The “propulsive follow-up to emergency physician Miller’s imaginative debut, The Philosopher’s Flight” (Kirkus Reviews, starred review) finds Robert Canderelli Weekes as a rookie Rescue and Evacuation flier on the front lines of World War I in France.
He came to save lives, but has no idea how far he’ll have to go to win the war.
Thanks to a stunning flying performance and a harrowing shootout in the streets of Boston, Robert Canderelli Weekes’s lifelong dream has come true: he’s the first male allowed to join the US Sigilry Corps’s Rescue and Evacuation service, an elite, all-woman team of flying medics.
But as he deploys to France during the waning days of the Great War, Sigilwoman Third-Class Canderelli learns that carrying the injured from the front lines to the field hospital is not the grand adventure he imagined. His division, full of misfits and renegades, is stretched to the breaking point and has no patience for a man striving to prove himself. Slowly, Robert wins their trust and discovers his comrades are plotting to end the Great War by outlawed philosophical means. Robert becomes caught up in their conspiracy, running raids in enemy territory and uncovering vital intelligence. Friends old and new will need his help with a dangerous scheme that just might win the war overnight and save a few million lives. But the German smokecarvers have plans of their own: a devastating all-out attack that threatens to destroy the Corps and France itself. Naturally, Robert is trapped right in the thick of it.
The Philosopher’s War is the electrifying next chapter in Robert Weekes’s story, filled with heroic, unconventional women, thrilling covert missions, romance, and, of course, plenty of aerial adventures. The second book in a series “that grabs readers from its opening lines and doesn’t loosen its grip or lessen its hold all the way through” (Associated Press), Tom Miller again brings Robert’s world to life with unrivaled imagination, ambition, and wit.
About the Author
Tom Miller grew up in Wauwatosa, Wisconsin. He graduated from Harvard University and went on to earn an MFA in creative writing from the University of Notre Dame and an MD from the University of Pittsburgh. He is the author of The Philosopher’s Flight and The Philosopher’s War. He works as an emergency room doctor.
Industry Reviews
PRAISE FOR THE PHILOSOPHER'S WAR (BOOK 2)
"An even more propulsive follow-up to emergency physician Miller's imaginative debut, The Philosopher's Flight. A fantastic example of worldbuilding on a grand scale that combines cinematic action with historical accuracy to great effect. [With] Miller's concept of "empirical philosophers," nearly all women who practice a kind of magic that employs glyphs and sigils penned with silver chloride, not to mention a few more complicated potions, to enable healing, smoke summoning, and, most importantly, flight. Imagine Quidditch on steroids plunged into the First World War and you'll get an idea of what to expect here. Miller has accomplished something really grand here: Despite its lone fantasy element, this is a visceral war novel that blends into a twisty spy novel with brief interludes of heated romance between Weekes and his beloved Danielle Hardin, not to mention the quiet yearnings of Weekes' best friend, Essie Stewart, who secretly loves him. The combat is incredibly tense, the palpable tension between characters is genuinely authentic, and the character arc that changes Weekes from an eager young soldier to a hardened veteran is truly compelling."--KIRKUS REVIEWS (STARRED REVIEW)
