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Summary: Keyes has clearly done his homework.
Review: For example, Newton's assistant for much of his alchemical work in our world really was his younger cousin Humphrey Newton, just as Keyes portrays him in the prologue. Fatio, the Swiss alchemist who really was Newton's associate and confidante for many years in our world, also plays a pivotal--but very different--role in Keyes' alternate world. (See the essays collected in John Fauvel's book <<Let Newton Be!>> for more biographical information on them. And Newton's comment about "the eagle" and "Jupiter" on the cusp of his discovery in Keyes' prologue is also fully authentic: see the Amazon.com readers' reviews of Dr. Betty Jo Teeter Dobbs' excellent study <<The Foundations of Newton's Alchemy or 'The Hunting of the Greene Lyon'>> for a hint of where it came from.
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Summary: Great work! Engaging, intelligent, and fun.
Review: Great work! Engaging, intelligent, and fun -- and it's well written
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Summary: Newton the Alchemist
Review: Historians of Science finally caught on to the fact that Sir Isaac Newton was an alchemist in the 1970s. In the 1990s science fiction and alternative history writers also caught on, and the result is this marvelous book! Newton's Cannon is the first book in the series, and I would highly recommend you start here and read them in order for maximum enjoyment.The book's premise is this: imagine Newton followed his two great passions (alchemy and physics), but that alchemy proved to be the winner! In Newton's Cannon you will enter a world that conveys the magic and promise of Sir Isaac's interest in alchemy, and transforms alchemy from a lamentable failure in the history of science to a prime mover in the history of civilization. Alchemy provides Newton and his followers with all sorts of magical-scientific tools (my favorite is the aether-schrieber) that change the course of history. As with most scientific developments, these stunning achievements have a dark side--the Cannon of the title--and this book moves the reader effortlessly from the Colonies and Benjamin Franklin to the England of the Royal Society and beyond. If you enjoy the history of science, sci-fi, fantasy, and alternative histories you will love this book. If you are interested in alchemy you will also love this book. Highly enjoyable!
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Summary: The most exciting book I have read in ages!!!
Review: History is a fascinating subject and all of the "what if's" are even more fascinating. In this very well researched and written book we are faced with "what if Newton's genius took him in another direction?" The characters of Newton, Franklin and Louis XIV are extremely well developed. The portrayal of Adriene and her delima of being a woman with a brain is a special touch I appreciate very much. It shows the author's sensitivity of the issues women have faced through history. I reccommend this book and cannot wait for the next one.
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Summary: The most exciting book I have read in ages!!!
Review: History is a fascinating subject and all of the "what if's" are even more fascinating. In this very well researched and written book we are faced with "what if Newton's genius took him in another direction?" The characters of Newton, Franklin and Louis XIV are extremely well developed. The portrayal of Adriene and her delima of being a woman with a brain is a special touch I appreciate very much. It shows the author's sensitivity of the issues women have faced through history. I reccommend this book and cannot wait for the next one.
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Summary: 'Way cool story; gets a bit flakey toward the end.
Review: I agree with the reviewer who pointed out that the story veers into the reckless and bizarre toward the end. This kept me from feeling the satisfaction of having read a truly great book of speculative fiction that the high quality of the opening and middle chapters had led me to anticipate. After adroitly sidestepping many potential cliches and stereotypes in developing the plot, the author tumbles into a couple of obvious sandtraps in wrapping it up. As I finished the book, I imagined the author's editor phoning him while he was working out the direction of the final chapters, and putting pressure on him to hurry it into print. The result is three-quarters of a five-star book whose ending threatens to give it feet of clay. I didn't like the ending much, but I still consider "Newton's Cannon" to be a good read, well worth your time and easily deserving the four stars I've given it. I also agree with the earlier reviewers who have noted with pleasure that Greg Keyes did his alchemical homework well. I especially enjoyed the "aetherschreiber" device, the masterfully-sketched underpinnings for its plausibility, and its pivotal role in developing the main plot. I would have preferred to see the story continue further along that trajectory and avoid degenerating into fast-paced "horse opera with magick" at the end. In particular, omitting the alchemical pistols would have helped the story a great deal. Without them, the author might have successfully resisted the temptation to turn the final confrontation in London into an unsatisfying "spy vs spy vs spy" caricature with overtones of Zane Grey. The French portion of the ending was better, but still leaned too heavily on Dumas for my taste. I did like the very last paragraph, though. It sent a chill up my spine as it detonated a couple of subtle landmines that had been laid quite carefully in earlier parts of the story.
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Summary: Incredible!
Review: I bought this book, simply because I needed something to read on a long trip. As soon as I started reading, however, I realized this was more than simply a way to kill some time. I read it during every free minute I had, and after finishing it, immediately started reading Book 2: A Calculus of Angels. Both were amazing stories, explaining mystical arts with mathematical formulae, something I had never seen done before. This series is a must-read for the scientific-minded and fantasy-lovers alike.
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Summary: A clever alternative history fantasy
Review: I finished this book and couldn't wait to go out and get book 2. The notion of presenting an alternative history in the context of a fantasy novel is very thought provoking. While certainly not necessary, if you have a basic understanding of contemporary physics, it makes the story all the more compelling.
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Summary: A clever alternative history fantasy
Review: I finished this book and couldn't wait to go out and get book 2. The notion of presenting an alternative history in the context of a fantasy novel is very thought provoking. While certainly not necessary, if you have a basic understanding of contemporary physics, it makes the story all the more compelling.
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Summary: Excellent piece of "alternative-history"
Review: I really enjoyed this book. Keyes's writing is simple yet elegant. You don't have to stop and think about the intricate ideas he has come up with. He makes it very easy to understand what his vision is and how a "device" or item functions and behaves in his world. Definitely worth the read.
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