The Plot to Save Socrates by Paul Levinson

Product Details

Synopsis

Paul Levinson's astonishing new SF novel is a surprise and a delight: In the year 2042, Sierra, a young graduate student in Classics is shown a new dialog of Socrates, recently discovered, in which a time traveler tries to argue that Socrates might escape death by travel to the future! Thomas, the elderly scholar who has shown her the document, disappears, and Sierra immediately begins to track down the provenance of the manuscript.
The trail leads her to a time machine in a gentlemen's club in London and in New York, and into the past--and to a time traveler from her future, posing as Heron of Alexandria in 150 AD. Complications, mysteries, travels, and time loops proliferate as Sierra tries to discern who is planning to save the greatest philosopher in human history, or to do so herself. And she finds that time travel raises more questions than it answers. Fascinating historical characters from Alcibiades (of the honeyed thighs) and Appleton, the great 19th century American publisher, to Socrates himself appear. With surprises in every chapter, Paul Levinson has outdone himself in The Plot to Save Socrates.

Publishers Weekly

What would Socrates do? Levinson poses this philosophical question by providing Socrates with an opportunity to survive his execution but still have his death mean something. The tale shifts between ancient Greece to 2042, where Sierra, a graduate student, attempts to find her mentor, who has gone missing after revealing secret transcripts of Socrates. While the premise resembles a pulp novel, Levinson's well-researched historical positioning and philosophical arguments elevate this tale. Shanahan delivers a well-tuned performance. He efficiently juggles the characters, who range in age, sex and accent. He reads the exposition with grace, utilizing the text to determine the intensity and speed of his delivery, thereby enhancing the quality of the story as any talented storyteller should. The light and breezy musical interludes and segues are not intrusive. Listen & Live once again provides an audiobook that effectively balances story, narrator and sound quality in a product anyone can enjoy. Simultaneous release with the Tor hardcover (Reviews, Nov. 14, 2005). (July) Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

Biography

Paul Levinson's eight nonfiction books, including The Soft Edge (1997), Digital McLuhan (1999), Realspace (2003), and Cellphone (2004), have been the subject of major articles in the New York Times, Wired, the Christian Science Monitor, and have been translated into ten languages. New New Media will be published in the summer of 2009. His science fiction novels include The Silk Code (1999, winner of the Locus Award for Best First Novel)., Borrowed Tides (2001), The Consciousness Plague (2002), The Pixel Eye (2003), and The Plot To Save Socrates (2006). His short stories have been nominated for Nebula, Hugo, Edgar, and Sturgeon Awards. Paul Levinson appears on "The O'Reilly Factor" (Fox News), "The CBS Evening News," "NewsHour with Jim Lehrer" (PBS), "Nightline" (ABC), and numerous national and international TV and radio programs. He reviews the best of television in his InfiniteRegress.tv blog, and was listed in The Chronicle of Higher Education’s "Top 10 Academic Twitterers" in 2009. Paul Levinson is Professor of Communication & Media Studies at Fordham University in New York City.