The Philosopher's Flight

A Novel

By: Tom Miller

Narrated by: Gibson Frazier

Length: 13 hrs and 37 mins

Publisher's summary

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 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 antiphilosophical 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.

©2018 Tom Miller (P)2018 Simon & Schuster, Inc.

You’ll need the book and the audio.

Overall an enjoyable and entertaining listen.

I would warn readers that they may want to invest in both the audio and hard copy versions. At the start of each chapter he quotes “sources,” but this can be confused as being part of the story in the Audible version. At the end of the book, his Appendix includes descriptions of glyphs that are presumably drawn in the book, but cannot be easily pictured by the listener.

The storyline was coherent but the relationships with the characters were lacking in depth. Robert is close to his mother, yet he is willing to disregard her toward the end. We discover he was closer to a sister who raised him, but he doesn’t consult her much. He loves Dar, however, he disregards her preferences.

Most of the final chapter with the dance could have been eliminated. It felt like the author didn’t know how to end the story and settled for a rambling Harry Potterish solution that offered nothing to the story.

What a original and captivating world...

I can't wait for the sequel and hopefully long series of stories from within this great world.

Brilliant multi layered story

I love this book and it’s “universe” hopefully the author brings us more. This is another book for my great stories category, books I find that masterfully create a world that sucks the reader in. The flipping of gender roles and other social mirroring adds a second layer to the book. It’s a great gender exploration without agenda or malice. Including a military where women are in charge of the intellectual side and men are just for heavy lifting. So read this wonderful strange feminist steampunk tale written by a man and you won’t be disappointed.

I really enjoyed this book.

I'm often leery of trying a first book by a brand new author.

Fortunately, I wasn't disappointed.

This book was excelent. The magic system was unusual and complex. The alternate version of history was interesting is well. I liked seeing the division of sexes handled using a story where the women had so much more power.

I will definitely pick up another book by this author.

Fun and original

The themes are not new, but the premise is so original and charming. An entertaining book that is well-written with a very good narrator. I look forward to the next in the series.

Unique and engaging read!

Loved The Philosopher's Flight and want to hear more! Very unique story full of well rounded characters. Character voices by narrator are sometimes off, but mostly enjoyable to listen to.

Delightful story, of flying Philosophers

Loved this story, written by a doc who went to the med school where I teach (but I didn't know him), of Philosophers, who are mostly women, who are able to fly and perform amazing feats, mostly in a war effort (WWI). Our hero is a young man who was taught to fly ("hover") by his mother, a decorated war heroine, and one of his several sisters, all of whom have the family talent. The characters are well drawn, with some good guys and some evil. The adventures are, well, adventurous, and the book is lots of fun. One central point of the book is that it is much frowned on for a man to even consider trying to become a Philosopher, so our hero has sex discrimination throughout, in addition to his hazardous flying tasks.

Highly recommended. Spoiler: there's more fairly explicit sex than I would have expected for a YA book, which this mostly is...

Wow!

I'm honestly surprised how much I loved this book. The world building is fantastic and the characters are so detailed and interesting. I can't wait for the sequel!!

A nice story in an inventive universe

Great world building, though as an audiobook the descriptions of the magic was a little confusing. I feel like some of it might have gone over better as the written word. That being said, I truly enjoyed the story and characters and am looking forward to reading the next book.

perfect

i can’t even begin to express the relevance of this book. the resultant historical dystopia represents a dichotomy of privilege vs price, due to a complete lack of intersectionality in early feminism. thought provoking.