Reviews and Comments

This is a translation of "The Map of Knowledge", and discusses how scientific knowledge was advanced and preserved from Antiquity until the Renaissance, in Europe and the Middle East.

The book discusses the history of science. More specifically, it looks at the scientific world in seven cities in chronological order. These cities are Alexandria (mainly because of its library), Baghdad (under the Abbasid dynasty), Cordoba (under the Umayyad dynasty), Toledo (mostly under Alfonso X "The Wise"), Salerno, Palermo, and Venice.
While the first four cities are in clear chronological order, after that it feels like we're being moved forward and downward in time. A timeline would have helped to make things more clear.
Although the motivation for each town is clearly explained, it still sometimes feels arbitrary. Paris is mentioned often enough that it, too, might have been included. The book ends with the printing press, and how Venice became a primary source of printed books. This is a fitting end, as the dissemination of scientific knowledge was revolutionized and a new era began in the scientific world.
In the epilogue, it discusses how the telescope and microscope revolutionized science even further.

If you're interested in the medieval world, this is a worthwhile read.

"Witch Hat Atelier" follows the adventures of Coco, a young girl who is fascinated by magic, but has no magical talents herself. Until she discovers the truth.... amidst controversy, Coco is inducted into magical society and allowed to become a witch.

In volume 4, two of Coco's fellow students enter a practical exam. Unfortunately, they are not alone - the antagonists of the series, an group that calls itself the Brimmed Hats, are in the labyrinth where the exam takes place. They have designs on Coco and they're not above targeting her friends...

In this volume, the Brimmed Hats' trap is sprung. The students, their master, and the proctor of the exam need to pull all their strings to get out unharmed.

One of the great things about "Witch Hat Atelier" is that it actually tells us how spells are constructed. Where Harry Potter would simply be taught a spell, Coco has to construct one. This makes magical fights in "Witch Hat Atelier" more than combat sequences. It becomes a duel where creative use of one's spells, both prepared and improvised, can spell the difference between victory and defeat. And when the violence breaks out in volume 5, Kamome Shirahama does not disappoint. Coco and her friends have to think on their feet and make good use of their abilities. This makes for a very dynamic type of battle.

There are other interesting things in this volume, but what I appreciate most is how characters are fleshed out. In previous volumes, we met Easthies, a member of the Knights Moralis. The Knights Moralis are effectively the police force of the magic users and they are described as rigid people - they'll uphold the law of their society and make no exceptions.
In volume 5, we see Easthies has a human side. Most authors would give him a tragic background causing him to become a ruthless policeman, but Kamome Shirahama does not resort to such an overused plot device. Instead, she simply shows him interacting with his own students. We also see a man who is very aware of the responsibility that rests on the Knights Moralis' shoulders.

All in all, this is an excellent installment in an excellent series. If you enjoy the fantasy genre, this series is heartily recommended. Do start at volume 1, though.

"Illium" is a good SF book, with some interesting concepts.

It's a bit difficult to give an excerpt, because the book has three separate storylines. Only two of them come together, and even that only happens at the end.

The first storyline is that of Thomas Hockenberry, Ph.D., and is told in a first-person perspective. He is a scholar of classical literature and the Greek gods have tasked him with recording the events of the Trojan War. The Greek gods know about Homer's poem but are not allowed to know the contents, hence they set humans to check if the war is unfolding like Homer said it would.

The second storyline is about a group of robot-like beings called moravecs. They live and work at the asteroid belt and beyond. Their leaders have learned that there is a lot of quantum activity going on around Mars, which represents a threat to the entire solar system. (The details of the threat are a bit vague to the reader, but the moravecs take it seriously - and they know their science).
Four moravecs are sent on a mission to Mars to investigate.
It is clearly hinted that this "quantum activity" is in fact caused by the Greek gods, but the moravecs only meet Hockenberry and the Grecian pantheon at the end of the book.

A third storyline takes place on Earth, although not at the time of the Trojan war. The time seems to be about 2300 and humans are having a luxury life, their every need taken care of. Of course, in a novel, this means there is something wrong under the surface. A few of them suspect it and set out to learn more.
This third storyline never explicitly touches the other two, which makes "Illium" like reading two different novels.

The book ends, not quite on a cliffhanger, but with a lot of open conflict looming over both storylines. It is continued and concluded in the next book, "Olympos".

All in all, it as a good read with a nice mix of actual physics and speculation. The book includes discussions not only of Homer's Illiad, but also of Shakespeare and Proust. I was torn between giving it 3 and 4 stars, but the the lack of interaction between the different storylines made me settle on a lower score.

An interesting alternate history based on the premise that Isaac Newton's experiments in alchemy had borne as much fruit as his investigation of physics.

The book roughly consists of two parallel stories: that of Benjamin Franklin in the New World and England, and of a woman named Adrienne in France. Their stories are told in alternating chapters.

Newton's discoveries have opened the door to a whole slew of new inventions, most important of which is called an "aetherscreiber". The basic idea is that two attuned crystals can copy each other's vibrations even if they are literally on the other side of the world - making one-on-one communication possible worldwide. However, they only work in pairs: each screiber can only be attuned to one other, so mass media is not yet possible.
Nonetheless, it is through these ingenuous alchemical devices that the two storylines are linked together, as people in both storylines exchange secretive communications.
But Newton's alchemy can also be used for destruction - Louis XIV, the Sun King, seeks to have it used to develop a weapon in his war against England.
Worse yet, there are other creatures than humans around, and the alchemical process that makes aetherschreibers possible also brings humanity in contact with them. We learn only a little of these mysterious beings, but enough to realize that they do not look kindly upon humankind...

Keyes understands how to end each chapter on a cliffhanger. Perhaps he understands it a little too well, because it feels disappointing to be given a cliffhanger and then have the next chapter continue the other storyline. Still, it is enough to make one keep reading.

My main complaint about the book is that it has a few too many famous people. A meeting between the young Benjamin Franklin and Blackbeard strains its credibility. Similarly, an important side character turns out to be the grandson of d'Artagnan - one can taste how dearly Keyes would have liked to have the historical d'Artagnan in the story. Since the real d'Artagnan had long died before the book starts, Keyes settles for his grandson.

That said, it is a good adventure story with good worldbuilding. Rather than simply having a 1700's world with magic, Keyes has created an alternative 1700's where the new inventions are firmly rooted in alternative science. He even goes so far as to explain how several of these devices work, showing he's given serious thought to the workings of Newton's alchemical science.

It is clearly the start of a series; the opening salvo of a much longer battle. When the book ends, the world is aflame. And the book's epilogue is another cliffhanger.

All in all I found it a good read. Recommended for the lovers of clockpunk, fantastical alternate histories, and adventure stories in general.