A Calculus of Angels (The Age of Unreason, Book 2) [Paperback]

J. Gregory Keyes (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 30, 1999

Newton's Cannon, the critically acclaimed first volume in J. Gregory Keyes's Age of Unreason series, brilliantly combined the best of alternate history, fantasy, and science fiction in a bravura reimagining of the tempestuous eighteenth century. Now, Keyes triumphantly adds to his masterpiece in the making . . .

A CALCULUS OF ANGELS

1722: A second Dark Age looms after the devastating impact of an asteroid, unnaturally drawn to Earth by dire creatures who plot against the world of men. Yet this destruction is just the opening salvo in a war of annihilation.

Sir Isaac Newton and his young apprentice, Benjamin Franklin, have taken refuge in ancient Prague, seeking the secrets of the aetheric beings whose vast powers and new sciences have so nearly destroyed humanity . . . yet who may prove to be its last, great hope.

But their safety is tenuous, as Peter the Great marches his unstoppable forces across Europe. And half a world away, Cotton Mather and Blackbeard the pirate lead a party of colonial luminaries back across the Atlantic to discover what has befallen the Old World. With them sails Red Shoes, a Choctaw shaman whose mysterious connections to the invisible world warn him that they are all  moving toward a confrontation as violent as it is decisive . . .

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

What if Isaac Newton had discovered that alchemy works? J. Gregory Keyes has based his Age of Unreason series on an alternate 18th century shaped by a "science" that grew from Newton's discovery of "philosopher's mercury," which "can transmit vibrations into the aether" and thus "alter the states and composition of matter." In A Calculus of Angels, Keyes continues the tale he began in Newton's Cannon. It's a satisfying sequel that nevertheless leaves the reader impatient for the next book.

Two years have passed since the asteroid struck. The weather is unnaturally cold, the skies perpetually overcast. England is devastated, the French government has collapsed upon the death of Louis XIV. Peter the Great, now inspired by the guardian spirit who preserved Louis, has marched his armies westward into the Netherlands and France. In the New World, the abandoned colonists send a delegation including Blackbeard, Cotton Mather, and a Choctaw shaman named Red Shoes to find out what's happened. In Prague, Newton and his apprentice, Ben Franklin, seek to protect the city from aetheric attack. The mathematically gifted Adrienne de Montchevreuil is also back and expanding her knowledge of the mysterious malakim who inhabit the aether and menace mankind.

Keyes creates a very believable mixture of history, fantasy, and plausibly imagined historical characters. Each book has been exciting, suspenseful, and beautifully written. No admirer of alternate history should miss this series. --Nona Vero

Review

"The opening blast of his planned Age of Unreason trilogy is powerful enough to make readers grab Book 2, A Calculus of Angels, when it arrives."
--USA Today

"A NEW MYTH-MAKER, A NEW STAR OF THE FANTASY GENRE HAS ARRIVED. Like Ursula LeGuin in the '60s, John Varley in the '70s, and Orson Scott Card in the '80s, author J. Gregory Keyes may well be the leading fantasy writer of the 1990s."
--BookPage

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Product Details

• Paperback: 416 pages
• Publisher: Del Rey; 1st edition (March 30, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0345406079
• ISBN-13: 978-0345406071
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.1 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,859,747 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A twisted look at history through Ben Franklin's eyes!, October 10, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: A Calculus of Angels (The Age of Unreason, Book 2) (Paperback)

One of the most imaginative stories I've read in years, combining 18th century history & its well-known characters with magic. This is actually the 2nd book in a series (Newton's Cannon being the first), & continues the story of Ben Franklin & Issac Newton after the destruction of England by an astroid. "Calculus" brings Cotton Mather, Edward Teach (aka Blackbeard the Pirate) & a Choctaw named Red Shoes together on a quest to find out what happened to England. Ships sent previously have never returned & none have arrived from England in 2 years. Meanwhile, Ben Franklin & Issac Newton are in Prague working on such things as magic shoes & trying to avoid the various armies that are battling each other in the absence of an English power. The remaining core characters in this fascinating story, the former mistress of Louis XIV & her former French guard, escape from one villain & into the hands of another (Peter the Great). All of these characters come together, through various twists & turns & interesting revelations, in the end. Of course, the ending will lead to another book, but find out for yourself. It's a great read, but you might want to start with "Newton's Cannon" first.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Picaresque, but precise, leaves you hungry for more., April 20, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: A Calculus of Angels (The Age of Unreason, Book 2) (Paperback)

Very "visual", scenic settings employed by Mr. Keyes, his episodic novels (Part One and Two) keep three, sometimes four plots together in a tight, page-turning, narrative. Dialog is somewhat more stiff, and a bit less plausible, but at least it doesn't get in the way. The characters very well delineated, Newton comes off as cantankerous, aloof, and obsessive as he probably was. Blackbeard is like every schoolboy's pirate fantasy. Some of the other characters, the Venetian Riva, for instance, seem to be drawn from life. There's message and moral here, too: all the classical stuff, hubris as the cause of downfall, redemption through love; oh yes, and Mr. Keyes seems to be making the historical point that the vaunted "Age of Reason" was not all it's cracked up to be in the history books, since if they had possessed a powerful science (like ourselves), they might have plunged the world into a deeper chaos than our much-abused 20th century.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Okay book -- horrible, typo-ridden Kindle transfer!, November 25, 2009

By 

Paul Rogers (Austin, TX USA) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: A Calculus of Angels (Kindle Edition)

This review is specifically for the Kindle edition. The story and writing merit 3 or 3 1/2 stars, but I'm putting in 1 star to protest the horribly sloppy Kindle transcription. This transfer is absolutely riddled with typos, with at least 2 or 3 per page, constantly distracting from enjoyment of the book as you try to parse words mushed together without spaces, letter "I" replaced with "1" and with "/", the word "you" turned to "vou", "gou", "yot" and a dozen other permutations. For me, the Kindle will cease to be a viable reading format if this level of sloppiness becomes common in transfers.