Eifelheim [Hardcover]

Michael Flynn (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 17, 2006

In 1349, one small town in Germany disappeared and has never been resettled. Tom, a contemporary historian, and his theoretical physicist girlfriend Sharon, become interested. Tom indeed becomes obsessed. By all logic, the town should have survived, but it didn't and that violates everything Tom knows about history. What's was special about Eifelheim that it utterly disappeared more than 600 years ago?
Father Deitrich is the village priest of Oberhochwald, the village that will soon gain the name of Teufelheim, in later years corrupted to Eifelheim, in the year 1348, when the Black Death is gathering strength across Europe but is still not nearby. Deitrich is an educated man, knows science and philosophy, and to his astonishment becomes the first contact between humanity and an alien race from a distant star when their interstellar ship crashes in the nearby forest. It is a time of wonders, in the shadow of the plague.
Tom and Sharon, and Father Deitrich, have a strange and intertwined destiny of tragedy and triumph in this brilliant SF novel by the winner of the Robert A. Heinlein Award.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. A present-day scientific odd couple who are longtime domestic partners, physicist Sharon Nagy and historian Tom Schwoerin, look into the fate of the Black Forest village of the title, which apparently vanished in the plague year 1348, in Flynn's heartbreaking morality play of stranded aliens in medieval Germany. Most of the narrative focuses on the consequences of the discovery in the 14th century by Eifelheim's pastor, Father Dietrich, of a crashed space ship carrying the "Krenken," horrific grasshopperlike aliens. Despite Inquisitorial threats, Dietrich befriends, baptizes and attempts to help the aliens return home. Flynn (The Wreck of the River of Stars) masterfully achieves an intricate panorama of medieval life, full of fascinatingly realized human and Krenken characters whose fates interconnect with poignant irony. Through human frailties, the very Christianity by which Dietrich hopes to save Krenken souls dooms them all. (Oct.)
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From Booklist

In the fourteenth century, the Black Death ravaged Europe. Most towns decimated by it were eventually resettled, except for Eifelheim, despite its ideal location. Mathematical historian Tom discovers this anomaly and an unexpected connection to his domestic partner Sharon's research in theoretical physics, which seems to be leading to a method of interdimensional travel. In fact, as Eifelheim's priest back then, Father Dietrich, relates, before the plague's arrival, an interstellar ship crashed nearby. The encounters between its passengers and the people of Oberhochwald, as Eifelheim was first called, reflect the panoply of attitudes of the time, from fear of the foreign to love and charity for one's neighbors to the ideas of nascent natural philosophy (science), and the aliens' reactions are equally fascinating. Flynn credibly maintains the voice of a man whose worldview is based on concepts almost entirely foreign to the modern mind, and he makes a tense and thrilling story of historical research out of the contemporary portions of the tale. Regina Schroeder
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: Tor Books; 1st edition (October 17, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0765300966
• ISBN-13: 978-0765300966
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.4 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (70 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #744,557 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

48 of 49 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Well written Science Fiction novel certain to win major awards, November 11, 2006

By 

WTDK "If at first the idea is not absurd, the... (My Little Blue Window, USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Eifelheim (Hardcover)

EIFELHEIM starts out as a puzzle; why did residents in Germany abandon their village after the 14th century and why hasn't the area ever been resettled? Cliologist (a math historian)Tom Schwoerin tries to crack the mystery at the heart of this hard SF novel by Heinlein Award winner Michael Flynn. A parallel story set in the 14th century details the events that led to Eifelheim being abandoned. We meet Pastor Dietrich an enlightened priest of the village, Brother Joachim a Franciscan friar who has issues with the wealthy and the various villagers of the city of Oberhochwald (as Eifelheim used to be called). We discover that somehow the town's disappearence may somehow be attributable to the Black Death that was roaming the countryside of Europe or something...far different. Somehow it may be tied into the accidently first contact between humans and aliens from another world.

Well written with the rich tapestry of the 14th century as its background (as well as the present day), EIFELHEIM may at first put you off because the hard science aspect of the novel really begins on the very first page. If you give it a chance, however, you'll discover a thoughtful, compassionate story with a rich mystery at its core.

Some readers may find the style to be a bit stiff and formal. I wouldn't say that Flynn has a breezy style as a writer but what he lacks in that area he more than makes up for in creating a detailed world for his characters to inhabit. I hadn't read much by Flynn before this novel but immediately dived into one of his earlier novels that I had purchased but didn't quite get around to reading.

34 of 35 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A deep read and another success for Flynn, October 20, 2006

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A reader (Marlton, New Jersey) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Eifelheim (Hardcover)

Like in his much-acclaimed "Wreck of the River of Stars", Flynn again displays his literary talent to blend plausible "hard" sf with humane themes, all with sophisticated, well-crafted prose. This time Flynn turns his considerable skills to historical fiction meshed with satisfying, complex speculative science. I was truly impressed how Flynn handled the sometimes incomprehensible world of the medieval with the deftness of Umberto Eco, and thoroughly managed to preserve the authenticity of historic characters faced with extra-terrestrial events. One of the best, most believable and unconventional treatment of a first-contact situation I've read. Flynn obviously did considerable and respectable research for this work, and the result is thought-provoking and intellectually satisfying. If you like shoot-em-ups, look elsewhere. Flynn writes for a different SF audience, and I'm glad he does.

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent science/historical fiction, January 2, 2007

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Kari Gritzan (San Francisco) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Eifelheim (Hardcover)

This is a fabulous book. It's part scifi, part historical fiction. Set in a small town in Germany in 1348, there's a bit of plague, a bit of aliens, and a whole lot of interesting history. I really recommend this book, even if you're not a fan of aliens (which I am not.) I got the book because I love historical/plague fiction. But it really all comes together in a very rational way. This book really captured me and took me vividly into small town Germany in the middle ages.

The aliens are brought into the story in a very natural way. And they end up...well...I don't want to spoil it. Some turn out to be very sympathetic, some not. The author really lets each alien being become their own "person", and that's a huge part of the charm of the book. It's not your usual "alien" story. Again, I am NOT a fan of alien stories, but these folk are made very "human", most of all through the wonderful narration of the local priest, Dietrich. He's the heart of the story, and combining a holy man with aliens from a distant world seems odd, but by this author's hand, it is made marvelous and believable.

If you enjoy historical fiction, and you enjoy stories about alien visitors, with a difference, I highly recommend it! It's extremely well written. I kept a German dictionary with me while I read, however I think a medieval German dictionary would be more to the point.

Definitely an unputdownable read, for me.