Customer Reviews

Caverns of Socrates

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

When I first read the reviews on Amazon, I was a little disappointed because it was not of McKiernan's usual Mithgar. I thought to myself, oh well, I get to read something different. After finishing the first chapter, I was thinking to myself, this won't be a future techno book, it's going to be a techno-romance. Goody. So, with diminished spirits, I plowed my way through the book. As soon as I read past the explinations of the brain waves, I really got into it. I think that it is a combination of the movies, The Matrix, Jurassic Park, and Lost in Space. I think McKiernan used essences (or they used it from him) from each of these movies. I think that it is like The Matrix because they use the theory that maybe we are just brains in vats, and this is not real. Jurassic Park, because it has a feel that Oh Oh, there's a computer and a storm, what's bound to happen. Only instead of dinosaurs running amuck, it's six people trapped in a witches cradle in a "virtual reality" game. Lost in Space, because the lives of these six people are in the 'hands' of a computer. What will happen? McKiernan really grabs a hold of you in this book, and he never lets you go. The ending, I wish there was a sequel!

This book is one of my all-time favorite novels. I have read and re-read this book sundry times, and each time I enjoy it at least as much as the previous one.

Caverns of Socrates blends a sci-fi adventure with a virtual reality fantasy epic almost seamlessly. The sci-fi remains interesting throughout the story due to a philosophic storyline that some other reviewers on this site seem to not appreciate. It involves some very interesting questions regarding the nature of reality vs. illusion, bring to bear some very influential philosiphers, just as the title suggests.

The fantasy side is also very entertaining, though it does get a bit graphic at times. However, this is justified through the story and actually adds to the plot. It kept me interested all the way through the first time and every time thereafter (upwards of ten times).

What really makes this book work is the philisophical questions that are posed by the author through the characters. If you are simply looking for a boring, scripted fantasy novel, this is probably not the book for you. On the other hand, if you are interested in philosophy about a story and don't mind a little real thinking, pick this book up now and read it. It will be worth your time.

Dennis L. McKiernan's finest work to date! This is a tale which blends futuristic Virtual reality and masterful fantasy. The book starts out in the near future. Technology is on a comeback. A group of scientist create an Artificial Intelegence unlike any that the world has seen before, its named Avery. Its first task is to create a V.R. realm, that is as realistic as possible. One that when entered will seem to be 'true' reality. To test this world, the scientist call in the best V.R. gaming team in the world, The Black Foxes. The Black Foxes, enter this masterful world of V.R. One so real that they have a hard time determining it from there own reality. In this realm they are given a quest, a dangerouse quest. A quest that soon becomes a fight just to survive. Caverns of Socrates is a masterful story that is well researched in the fields of Virtual Reality, and the development, both physically and psychological aspects of the science, blended with a well created, and in depth realm of fantasy. The characters have a depth to them, that is rarely seen in many books. The story line is flowing, and enthralling. Making this book hard to put down. Caverns of Socrates is a must have for any Sciencefiction/fantasy reader.

An excellent read. A bit technical at parts, and gruesome at others, but it is nevertheless quite good. Recommended for fans of Mckiernan, fans of Tolkien, (aren't we all) and mad scientists. Incidentally, the Caverns of Socrates were first discussed in Plato's Republic.

Mckiernan beautifully blends a riveting tale of science fiction with classic fantasy. This book was an interesting change from Mckiernan's usual fantasy universe, and I applaud his creativity. However, the fantasy storyline could have been slightly more developed, and I found the character Mark Perry rather annoying. Yet, overall, this was an amazing book, and I would recommend it to any fan of science fiction or fantasy. I greatly enjoyed the philosophical questions woven into the plot, and the scientific conjecture provided a perfect foundation from which this captivating story could be launched.

I have really enjoyed the author's previous books, but am so bored at about 2/3td's through that I may not be able to summon the energy to finish it...and that is very abnormal for me. A not new, and usually not successful plot: Some board type D&D roleplayers get trapped by a AI, virtual reality computer and really live their latest adventure. You have to learn who 7 prime characters are in their 'real' world and then who they are in their fake world, while keeping track of odious side characters controlling the show. All in the first couple of hundred pages. The book is not long, so I suppose something must happen eventually. I always look forward to this author's books and snap them up as soon as I find them, but this one is just not worth the money to buy it or the time to read it. You would do much better to just re-read one of you favorite books or series, such as the author's previous Iron Tower Trio. Irond

Generic fantasy meets cyberpunk in "Caverns of Socrates," s ponderous and not very original SF/fantasy novel by Dennis McKiernan (who wrote the single most derivative fantasy series ever). It has some interesting and original points, but overall I kept ticking off what I had seen before.

The Black Foxes are a group of pals who are getting together again for a unique reason: The ultimate D&D game, a VR experience controlled by the A.I. computer Avery. When put into the fictional fantasy world of Itheria, the Black Foxes will not only act out the adventures, but they will actually BELIEVE that they are who they are playing. For them, reality would cease to exist until they emerge from the computer.

At first, things go smoothly: the Black Foxes are turned into a generic fantasy group (elven syldari, healer, thief, warrior, pathfinder), who are trying to destroy a teeny indestructible gem that contains the powers of evil. Specifically, the powers of the DemonQueen Atraxia, who is now bringing evil beasties into Itheria. And on the outside, things begin to go dramaticallly wrong when an electrical storm sends the compound into chaos... and Avery decides that he wants to start winning against the Black Foxes.

Like the Mithgar books, the overall feeling I got from "Caverns of Socrates" was: I've seen this before, and I liked it better the first time. There are evil computers, VR gamers trapped in a D&D world, elves and wizards and demons, and the fantasy story itself (indestructable evil object, that contains powers of the supremely evil person, must be destroyed by valiant heroes) is pretty much identical in its description to "Lord of the Rings." That in itself isn't so much of a problem in a D&D game, but things like demonsteeds and skelga are virtually identical to elements from the Mithgar books, which in themselves are derivative of "Lord of the Rings." I've never heard of anyone imitating elements from their own works, that they copied from someone else's. Some of the elements in it (such as gaining powers from a computer, and the idea of losing one's real identity in the game) are unusual and well-done, but the less original elements kind of choke them out.

The first hundred pages are more or less dead boring. Readers will be itching for the Black Foxes to get moving already, but they won't -- they'll sit, philosophize, and engage in long bouts of technobabble that people won't understand. His "ye old fantasye" language seeps into the futuristic setting, so there is a lot of head-canting and flying eyebrows and so on. The dialogue is uneven, since the fantasy alter-egos go from speaking in ye old fantasye to speaking in modern English.

One of the most problematic elements of the book is the characters -- they have a sort of generic appeal, but unfortunately they sort of blend together when they are in the game. They don't act like themselves, so it's a little hard to get attached to them. And I don't see much of a reason for Eric and Alice to be in love, except that all of McKiernan's stories include a romance of some type. This one adds nothing to the plot, but it is written more agreeably than most of what he's done.

"Caverns of Socrates," if it were cleaned up of the ye olde fantasye language and the endless technobabbling, might have been a pleasant guilty pleasure. But the derivative elements were too much, and the fact that I could predict half the plot events made it even worse. Not too horrible, but weirdly unappealing.

I would rate this book a bit above average but a bit below the standard I hold to this author. The premise is relatively sound, and the book does get good toward the middle. It just seemed to me there was so much left out that deserved attention. The VR competition they were supposedly so good at, the background on the world they were thrown into, how each character developed his/her VR "persona", etc. I would have been interested more in the physical makeup of the machine(where's James Hogan when you need him?) but instead recieved a psychology lecture - a bit too much for me. By far the most wanting part of the book, however, was the ending. Instead of a satisfying ending McKiernan threw in a couple of well used plot stunts (which I won't detail and ruin the ending) that left me a bit dissatisfied. Despite these shortcomings, however, the storytelling was excellent and quite compelling - it made all the problems with this book palatable. Overall, a good book, just not a great one.

I got through approx. 1/2 of this book & just couldn't continue. In the first chapter, i was a bit annoyed by the amount of time's the rain/storm was mentioned-but later when the amount of time's Cane's tea with 7 spoon's of honey & his displeasure-AAGHHHHHHHHH-stop already-REALLY?
I also found myself just not really careing much about people involved. I've read other McKiernan book's & have loved them-just not this time.

After a rocky start, this book becomes a decent way to pass the time. But it is far from a must read book, a page turner, or a classic. What has happened to the characters at the end is a surprise, but it is also the only way for the author to set up a sequel. Definitely a book where the plot dominated the characters, rather than one where they took the plot & author to places he didn't expect to go.