The Plague Tales

Rating:
Summary: Compelling story, well-drawn characters, a good read
Review: I picked up The Plague Tales out of curiousity of how the author would handle what appeared to be essentially the same premise as The Doomsday Book. To my surprise, I found it much more original and more enjoyable than Willis' take on the topic.

To start, I liked the choice of characters - seeing the Medieval world through the eyes of a Spanish Jew was a nice change of perspective (acknowleging for a change that the Middle Ages actually did exist outside of England!) And the middle aged heroine in the future was a refreshing choice (you don't have to be young and perky to save the world!)

As someone who's studied history, Medieval history in particular, I take exception with some readers' comments about its being portrayed as too 'nice.' The image of putrifying bodies that permeates that time period is reminder enough that life in those times could be sometimes be nasty, brutish and short. But remember that to the character, a product of that time frame, what he e! xperienced was normal and he should not be expected to express horror with it any more than we express horror about our own lives, as primitive as they might appear to someone living 500 years from now.

I agree that the characters in the future were less well crafted, but then again, I felt the same way about the Doomsday Book. (Which, though I am critizing it, I did actually enjoy.)

Is this a perfect book? No, of course not. There are a few pacing problems, some characterizations are weak and a few leaps of faith are required. But again, I experienced more 'yeah, right' moments in The Doomsday Book than in this.

Personally I read very quickly so the length of the book, which some other readers had problems with, was not an issue. And, please, it's not heavyweight material. You don't have to ponder every word!

Actually, the only thing that gave me pause, at first, was the abruptness of the ending, and the fact that the woman who occupied the heroine role for the major! ity of the book just faded away and the secondary female ch! aracter gained sudden importance.

After giving it some thought, though, it seemed to me that the author was depicting the drive and struggle of all types of life to survive (the selfish gene, Darwinism, etc.) at all costs, including everything from the bacteria to humans and perhaps a mystical or spiritual existence that transcends the physical world, including time. (Do I believe in such supernatural life, no, but there is more to heaven and earth than is dreamed of in your philosophy, or mine...and, for heaven's sake, it's a story. As long as it stays true to its own rules, it works for me.) There was a crisis, a break in the continuity of the keeper of the ancient knowlege. Who's to say that the entire chain of events was not set off to ensure that a successor would be found and the continuity maintained.

I enjoyed the book, though I feel a sequel is a bad idea. The story's been told. But if she were to come up with another premise, I'd be more than willing to give it! a try.

Rating:
Summary: Interwoven tale from the past and the future
Review: I loved the way The Plague Tales alternated between two time periods: the fourteenth century and a near-police state in the early twenty-first century.

I wrote a research paper on the black death and found this book to be very accurate in it's descriptions of the disease and the time period. I also liked that Ms. Benson was able to weave these two plots together so seamlessly and create a believable future London.

Her characters are very strong and I liked how Benson was able to show cause and effect relationships not just in one time period but between the centuries.

It reminded me very much of my favorite book The Eight by Katherine Neville. Ms. Benson was really able to capture the feeling of both a historical novel and a medical thriller without alienating fans of either genre.

This was a great read.

Rating:
Summary: Who Cares...
Review: I will review this as two seperate novels. One that takes place in the 14th century and another in a near future.

In the begining the 14th century characters were interesting and the plot compelling. Only towards the end of the novel did my patience with the predictibility of the story and characters stink through. Yes I unfortunetly said stink. The characters went from smart and determined to stupid. I would give examples but you are reading this as you decide whether to buy this novel. Therefore you don't want me to tell you what happens. I hate when reviewers do that.

As far as the near future parts go...At first I found the world interesting. The main characters went from stupid to selfish in an unending cycle of a poorly written plot and character. The Three Stooges could have handled things better. I groaned every time the story left the 14th century. After a number of chapters I found myself asking..."Is it wrong to root for the plague?" The characters had no real heart and not much of a personality. The chain of events the author wishes you believe is capable leads you to one of two conclusions; either the characters are idiots or the plot is way too contrived.

So in all I would say that half this story is worth reading and the other half without merit. I am a big fan of historical fiction. If you really want a medieval story that has bite and realism this isn't for you. I would suggest an Archer's Tale by Bernard Cornwell for the serious reader while this book is just fine for readers whose idea of a good story and character can be found on a TV show like General Hospital.

Rating:
Summary: Decent first novel with some flaws
Review: I picked up this novel because it looked incredibly similar to one of my favorite books of all time, Connie Willis' The Doomsday Book. Like Willis' novel, Plague Tales competently manages to weave together two different stories about plagues threatening two societies 700 years apart. The characters are sympathetic, and while the plot does occassionally bog down, it for the most part moves at a decent pace. For a first go, Benson's engaging novel has understandably drawn some good reviews.

However, there are some problems with the book. About 400 pages into the book, Benson introduces a fantasy element that is completely at odds with the realism that permeates this novel. In an interview Benson has stated that this element is religious in nature, one that is supposed to make one of the main characters rethink God's presence in the world. I, however, found this intrusion highly jarring and annoying -- especially since it helps bring resolution to the novel's events.

Also, there are too many unanswered questions and loose ends left over -- these are the type of questions and threads that usually form the basis of a sequel. Normally, I don't mind when authors produce a sequel or write a book intended to start a series. However, I don't like it when the novel is blatantly left open for a sequel when it's not advertised as the beginning of the series. (Benson's website also mentions that she is indeed writing a sequel).

Apart from these two flaws, I'd recommend the book to most people. Those who read this might also want to pick up Willis's novel and read them back-to-back for an interesting contrast in how two authors handled similar material in different fashions.

Rating:
Summary: I Couldn't Put This Book Down!
Review: I stumbled onto "The Plague Tales", having no idea what to expect, and for the most part I was pleasantly surprised. As a medical thriller, it is superb, and I read this rather long novel very quickly. Even today, centuries after it killed millions of Europeans, just hearing the words "Bubonic Plague" are enough to get just about anyone's attention. The descriptions of the illness are right on the money and the helplessness of physicians to realize a cause or cure add to the suspense of the story. "Who will be the next character to become ill?" is the question I kept wondering. This book has virtually no "filler", so it reads very quickly. The switches between the 14th Century storyline and the storyline set in the future are very well placed, keeping the reader engrossed in the characters of both stories. Janie, the main character in the future storyline, is very hardened by her losses in the "Outbreaks" of some sort of plague in the future. If I have a complaint, it is that those Outbreaks were never explained in the novel, even though there were ample opportunities for Janie's character to do so. It seems that the stress of the novel is based in the past, and those characters are well formed, especially Alejandro, the 14th century physician who is tormented by both his inability to cure the victims of Bubonic Plague and the many decisions he has to make during his adventures in the story. His struggles with his faith, his true identity, and his loyalties are portrayed very exceptionally well. His character is the one which I feel that most readers will bond most strongly with, as his emotions are fleshed out so well, and it is so easy to relate to the basic moral dilemas he encounters. There are some minor discrepancies in the novel, and the link between the past and the future in the case of Caroline, Janie's assistant, is never explained (Perhaps the sequel to this novel does so), but didn't seriously mar my enjoyment of the novel. The mysterious Sarah, with her "cure" for Bubonic Plague, is a nice touch, and adds a bit of mysticism to the mix, as well as taking a shot at modern medicine and it's cynicism toward natural remedies. There truly is an unresolved link between the character Caroline and Sarah and that is a bit unsatisfying. Some reviews have criticized the actions of the characters as being unbelievable, but I would think that in the face of such a rigidly controlled future world as is described in "The Plague Tales", "normal" actions and reactions would easily be discarded. Overall, I highly recommend this novel. I thoroughly enjoyed it's weave of historical fact with fiction, as well as past with future events.

Rating:
Summary: An exciting thriller
Review: I loved the way The Plague Tales alternates between two time periods: the fourteenth century and a near-police state in the early twenty-first century. It's similar in structure to my favorite novel, Katherine Neville's The Eight, even though the time periods are different, and it also reminded me a little of another of my favorite books, Connie Willis' Doomsday Book. Benson's characters are great; I really liked both the main characters, Janie and Alejandro. I read on Ann Benson's Web site that there's going to be a sequel to The Plague Tales; I'm looking forward to it!

Rating:
Summary: good read AND informative
Review: Benson does a great job of bringing us into the intimate worlds of her characters, and making us care about them, as she fleshes out her historical novel. Her descriptions of smallpox are riveting. I would have liked more connection with the Turks to better explain the utter faith in their inoculation methods; seems a big jump of faith for a lady of such cloistered aristocratic English culture. I did like the counterpoint of England and the American colonies as the story unfolds. This book will make you grateful for the 21st century!

Rating:
Summary: Great characters
Review: With "The Plague Tales," Ann Benson does a nice job of creating characters that drive the story, rather than vice-versa. If you're tired of plot-driven novels with thin, and often cliché, characters, then you're likely to dig this one.

If you're into writers like Benson, Dan Brown, Katherine Neville, etc., then there's a new writer you should check out: GREG IPPOLITO. His most recent novel, "Zero Station," is a politically charged page-turner that pits its main Gen X character (John Saylor) against his Baby Boomer parents, teachers, etc., during the winter of 1991 -- in the heart of the Persian Gulf War. Right now, Ippolito is still a relative unknown (a friend turned me onto his work)...but this is a must-read. You can check him out and read an excerpt at:

http://www.zero-station.net

Don't miss it.

Rating:
Summary: Had promise but misses something
Review: This novel certainly has an interesting premise, comparing and linking the horrors of the medieval Black Death with the equally horrific prospect of the plague in the not too distant future. But somehow I found that there was insiffient detail in each of the stories to really hold my attention.

The medieval story is by far the better tale, even though there are some small historical inaccuracies (for example, Alejandro our hero treats a patient early in the book with eucalyptus, which would be hard as this Australian plant didn't arrive in Europe until it was retrieved by explorers in the 1700s). Alejandro is a character that we can identify with, a Spanish Jew who is fighting for his life and thirsting for knowledge. But even so I felt that the characters who surrounded him were simply not well enough explored to allow us to really identify with the impact of the plague. Geraldine Brooks manages this exceptionally well in her superb "Year of Wonders".

As for the futuristic phase of the book, this is also interesting, but again there is insufficient character development to allow us to really sympathise with our far more modern hero Janie. And there is really no real discussion of how a modern plague would impact on a society which is obsessed with keeping disease at bay. In addition, the future is 2005, perhaps too soon for me to identify with this alternative future. For the epitome of storytelling about the horrors of plague amongst modern times, you can't go past Stephen King's "The Stand".

All in all its an entertaining read, and certainly Ms Benson is a talented writer, but I still feel something is missing. Perhaps it was a little too ambitious.

Rating:
Summary: Original Timeline
Review: The going back and forth from past to future was very original and kept me wanting to find the one thing that linked them together through time. I thought that the author could have explored the Adele/Caroline connection better.