Reviews
“Carl Sagan meets Umberto Eco. . . .Bursting with pungent historical detail and Big Theme musings, this dense, provocative novel offers big rewards to patient readers.” —Entertainment Weekly
“Heartbreaking . . . .Flynn masterfully achieves an intricate panorama of medieval life, full of fascinatingly realized human and Krenken characters whose fates interconnect with poignant irony.” —Publishers Weekly, starred review
“Meticulously researched, intense, mesmerizing novel . . . for readers seeking thoughtful science fiction of the highest order.” —Kirkus, starred review
“Wonderful, mesmerizing.
A finely-written and deeply considered SF novel that deserves to stand with the classics in the field.” —Robert Charles Wilson, award-winning author of Spin
“Eifelheim may turn out to be the best science fiction novel this year.” —Orson Scott Card, author of Empire
“Eifelheim is one of those very occasional novels that you know early on you will never forget. A powerhouse.” —Jack McDevitt
“With a sure grasp of both speculative science and medieval history, Flynn compellingly weaves past and present together in a dialog of faith and science. With neat turns of plot and intriguing medieval and modern characters, this book, parts of which were previously published as a novella, belongs in even small libraries. Highly recommended.” —Library Journal, starred review
“Michael Flynn’s Eifelheim is a gripping
multi-layered masterpiece, which pulls off the extraordinary feat of
imagining a convincing first contact with aliens that might have taken
place in 1348, and adds an equally convincing account of the manner in
which the event might be rediscovered by a 21st-century historian. The
intricate detective story is supplemented by a heartfelt moral
commentary on the manner in which the contact was negotiated and the
crucial significance it retains, in spite of having been forgotten for
nearly 700 years.” —Brian Stableford
“Eifelheim is a truly impressive and enjoyable novel.” —Stanley Schmidt