Eifelheim [Paperback]

The alien world of medieval Europe lives again, transformed by the physics of the future, by a winner of the Heinlein Award

Over the centuries, one small town in Germany has disappeared and never been resettled. Tom, a historian, and his theoretical physicist girlfriend Sharon, become interested. By all logic, the town should have survived. What's so special about Eifelheim?

Father Dietrich is the village priest of Eifelheim, in the year 1348, when the Black Death is gathering strength but is still not nearby. Dietrich is an educated man, and to his astonishment becomes the first contact person between humanity and an alien race from a distant star, when their ship crashes in the nearby forest. It is a time of wonders, in the shadow of the plague. Flynn gives us the full richness and strangeness of medieval life, as well as some terrific aliens.

Tom and Sharon, and Father Deitrich have a strange destiny of tragedy and triumph inEifelheim, the brilliant science fiction novel by Michael Flynn.

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

Eifelheimmay turn out to be the best science fiction novel this year. Stanley Schmidt

Eifelheimis one of those very occasl(