[UGO]∎ Read Gratis The Philosopher Flight A Novel The Philosophers Series Tom Miller 9781476778150 Books

The Philosopher Flight A Novel The Philosophers Series Tom Miller 9781476778150 Books

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The Philosopher Flight A Novel The Philosophers Series Tom Miller 9781476778150 Books

Author Tom Miller's debut novel The Philosopher's Flight is a genre-bending steampunk wild ride. In this world, witches or wizards are philosophers and all the best ones are female. In spite of their amazing prowess in military campaigns, philosophers are feared. Trenchers, a sort of evangelical set comprised largely of men who fear and despise these powerful women, continually oppose and threaten the philosophers in ways both physical and legal. The harrowing opening passages evoke lynchings and the witch trials, while throughout the book we see Trenchers attack these women for everything from their use of birth control to their refusal to bow to the patriarchy. (We also see that these women are vulnerable to mistreatment by a military that quite literally exploits them.)

Set during World War I, the story follows a rare male philosopher, Robert Weekes, as he is taken on as a contingency student at Radcliffe College, one of only a few token men training with women. Most of the men are merely theoretical philosophers, but Robert, or Boober, as his Montana family lovingly calls him, is an empirical philosopher, raised to fly. Encouraged and cajoled into his skills by his mother and older sisters, he is a truly unusual man and not just because he's an expert sigilist.

Giving us the experience of role reversal, with a sole male prodigy among women encountering the derision, discrimination, and abuse that was usually heaped on women entering largely male educational settings during this era and too long after, Miller offers an accessible story about gender constraints perceived about talent and wrongly placed on education.

All of that sounds almost preachy and this book was anything but that- it was great fun to read. We have a wonderful set of secondary characters and a lot of humor to soften the blows of Robert's progress in the philosophical ranks. A renaissance man himself, Tom Miller is a practicing ER doctor with an MFA in writing. He's also going at the top of my Campbell Award nominations next year. A wonderful new voice.


Tags : The Philosopher's Flight: A Novel (The Philosophers Series) [Tom Miller] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. <b>“Rarely does a novel begin with rollicking fierceness that grabs readers from its opening lines and doesn’t loosen its grip or lessen its hold all the way through… Miller’s writing is intoxicating and one doesn’t need to be a fantasy or sci-fi fan to adore this book.”—Kim Curtis,Tom Miller,The Philosopher's Flight: A Novel (The Philosophers Series),Simon & Schuster,1476778159,Fantasy - General,Fantasy - Historical,Literary,Alchemists;Fiction.,Alchemy,Alternative histories (Fiction),Coming of age,Fantasy fiction,Medicine, Magic, mystic, and spagiric,Montana,Montanta,Philosophers;Fiction.,War fiction,World War, 1914-1918,Young men;Fiction.,AMERICAN HISTORICAL FICTION,AMERICAN SCIENCE FICTION AND FANTASY,FICTION Fantasy General,FICTION Fantasy Historical,FICTION Literary,Fantasy,Fiction,Fiction-Fantasy,FictionLiterary,GENERAL,General Adult,United States,Harry Potter; Philosopher's War; Tom Miller; fantasy; The Night Circus; Erin Morgenstern; magic; philosophy; philosopher; sigilry; Naomi Novik; Temeraire series; Lev Grossman; The Magicians; World War I; Erika Johansen; The Queen of the Tearling; Neil Gaiman; Aldous Huxley; Brave New World; George Orwell; 1984; Jonathan Strange; Mr. Norell; The Hunger Games; Radcliffe College; glyphs; J.K. Rowling; action; adventure; romance; military; Suzanna Clarke; flying; aviation; college; alternate history; Philosopher's Series

The Philosopher Flight A Novel The Philosophers Series Tom Miller 9781476778150 Books Reviews

This is not the sort of book I would normally enjoy, but I am glad I picked it up. Somewhere in between science fiction and historical fiction, this story stays with you. The characters are likeable, written deeply, and I cheered for Robert until the last page. There is enough action in this novel to keep it a page Turner, but not so much that it comes off shallow. I'd love to see further novels featuring Robert Weekes and company. Highly recommend!!
Believe the hype. A wonderful book. Tom Miller invents an early 20th century world where magic (of a sort) works (but is still feared by many). He weaves that element into a sort of suffragette novel, even though the protagonist is a man (and a good character in his own right). Since the "magic" is seen as something exclusively belonging to women, the hero suffers a large amount of prejudice trying to join their ranks, both from the outraged women themselves and from men who can't understand why he would turn his back on "manly" pursuits. Great adventure and hair-raising rescues. Really hope this is the beginning of a series.
I thought I was done reading anything using the "Hogwarts" formula, but Miller proved me wrong. The thought and detail put into the "science" of philosophical magic, along with vivid descriptions of flight, and engaging characters, pulled me in.

I also don't enjoy stories about sexism and usually find them preachy, but Miller won me over there on that point too. Perhaps it is his male point of view , but in my opinion, he manages to dig into the issue and extract just the conflict, irony and suspense he need from it to drive the story along and flesh out his characters.

Like the body weight that dogs the hero's early efforts at speed flying, there is some fluff in the writing and the focus drifts from the plot a bit more than I prefer from time to time. But Miller manages to convey a strong steampunk flavor without going over the top like many stories in the genre do. His other strengths more than make up for this.

Once in a while I gamble on a new author. Sometimes I regret it. This time I did not. Definitely take Miller for a test flight.
This novel has a unique and interesting premise. It is a well written and engaging story. Wouldn't it be interesting to have these extraordinary skills!? There is the tension between those that have these skills- mostly women- and those who fear the use of the philosophers's talents. There is a sweet love story but the tension between the groups and the outbreaks of violence keeps the story moving.
Miller is a wonderful storyteller and the book held my interest from beginning to end. It used to be said "it's science fiction if the writer believes it really could happen, and fantasy if he believes it couldn't," but like the best fantasy, his book has real verisimilitude, it is completely believable, and he convinces us that the magic elements are lawful and technology-like. It seems hard to believe that he can entertain us by descriptions of the magical sigilry gear and its application, but the fact is that he does.

The story is mostly set on the campus of Radcliffe College (once the women's sister college of all-male Harvard), around the time of World War I. The magical technology, or technological magic, is called "sigilry," and enables "philosophers" to fly (at several hundred miles per hours), transport objects, communicate, and do other things by properly drawing magic signs called "sigils." In one of many twists and inversions of our world, sigilry is almost entirely the province of women, and the protagonist, a male, struggles with sex discrimination. This all sounds silly but in Miller's hands, it isn't. And while this may not be Great Literature, the characters are convincingly drawn and I cared about what was happening to them. I found it fresh, original, pitch-perfect and wonderfully entertaining.
Author Tom Miller's debut novel The Philosopher's Flight is a genre-bending steampunk wild ride. In this world, witches or wizards are philosophers and all the best ones are female. In spite of their amazing prowess in military campaigns, philosophers are feared. Trenchers, a sort of evangelical set comprised largely of men who fear and despise these powerful women, continually oppose and threaten the philosophers in ways both physical and legal. The harrowing opening passages evoke lynchings and the witch trials, while throughout the book we see Trenchers attack these women for everything from their use of birth control to their refusal to bow to the patriarchy. (We also see that these women are vulnerable to mistreatment by a military that quite literally exploits them.)

Set during World War I, the story follows a rare male philosopher, Robert Weekes, as he is taken on as a contingency student at Radcliffe College, one of only a few token men training with women. Most of the men are merely theoretical philosophers, but Robert, or Boober, as his Montana family lovingly calls him, is an empirical philosopher, raised to fly. Encouraged and cajoled into his skills by his mother and older sisters, he is a truly unusual man and not just because he's an expert sigilist.

Giving us the experience of role reversal, with a sole male prodigy among women encountering the derision, discrimination, and abuse that was usually heaped on women entering largely male educational settings during this era and too long after, Miller offers an accessible story about gender constraints perceived about talent and wrongly placed on education.

All of that sounds almost preachy and this book was anything but that- it was great fun to read. We have a wonderful set of secondary characters and a lot of humor to soften the blows of Robert's progress in the philosophical ranks. A renaissance man himself, Tom Miller is a practicing ER doctor with an MFA in writing. He's also going at the top of my Campbell Award nominations next year. A wonderful new voice.