MobileRead Forums - View Single Post - Free (DRM-free) The Just City by Jo Walton [Award-Nom Sci-Fi Philosophy Time Travel]

ATDrake · 08-01-2016, 04:07 AM

The Just City by Hugo & Nebula Award-winning Welsh-born Canadian author Jo Walton (ISFDB, Wikipedia, Science Fiction Encyclopedia), is the 1st novel in her eponymous Just City series of science fiction novels set in an alternate reality created via time-travelling Greek gods experimenting with Plato's ideas (Wikipedia), this installment setting up the premise with a cast of gods and mortals from various historical eras settling into life inside the supposedly ideal city, which is slated for an upheaval, free courtesy of Tor Books.

This is their featured free eBook of the Month club selection for August, and was nominated for the Prometheus Award for Best Libertarian SF Novel (Walton has previously won a Prometheus for her alternate history novel Ha'Penny).

Currently free, just through August 7th, directly @ the publisher's dedicated promo page (DRM-free ePub & Mobi bundle in return for valid email address, officially available to Canada & the US only due to publisher geo-restrictions)

Description
"Here in the Just City you will become your best selves. You will learn and grow and strive to be excellent."

Created as an experiment by the time-traveling goddess Pallas Athene, the Just City is a planned community, populated by over ten thousand children and a few hundred adult teachers from all eras of history, along with some handy robots from the far human future—all set down together on a Mediterranean island in the distant past.

The student Simmea, born an Egyptian farmer's daughter sometime between 500 and 1000 A.D, is a brilliant child, eager for knowledge, ready to strive to be her best self. The teacher Maia was once Ethel, a young Victorian lady of much learning and few prospects, who prayed to Pallas Athene in an ungaurded moment during a trip to Rome—and, in an instant, found herself in the Just City with grey-eyed Athene standing unmistakably before her.

Meanwhile, Apollo—stunned by the realization that there are things mortals understand better than he does—has arranged to live a human life, and has come to the City as one of the children. He knows his true identity, and conceals it from his peers. For this lifetime, he is prone to all the troubles of being human.

Then, a few years in, Sokrates arrives—the same Sokrates recorded by Plato himself—to ask all the troublesome questions you would expect. What happens next is a tale only the brilliant Jo Walton could tell.

08-01-2016, 04:07 AM	#1
ATDrake Wizzard Posts: 11,517 Karma: 33048258 Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: Roundworld Device: Kindle 2 International, Sony PRS-T1, BlackBerry PlayBook, Acer Iconia	Free (DRM-free) The Just City by Jo Walton [Award-Nom Sci-Fi Philosophy Time Travel] The Just City by Hugo & Nebula Award-winning Welsh-born Canadian author Jo Walton (ISFDB, Wikipedia, Science Fiction Encyclopedia), is the 1st novel in her eponymous Just City series of science fiction novels set in an alternate reality created via time-travelling Greek gods experimenting with Plato's ideas (Wikipedia), this installment setting up the premise with a cast of gods and mortals from various historical eras settling into life inside the supposedly ideal city, which is slated for an upheaval, free courtesy of Tor Books. This is their featured free eBook of the Month club selection for August, and was nominated for the Prometheus Award for Best Libertarian SF Novel (Walton has previously won a Prometheus for her alternate history novel Ha'Penny). Currently free, just through August 7th, directly @ the publisher's dedicated promo page (DRM-free ePub & Mobi bundle in return for valid email address, officially available to Canada & the US only due to publisher geo-restrictions) Description "Here in the Just City you will become your best selves. You will learn and grow and strive to be excellent." Created as an experiment by the time-traveling goddess Pallas Athene, the Just City is a planned community, populated by over ten thousand children and a few hundred adult teachers from all eras of history, along with some handy robots from the far human future—all set down together on a Mediterranean island in the distant past. The student Simmea, born an Egyptian farmer's daughter sometime between 500 and 1000 A.D, is a brilliant child, eager for knowledge, ready to strive to be her best self. The teacher Maia was once Ethel, a young Victorian lady of much learning and few prospects, who prayed to Pallas Athene in an ungaurded moment during a trip to Rome—and, in an instant, found herself in the Just City with grey-eyed Athene standing unmistakably before her. Meanwhile, Apollo—stunned by the realization that there are things mortals understand better than he does—has arranged to live a human life, and has come to the City as one of the children. He knows his true identity, and conceals it from his peers. For this lifetime, he is prone to all the troubles of being human. Then, a few years in, Sokrates arrives—the same Sokrates recorded by Plato himself—to ask all the troublesome questions you would expect. What happens next is a tale only the brilliant Jo Walton could tell.