Rating: 
Summary: Whoo Hoo!!
Review: Absolutely stupenderiferous! I had a great time. I wished the book would never end. I give this book a 9.5.
Rating:
Summary: History, medicine, and political theory in one!
Review: As a physician with an abiding interest in medical history, I must commend Ann Benson for a great read. I found no major "boners" in either her historical tale of a fourteenth-century plague doctor, or her understanding of the epidemiology and "natural course" of infectious diseases in general, and plague in particular. Her comment about the overuse of antibiotics, and her dire prediction that antibiotics might someday be rendered totally useless, is dead on target. Multiply-drug-resistant "superbugs" are already appearing in the modern world's hospitals (including the very one where I myself am on staff!); perhaps, therefore, the "Outbreaks" which presage her near-future tale might be about ready to occur. The very pleasant surprise is that Benson also makes a brilliant contribution to a debate that is currently raging among professional epidemiologists and civil libertarians. The best all-around statement of that debate might be, "Resolved: that high-handed quarantine measures, including but not limited to shoot-on-sight rules of engagement, are unnecessary and even counterproductive to preventing or halting the spread of dangerous epidemic or pandemic diseases." Benson argues the affirmative, and is absolutely ruthless. The plague-doctor protagonist of the medieval tale, and some of the "authority" characters in the futuristic tale, create very authoritarian quarantine rules, and then have doubts about their ethics and even their long-term effectiveness. Benson's description of a particularly humiliating and privacy-invasive diagnostic procedure called "bodyprinting" reads, frankly, like a BDSM eroticum--definitely not for the squeamish. And just whom does society have to thank for stopping the resurgent epidemic of plague? Read for yourselves. You will likely never look at "public health" questions in the same way ever again. Here, then, is history, medicine, and political theory, all rolled into one very powerful package. For someone who is not even a physician, this is a truly remarkable achievement, which I recommend to every thinking adult, including professional and layperson alike.
Rating:
Summary: Best book I ever read
Review: Buy this book,it is exciting,haunting a page turner that I'll never forget.I cant wait for the next one.
Rating:
Summary: Best novel of the year
Review: This is the best novel i read.I can't read another book for a while because thoughts of this one are still in my mind.I can't say enough about this fine book.It is exciting,realistic and well written.I can't wait for the next one.
Rating:
Summary: I Devoured it.
Review: Having read the book in four days on my vacation, the book was non stop entertainment and impossible to put down. I found the alternating of the two stories and the blending at the end to be wonderful. It seemed after reading each chapter I wanted the book to stay in that time period. I highly recommend this book.
Ellie Bogar
Rating:
Summary: Intriguing page turner!
Review: This novel set in both the 1300's and 2005 captures what can happen when a microbe goes awry. With alternating chapters from both centuries, the stories captivate the reader. I found myself wanting to jump ahead to see what would happen. The characters come alive and as one reads, you wonder how will thses lives cross? But indeed they do. It will not be long before everyone discovers this novel. I predict by the end of the year it will be on the best seller list
Rating:
Summary: Yersinia pestis - definitely your everyday houseplant!
Review: It's the middle of August and I needed something to
liven up those "dog days" of summer - Plague Tales
caught my eye. I really didn't expect the book to be both
entertaining and educational. Having just seen the DaVinci exhibit in Boston recently, I could appreciate both the curiosity and the courage it
took for men like Leonardo and Alejandro to dissect bodies that were
often stolen from hallowed ground. To us they were geniuses, but to their peers they were considered heretics
and freaks. Benson showed the same kind of courage when she made the leap from weaving beads to weaving the Medieval with the Futuristic
to form a picture of life as it was and as it can be. It did liven
up my summer. Hmmm...maybe I should get one of her
books on bead-weaving. That would take courage -
considering I'm all thumbs!
Rating: 
Summary: An enjoyable read.
Review: I enjoyed this book. I felt the characters were interesting, although the 21st century ones could have been developed more. This reminded me a lot of the storyline of "The Doomsday Book" by Connie Willis. Although "The Doomsday Book" was better in my opinion, "The Plague Tales" kept me well entertained
Rating: 
Summary: A plague thriller, with history and the future intertwined
Review: This novel is a combination of medical and historical thrillers told in alternating chapters from two time periods. In the fourteenth century, Jewish physician Alejandro Canches must flee Spain after being discovered in an illegal autopsy of a Christian patient. He arrives in Avignon to find a state of great upheaval, and is conscripted by the Pope's personal physician to be trained as a Plague Doctor. He is then sent to the court of Edward III in England to serve as the Pope's medical emmisary. He must protect the members of the royal family from plague while carefully concealing his true identity. In the twenty-first century, medical archaeologist Janie Crowe struggles to find her way in the uncertainty following a devastating and uncontrolled world-wide epidemic. While doing research in London, she digs a meter-deep soil sample that contains a small piece of fabric, which unbeknownst to her contains spores of the bacteria Yersinia Pestis. This dormant microbe causes bubonic plague, not the present-day, treatable form, but the ancient, virulent from responsible for 25 million deaths in Europe. Her assistant Caroline Porter is accidentally infected with the disease and a series of disasters result. The two tales contain parallel characters and are set in parallel locations. Fourteenth-century Europe and its cast of medieval characters are accurately portrayed, and life in the future is imagined as if the standard medicine we have come to take for granted no longer works. Love, loss, and hope are recurrent themes in the lives of the main characters, both of whom must find their way in worlds they never dreamed they would live in. I sincerely hope you will enjoy it
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.
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