Rating: 
Summary: A tour de force of writing, imagination and research
Review: This is the first book by Patricia Anthony I have ever read and it will not be the last. What is so atypical about this story is/are the many genres covered - history, mystery, science fiction, religion - and each and every one superb. The novel is a virtual time machine (reminiscent of Carr's "The Alienist" in that respect). To step into such a "foreign" time and place - Portugal, the Inquisition, the pre-Industrail Middle Ages, the budding of science and the Renaissance and the resistance by the Catholic Church - do "Become" a reporter of those times is a task that few will undertake and still fewer accomplish well.The aliens remain at a distant, known through vague and illusive visitations and in the end, are in the end as mysterious as they were when first mentioned. The Jesuit hero, the man who assists the inquisition despite his own sins and inner thoughts, is as real as any character I have ever encountered. His lover is an altogether different person but incredibly attractive in her own right. The portrayal of a society mired in mysticism, ruled by an Iron Fist of religious zealotry, is intimate and just - even fair. The lives of people below the surface, beyond the public utterances of loyalty and fealty and devotion, is what attracts one to the many varied characters. The young Father Bernardo becomes a foil for all that is right and wrong with the Church of that age. The parallel story of the retarded King Alfonso and his brother Pedro meshes beautifully with the tale of aliens and unrelenting persecution by the Inquisition. In a brilliant move, the living machine of the aliens (the "acorn") imbues this retarded prince with advanced scientific ideas that he feels compelled to share. The ending finds one breathless with anticipation and dread, hopeful yet at the same time resigned to the inexorable chain of events that must happen. There is no intervention - either military, divine or alien. Things play out to a horrible but strangely satisfying conclusion. This is an incredibly vivid work, soaring and shocking and in the end, meditative.
Rating:
Summary: A tour de force of writing, imagination and research
Review: This is the first book by Patricia Anthony I have ever read and it will not be the last. What is so atypical about this story is/are the many genres covered - history, mystery, science fiction, religion - and each and every one superb. The novel is a virtual time machine (reminiscent of Carr's "The Alienist" in that respect). To step into such a "foreign" time and place - Portugal, the Inquisition, the pre-Industrail Middle Ages, the budding of science and the Renaissance and the resistance by the Catholic Church - do "Become" a reporter of those times is a task that few will undertake and still fewer accomplish well. The aliens remain at a distant, known through vague and illusive visitations and in the end, are in the end as mysterious as they were when first mentioned. The Jesuit hero, the man who assists the inquisition despite his own sins and inner thoughts, is as real as any character I have ever encountered. His lover is an altogether different person but incredibly attractive in her own right. The portrayal of a society mired in mysticism, ruled by an Iron Fist of religious zealotry, is intimate and just - even fair. The lives of people below the surface, beyond the public utterances of loyalty and fealty and devotion, is what attracts one to the many varied characters. The young Father Bernardo becomes a foil for all that is right and wrong with the Church of that age. The parallel story of the retarded King Alfonso and his brother Pedro meshes beautifully with the tale of aliens and unrelenting persecution by the Inquisition. In a brilliant move, the living machine of the aliens (the "acorn") imbues this retarded prince with advanced scientific ideas that he feels compelled to share. The ending finds one breathless with anticipation and dread, hopeful yet at the same time resigned to the inexorable chain of events that must happen. There is no intervention - either military, divine or alien. Things play out to a horrible but strangely satisfying conclusion. This is an incredibly vivid work, soaring and shocking and in the end, meditative.
Rating:
Summary: I cried
Review: This is the first book of hers that I read. I love books that instill some kind of emotional response and when the language used is superior to almost all other fiction I know that I have come across a great novel. What struck me most about this novel was that in the end the priest followed his heart and tried to save the woman he loved. I did cry and that's kind of weird. I wish the stuff we read in school had this kind of emotional power. I guess that not all writers have it.
Rating:
Summary: Oh, yes!
Review: What a fine (if lengthy) novel. High themes and low farce combine in this genre-busting book. It ain't quite science fiction and it ain't quite historical fiction, but who cares? I would guess that fans of this book will enjoy "An Instance of the Fingerpost," and vice versa.
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