A thrilling debut from ER doctor turned novelist Tom Miller, The Philosopher’s Flight is an epic historical fantasy set in a World-War-I-era America where magic and science have blended into a single extraordinary art. “Like his characters, Tom Miller casts a spell.” (Matthew Pearl, author of The Dante Club and The Last Bookaneer) Eighteen-year-old Robert Weekes is a practitioner of empirical … is a practitioner of empirical philosophy–an arcane, female-dominated branch of science used to summon the wind, shape clouds of smoke, heal the injured, and even fly. Though he dreams of fighting in the Great War as the first male in the elite US Sigilry Corps Rescue and Evacuation Service–a team of flying medics–Robert is resigned to mixing batches of philosophical chemicals and keeping the books for the family business in rural Montana, where his mother, a former soldier and vigilante, aids the locals.
When a deadly accident puts his philosophical abilities to the test, Robert rises to the occasion and wins a scholarship to study at Radcliffe College, an all-women’s school. At Radcliffe, Robert hones his skills and strives to win the respect of his classmates, a host of formidable, unruly women.
Robert falls hard for Danielle Hardin, a disillusioned young war hero turned political radical. However, Danielle’s activism and Robert’s recklessness attract the attention of the same fanatical anti-philosophical group that Robert’s mother fought years before. With their lives in mounting danger, Robert and Danielle band together with a team of unlikely heroes to fight for Robert’s place among the next generation of empirical philosophers–and for philosophy’s very survival against the men who would destroy it.
In the tradition of Lev Grossman and Deborah Harkness, Tom Miller writes with unrivaled imagination, ambition, and humor. The Philosopher’s Flight is both a fantastical reimagining of American history and a beautifully composed coming-of-age tale for anyone who has ever felt like an outsider.more
Historical fantasy is my thing, and this is a terrific one–the combination of rearranged (but still believable) history, some steampunky-feeling elements, and the intertwining of magic and science–all were wonderful. I’m looking forward to the follow-up later this year.
“What the heart loves, the will chooses and the mind justifies.”
The epigram appears as a chapter heading, but is as good a description of the substance of this highly original, utterly fascinating bit of alt-history as any I could come up with… In Robert’s world, women have all the strength – the philosophical, magical, strength. Or so common parlance understands things – and the world spins accordingly. Or does it? This is an absolute delight of a story, full of power struggles and personal growth and difficult relationships – and magic. Lots of cool, magically realistic, magic. And the magic isn’t *just* the kind that lets Robert and his mother fly – it’s also the literary kind, which allows the reader to fly right along with them…
Tom Miller is a genius at blending steampunk-like magical tech into a world-coming-of-age story that combines real history with perfectly manipulated bits of story-history that keep things rolling along until – BAM! – they slam up against an obstacle, psychological or physical, that forces the characters and the reader to flip everything they thought they knew on their heads and shift on a dime. To use one of my favorite images, it’s tap-dancing amongst landmines and it makes for an utterly compelling and engaging book. The book took me longer to read than I expected – but in a good way. It’s dense and rich and full of bon mots and witty repartee and surprisingly adept insights into humanity. Miller is definitely one of my new favorites…
My review copy was provided by NetGalley.
Originally listened to the audiobook, but I loved it so much that I then asked for a print copy for Christmas. Since then, I think I must have read my copy 5 times. Great book, great characters, and a great author who brought this new world to life.
I just couldn’t get into it. When I find myself skimming as early as the first chapter, I know it’s not for me.
Really interesting perspective on gender roles with an element of magical realism. Loved it!
This story had potential but it didn’t hold my interest and became too negative so I stopped reading about midway.
The book was a different look at the world with “magic” added to past events. It’s a world where women are superior and men have to find their place. It was well developed and intriguing.
The world building in this book is pretty neat. What if everything up until the 1930’s was the same except during the Renaissance we found out that women could manipulated the elements and the laws of physics through the use of specialized hand gestures and chemicals? What if that advanced their right to vote? How would that make our world different and how would it be the same? Great premise. My problem is that this book takes the voice of a man with the talents that usually only woman have in this world and then tells the “you have to be twice as good to get half the recognition” story. So women’s rights flipped in a world where the antagonist is trying to take the rights of women. That was a little cliche and predictable. Otherwise lots of good kind social commentary and adventure.
This is a wonderful story. Great characters and a very odd rewriting of history. However the ending was abrupt which left me hanging and a little annoyed
A fun alternative to WW 1 era filled with flying, romance and strong female characters
It was interesting enough to read the entire book, but not so interesting to consider reading the next in the series. I considered it something of a fantasy/steampunk/soap opera. A couple side characters were pretty good. The book does make you think about a lot of discrimination issues. In this case, it is a young male struggling to become educated in and joining a female dominated field. Lots of action.
I received an advanced copy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review. This is a unique book. I wasn’t sure what to expect from this book from the description. I have to say that I was delightfully surprised. This book is the story of a male philosopher and his family and friends. Philosophers are a group of people that fly, transport, and bunch of other things (using magicical sigils and a mixture of powders). Roberts Weekes is the main character and the story is told from his perspective. He goes off to college, makes friends, finds a girlfriend, teaches flying, competes in a race, learns about himself, and is one of the few male philosophers in the world! Once I got into this book, I didn’t want it to end. This is an engaging book, the characters are extremely entertaining and I had a hard time putting it down!