilver which is book one of the Baroque Cycle by Neal Stephenson. I haven't finished Cryptonomicon just yet, but I'm fairly close and was so blown away by what I've read thus far (80% of the book) I just had to grab Quicksilver so I could just follow through.
Quicksilver as far as I can tell involves distant relatives of the names mentioned in Cryptonomicon, so I'm guessing I notice similar family traits across the two stories. I should also note that the Baroque Cycle is a trilogy, which all three parts are now out. Quicksilver just came out in trade paperback while the other two are still in hard cover form.
Once I get home tonight I'll do my best to plow through the rest of Cryptonomicon so Quicksilver doesn't sit on the shelf for too long collecting dust, because that would be just a shame.