The Physician's Tale [Kindle Edition]

Ann Benson (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

At the start of Benson's stirring fourth thriller to interweave past and near future (after 2002's The Thief of Souls), a bioterror attack by a cabal of fundamentalists known as the Coalition has decimated the U.S., and scattered bands of survivors struggle to keep going. The action then shifts from 21st-century America to 14th-century Europe, where the black death continues to ravage England and France. In both periods, Benson illuminates the challenges, physical and moral, that disease poses to her heroes—Dr. Janie Crowe in the near future, and Dr. Alejandro Canches in the past—as they each attempt to protect their loved ones and stay true to their professional ethics. While the plot twist connecting the two eras may strike some as a bit much, readers will be pleasantly reminded of similar works by P.D. James and John Christopher. (Nov.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

In her ambitious 1997 debut, The Plague Tales, Benson rendered intriguing parallel narratives--one set in twenty-first-century America in the wake of a global epidemic, the other in Europe during the plague-ridden era of King Edward III's reign. Each tale revolved around a physician who displayed courage and intelligence in the face of devastation and disease. In this compelling, if uneven, third installment (afterThe Burning Road, 1999), Benson's protagonists face a new slew of challenges and threats. Doctor Janie Crowe and her husband, Tom, unite with a scattering of survivors in a modern world nearly decimated by a bacteriological attack. Some seven centuries earlier, Jewish physician Alejandro Canches heals the sick and conspires in the escape of King Edward's illegitimate daughter, Kate, who Canches once rescued and raised as his own. What yokes the two plots are the secrets housed in Doctor Canches' medical journal--now in Janie's possession. Benson's apocalyptic scenario is much overshadowed by her fourteenth-century yarn, which features romance, intrigue, and a lively role for poet Geoffrey Chaucer. Allison Block
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Format: Kindle Edition
• File Size: 415 KB
• Publisher: Delacorte Press (November 28, 2006)
• Sold by: Random House Digital, Inc.
• Language: English
• ASIN: B000MAH7H2
• Text-to-Speech: Enabled
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars excellent science fiction tale, December 3, 2006

By 

Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews
(#1 Hall OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Physician's Tale (Hardcover)

With the pandemic destruction over the last eight years of the DR SAM bacteria, few safe havens remain on the North American continent. One such place is a small sanctuary in Massachusetts founded by married couple Janie Crowe and Tom Macalester. They are still safe for now but both realize that the deadly disease is still spreading and could reach them at any time.

Janie studies the seemingly valuable journal of fourteenth century physician, Alejandro Canches, who explains how as the medical practitioner at Windsor Castle, he battled the bubonic plague ravaging Europe and threatening to do likewise to England. She believes the elixir to stopping this modern day plague lies in the journal that claims communication between then and now. At the same time, Tom and others collect specimens and survivor information from those living outside their Massachusetts colony while these aliens demand medical help especially from Janie.

Meanwhile back in medieval times Alejandro and the son of his foster daughter Kate live in hiding. However, King Edward III has decided to acknowledge that Kate is his offspring and will marry mean-spirited de Coucy. Only the king's secretary Geoffrey Chaucer can save Kate from a terrible fate but he fears intervention.

This is an excellent science fiction tale in which two medical practitioners six hundred plus years apart and their friends and loved ones are at war against a deadly enemy the plague. The two prime subplots are fast-paced as in each era the clock is ticking away while the heroes struggle to save the day. Fans will want to read the previous related novels (see THE BURNING ROAD and THE PLAGUE TALES) and Ann Benson's other works (see THIEF OF SOULS) as few if any authors offers better comparative eras (historical vs. present) than this author consistently provides in her multifaceted thrillers.

Harriet Klausner

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Coalitions, February 15, 2008

By 

Linda Pagliuco "katknit" (CT, United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: The Physician's Tale (Mass Market Paperback)

Ann Benson carries us further along the way in her series about biomedical disasters and terrorism. Part sci-fi and part historical fiction, these books center upon the adventures and work of 2 sets of interrelated people, one medieval and one modern. There was plenty of time travel in the previous novels, but Physician's Tale has introduced a new and different method of connecting the two stories - cloning. Now, both sets of protagonists are living in comparatively primitive conditions. Modern MD Janie Crowe, her young son Alex, and the members of her survivors' "cell" are struggling to exist precariously in Massachusetts, in a time not too distant from today, where society and technology as we know it have been decimated by malevolent, highly organized bio-terrorists. Back in the middle ages, Alejandro, also a physician, and his adoptive daughter Kate must find a way to reunite despite dangers from disease, anti-Semitism, and the King's men.

While The Physician's Tale is an engaging adventure, it lacks the sharp edge of its forerunners. An interesting twist is the inclusion of a pre-Canterbury Tales Geoffrey Chaucer, and I'll leave you to guess who is his muse. Nevertheless, the tales of Ann Benson are engrossing, and this latest one is a stark warning about the dangers threatening our world today.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Read Ann Benson's other books first for full enjoyment!, April 23, 2007

By 

K. KRAUS "librianne" (cleveland, ohio) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Physician's Tale (Hardcover)

The third in a series of books with 2 storylines, the Plague in 14th century Europe and a devastating fictional epidemic set in the current time,The Physician's tale is another fascinating read from Ann Benson. The books in the series are The Plague Tales, The Burning Road and now, The Physician's Tale. Characters from another Benson book, Thief of Souls, which is not part of the series are also present in The Physician's Tale. These books are all fascinating, albeit lengthy, so read on!