The Plot To Save Socrates is a novel by Paul Levinson. It was edited by David G. Hartwell and published by Tor Books, an imprint of Tom Doherty Associates. The first edition appeared in February 2006, and it is now in its third printing. The book is 266 pages in length, containing 11 chapters. A trade paperback edition was released on February 20, 2007.

Summary

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

The Plot To Save Socrates deals primarily with the concept of time travel, and while the novel rarely discusses time travel directly, it poses several questions about its validity and possibility (or lack thereof). The story begins in Athens Greece in 2042 with the main character, Sierra Waters, thinking to herself, at which point the rest of the story begins as a flashback (both in her head and in the sense that the characters constantly flash in and out of historic eras). Sierra Waters, a graduate student, receives a copy of a previously unknown dialogue in which Socrates is being offered an escape from his death sentence in ancient Athens by a person (named Andros) offering to take him into the future and leave a clone behind. The document appears to be genuine, and this takes Sierra onto a path that leads her to a time traveling adventure of her own. On her path she meets up with the great historic inventor Heron of Alexandria but soon realizes that Heron is a suspicious character himself. The story tangles itself a bit as more and more characters appear to be intertwined with each other and on occasion even the same person at different points in life. However, the novel ultimately untangles itself, somewhat satisfying the plot's plausibility although leaving unanswered any deeper metaphysical qualms the reader might have. The story also involves Plato, Alcibiades, publisher William Henry Appleton, as well as several fictional characters. There are scenes across time, placed in the Ancient Library of Alexandria, Victorian New York City, and Roman London.

Links

• Paul Levinson's Home Page
  
• Review of The Plot to Save Socrates on "sfreviews.net"
  
• Review of The Plot to Save Socrates on "Curled Up with a Good Book"
  
• Review of The Plot to Save Socrates on "sfsignal.com", February 2007