false http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1174547933m/416327.jpg 416327 9 In 1349, one small town in Germany disappeared and has never been resettled. Tom, a contemporary historian, and his theoretical physicist girlfriend Sharon, become interested. Tom indeed becomes obsessed. By all logic, the town should have survived, but it didn't and that violates everything Tom knows about history. What's was special about Eifelheim that it utterly disappeared more than 600 years ago? Father Deitrich is the village priest of Oberhochwald, the village that will soon gain the name of Teufelheim, in later years corrupted to Eifelheim, in the year 1348, when the Black Death is gathering strength across Europe but is still not nearby. Deitrich is an educated man, knows science and philosophy, and to his astonishment becomes the first contact between humanity and an alien race from a distant star when their interstellar ship crashes in the nearby forest. It is a time of wonders, in the shadow of the plague.Tom and Sharon, and Father Deitrich, have a strange and intertwined destiny of tragedy and triumph in this brilliant SF novel by the winner of the Robert A. Heinlein Award. 426861 book 17 10 2006 Eifelheim total:270|5:60|4:100|3:82|2:18|1:10| 270 992 473 105 4 7 false false Sun Jun 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Thu Jun 19 15:43:25 -0700 2008 Tue Jun 24 06:46:50 -0700 2008 more...]]> 3 2 false false Sat Dec 06 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Tue Nov 25 10:51:50 -0800 2008 Sat Dec 06 08:34:01 -0800 2008
The historical is by far the stronger story and that makes this book lopsided. The medieval town is fully fleshed out ...more...]]> 5 3 false false Mon Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2007 Sat Nov 17 09:54:45 -0800 2007 Sat Nov 17 09:58:04 -0800 2007 5 3 false false Mon Feb 11 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Tue Feb 05 20:37:48 -0800 2008 Mon Feb 11 21:19:12 -0800 2008 3 2 false false Sat Mar 15 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Wed Mar 05 09:48:15 -0800 2008 Thu Apr 10 09:15:59 -0700 2008 more...]]> 3 1 false false Fri Jun 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Mon Jun 04 14:26:47 -0700 2007 Mon Jun 18 15:48:56 -0700 2007 more...]]> 5 1 false false Sun Oct 05 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Tue Jul 01 08:04:54 -0700 2008 Sun Oct 05 13:56:29 -0700 2008
I liked your review and read the book because of it. So I'm very grateful.

I agree with everything you say, especially the clunkiness of the "Now" parts - what made that so bad was that the characters were completely one-dimensional and unconvincing and, well, a...more...]]> 4 0 false false Mon Dec 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Tue Jan 13 17:29:46 -0800 2009 Tue Jan 13 18:17:28 -0800 2009 Star Trek, or something like it, in which technologically advanced humans meet primitive aliens. Well, what if technology advanced aliens were to meet humans from the middle ages? This is exactly what happens in Mic...more...]]> 3 1 false false Mon Jan 05 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Tue Jan 06 05:41:10 -0800 2009 Tue Jan 06 05:41:39 -0800 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Fri Dec 26 13:22:13 -0800 2008 Fri Dec 26 13:23:47 -0800 2008
Heinlein Award winning Flynn has been enjoying considerable buzz recently, and his new novel (due out this fall) is already garnering positive reviews. To judge from Eifelheim, the acclaim is well deserved. Eifelheim will appeal strong...more...]]> 3 0 false false Tue Jul 28 07:13:34 -0700 2009 Tue Jul 28 07:34:22 -0700 2009 more...]]> 5 1 false false Fri Feb 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Fri Jul 24 11:28:30 -0700 2009 Fri Jul 24 11:28:30 -0700 2009 more...]]> 5 0 false false Wed Apr 22 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Wed Apr 22 12:01:06 -0700 2009 Wed Apr 22 12:01:20 -0700 2009

Eifelheim is a German village that myst...more...]]> 5 0 false false Thu Feb 12 08:15:43 -0800 2009 Mon Feb 02 09:32:24 -0800 2009 Thu Feb 12 08:15:43 -0800 2009
What I find fascinating is the sympathetic portrayl of the churchmen in the narrative. Their desire to help and aid the "pilgrims" stems from their devotion t...more...]]> 4 1 false false Wed Jan 07 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Sat Dec 27 22:15:01 -0800 2008 Thu Jan 08 13:31:26 -0800 2009 more...]]> 3 0 false false Thu Oct 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Thu Oct 22 20:40:56 -0700 2009 Sun Nov 01 18:14:37 -0800 2009
Hrm. Just . . . not quite. A book all about clashing paradigms – alien science with religious natural philosophy, narrative...more...]]> 2 0 false true Fri Apr 24 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Mon Apr 06 08:57:28 -0700 2009 Thu Apr 23 22:20:34 -0700 2009 Eifelheim comes across as intelligent yet smug. Michael Flynn concocts a "perfect storm" of coincidences, particularly for the two present-day main characters, to carry his narrative. While every story will rely on...more...]]> 3 0 false false Sun Feb 22 15:00:03 -0800 2009 Sun Feb 01 13:31:02 -0800 2009 Sun Feb 22 15:00:03 -0800 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Fri Mar 06 07:35:21 -0800 2009 Fri Mar 06 07:52:03 -0800 2009 more...]]> 4 17 false false Mon Jun 01 21:06:31 -0700 2009 Thu Apr 30 11:34:10 -0700 2009 Mon Jun 01 21:06:31 -0700 2009 more...]]> http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=416327