What They've Been Saying about It's Real Life: An Alternate History of The Beatles (the novel)

"Paul is original his books and music are different than the norm -- they are clever!" -- Billy J. Kramer🎶

"a wild ride" -- Michael McLuhan 🎶

"now I’m desperate to hear songs from the Asimov/McCartney musical" -- Thomas MacFarlane, The Beatles and McLuhan and Lennon and McCartney: Painting with Sound 🎶

""I got so hooked that I stayed up way beyond my bedtime and read it in one go. It was not just extremely entertaining (I started looking forward to the Tom Petty phone calls) but also a nifty take on averting the grandfather paradox." Geoffrey Winthrop-Young, Kittler and the Media🎶

"Paul Levinson's It's Real Life is an incredibly unique and captivating peek behind rock and roll's mysterious curtain. The idea that the story delves into an alternate world adds to its page-turning intrigue. Highly recommended!" -- Steven Manchester, #1 bestselling author, The Menu 🎶

"brilliantly entertaining ... it’s no wonder this novel is such a transportive experience: it does exactly what our favorite songs do. It transports us, makes us remember, and wish ... you couldn’t find a better escape than Paul Levinson’s It’s Real Life." -- Anthony Marinelli, Amazon 🎶

"one of my favourite moments treats us to a Beatles concert in Central Park" -- Keith Soltys, Core Dump 🎶

"a fascinating tale of what could have been had John Lennon not been murdered ... a passionate celebration of a musical genius whose life was prematurely cut short ... a science fictional celebration [by] a master of speculative fiction and alternate reality, Paul Levinson" -- Chris Cosmain, Novikov Windows and The Amazon Anomaly 🎶

"Such a wonderful story! I grew up as a real science fiction fan and time travel and alternative history has always been a favorite SF genre of mine. The story offers such a speculative piece that keeps one thinking. A detective story mixed with all of this. Just a wonderful story. With synchronicity mixed into it and the mention of Roots of Coincidence, one of my favorite books from long ago. In many ways, a story for our times after Covid as many think we are living in some alternate reality or alternative history." -- John Fraim, Amazon 🎶

"What would you do if you came from an alternate reality in which John Lennon was never killed — and you became accidentally aware of our own universe? This excellent, eerie novel explores that question in ingenious style. It’s a page-turner with philosophical heft and a great sense of rock history (not to mention some surprise cameos by Lennon, David Bowie, Leonard Cohen, and other luminaries). Highly recommended for fans of Philip K. Dick and/or the Beatles." -- SVL, Goodreads 🎶

"Paul Levinson's It's Real Life is a page-turning exploration into that multiverse known as rock and roll. But it is much more than a marvelous adventure narrated by a master storyteller...it is also an exquisite (and absolutely non-didactic) meditation on the very nature of alternate history." -- Jack Dann, A Fiction Writer's Guide to Alternate History 🎶

=====================

Get the novel on Kindle, paper, or in hardcover here.

Science fiction sampler

Thanks Bob Hutchins for the soundtrack via Udio AI

It's Real Life: An Alternate History of The Beatles novel just published

 

To commemorate the 60th anniversary of The Beatles first appearance on the Ed Sullivan show, here is the long-awaited novel It's Real Life: An Alternate History of The Beatles, which started as the award-winning short story of the same name.

Just Published: Robinson Calculator

They're coming out into the open, for the first time in centuries ....




my new novelette ... not related to any fiction I've published before ... available on Kindle and paper 

The Life and Times of Phil D'Amato

I was pleased to find out today that my novel The Consciousness Plague - second novel in my Phil D'Amato series - is referenced in Damien Broderick's recently published Consciousness and Science Fiction.

Phil's had a pretty exciting life, since he first appeared in my novelette, The Chronology Protection Case, published in Analog Magazine in September 1995, and reprinted six times.   Here's a complete list of exploits, followed by a podcast episode, and photos and videos:

• 1995: "The Chronology Protection Case," Analog Magazine, nominated for Nebula and Sturgeon Awards, reprinted six times in: The Mammoth Book of Time Travel, 2013; The Best Time Travel Stories of All Time, 2003; Nebula Awards 32: SFWA’s Choices for the Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year, 1998; Infinite Edge (online magazine), June-July 1997; Supernatural Sleuths, 1996 
• 1996: "The Copyright Notice Case," Analog Magazine, nominated for Nebula Award 
• 1997: "The Mendelian Lamp Case," Analog Magazine, reprinted four times in: The Hard SF Renaissance, 2002; Ikarie (translated, Czech Republic), 2002; Science Fiction Theater, 1999; Year’s Best SF3, 1998
• 1999: The Silk Code, Tor Books, winner of Locus Award for Best First Science Fiction Novel of 1999 
• 2002: The Consciousness Plague, Tor Books 
• 2002: Jay Kensinger's short film of "The Chronology Protection Case" 
• 2002: Mark Shanahan's radio play of "The Chronology Protection Case," nominated for the Edgar Award 
• 2003: The Pixel Eye, Tor Books, nominated for Prometheus Award 
• 2007: The Silk Code podiobook, performed and produced by Shaun Farrell, in Top 20 Podiobooks of 2007 
• 2012: "author's cut" Kindle and Nook ebook editions of The Silk Code published by JoSara Media 
• 2013: "author's cut" Kindle and Nook ebook editions of The Consciousness Plague published by JoSara Media 
• 2013: new version of “The Chronology Protection Case” short film, with extended ending written by Paul Levinson and Jay Kensinger; on Amazon Prime Video 
• 2014: "author's cut" Kindle and Nook ebook editions of The Pixel Eye published by JoSara Media
• 2016: Rita Ora uses The Silk Code in her Tezenis campaign (see video).

Check out the Phil D'Amato page on Facebook.

Peter Brown Called

just published ...



Writing science fiction and songs have been two of my lifelong passions. This anthology combines them, with a selection of my science fiction and fantasy stories that has music as a theme, and my lyrics that deal with far-off suns, robots, and time travel.


Table of Contents 

Prologue 

 =stories= 

Marilyn and Monet 
The Harmony 
The Kid in the Video Store 
Ian, Isaac, and John 
Saving Lennon (from The Loose Ends Saga) 
The Suspended Fourth 
Sam’s Requests 
The Singing Pottery (from The Silk Code) 

 =songs= 

Evening's Evergreen Morning 
A Piece of the Rainbow 
The Lama Will Be Late This Year 
Alpha Centauri 
Lime Streets 
Tau Ceti 
If I Traveled to The Past 
 I Fell in Love with a Robot 
The First House on Mars

 =alternate equation #1=

Elvis, Ed, and Einstein

read an excerpt you won't find any place else on Speculative Fiction Showcase

In Defense of Michael Wolff: On the Ubiquity of Little Errors in Publication

I just saw Katy Tur grill Michael Wolff on the errors in his book, Fire and Fury.

Wolff correctly replied that there's no such thing as perfection in journalism.  I agree, and I would add there's no such thing as perfection in publishing, either.  No matter how carefully and studiously you try to avoid them, little errors crop up in all books.

I learned this a long time ago, as I pored over page proofs for my first book, an anthology of essays I had edited and published.  That was In Pursuit of Truth: Essays on the Philosophy of Karl Popper on the Occasion of his 80th Birthday, published by Humanities Press in the U. S. and Harvester Press in the U. K., in 1982.

Going over those page proofs - the last step before publication - I was determined that this book would have no errors, including no typos or misspellings.  In the last round of this work - I had gone through three sets of page proofs already, and had corrected errors in all of three - I found a single misspelling: the German word für - meaning "for" - was spelled fur, or without the umlaut over the u.
This might seem like a minor error, but in German, the lack of the umlaut back then was a flat-out misspelling.  (These days, the word is often spelled fuer, with the e taking the place the umlaut.)

So I sent this final correction back to the publisher.  I received the final corrected page proofs a few days later.  When I looked at the correction, I saw that rather than changing the fur to für, the fur had been changed to "for" (the English translation).  I of course immediately returned the page proofs so this new error could be corrected.  Well ... I went another three rounds, and each time I sent the page proofs back, they were returned with new errors, including one time with the umlaut above the o in for.

At this point, I realized I had found a fundamental source of error or noise in the universe:  in publications of any length, especially books, it's impossible to get perfection.  An irreducible amount of error is intrinsically part of the publication process.

And, indeed, that's held true for all of my books, including, for example, first edition of New New Media in 2009, where I corrected an error on the final set of page proofs, on the first page, only to see that the publisher in correcting that error inserted another error (left out a closing quote) on the same page.   If you have that first edition, you can see it.  The error was finally corrected in the second edition.

What all of this means for Michael Wolff and the press:  don't expect perfection in his book.  Expect truthfulness and accuracy to the best of his ability, and the ability of the publisher, which as far as I can see and tell is just fine.

Snowy Days and Libraries

looking out our front window a few minutes ago

New York City and points north, west, and south have "blizzard-like conditions" today.  I almost always like these days, because, hey, I'm a professor (at Fordham University in the Bronx) and we like the schools being closed every bit as much as do the students.  And with the Web, you have all the connectivity you need to the world, without going out of your house.   But it wasn't always that way ...

Back in the mid-1960s, I lived in the Bronx, was a student at CCNY around 137th Street in Manhattan, and I worked as a clerk at the George Bruce Branch Library on 125th Street in Harlem.  That was a trip in itself.  I often got lunch at a Chinese restaurant on Broadway, where 25 cents bought a big plate of chou mien, with tea, and an orange slice for dessert.  One of the librarians at the library was Ruth Delany.  When she discovered my love of science fiction - which I read every time I was on any kind of break - she told me about her son, Sam Delany, who was just starting out as a science fiction author.  Little did I know then he would be named Grand Master by the Science Fiction Writers of America in 2013, and I would have the privilege of participating in his selection, since I was a former President of SFWA (1998-2001).

But back to the snow.  More than one blizzard hit the city in the mid-1960s, one of them on a day I was supposed to work at the George Bruce Branch.   CCNY was closed, but the trains were running on a limited schedule, and the library was open.  It had to be.  In those days, although we all had radio and television, a blizzard meant no newspaper delivery, and nothing to read unless it was already in your home.  I called the George Bruce Branch.  Mrs. Delany wasn't in, but the librarian I spoke to told me to go to my local branch - the New York Public Library had intelligently decided that the best way to keep all its branches up and running in the blizzard was have its personnel - librarians (ran the library), clerks (checked out books), and pages (shelved books) - report to work at whatever branch they could walk to.  That, for me, would be the Allerton Branch, about a 10-minute walk from where we lived on Bronx Park East, right around the corner from my Grandma Sarah (who had moved to our neighborhood after decades on the Grand Concourse), and around other corners from my friends Jordie Axelrad and Paul Gorman (Gorman was in several of my rock 'n' roll singing groups back then - here's a home recording of one of our groups, The Transits (which I named after the New York Transit Authority, which ran the trains in those days), singing I Only Want You).

I knew the Allerton Branch well, and loved it.  I used to take every book they had on dinosaurs out for as long as I could.  And when Mrs. Dayson, the librarian at my Junior High School 135, banned me from the school library because all I ever read was science fiction (more details about this here, I should also mention that I dedicated the Kindle edition of The Consciousness Plague to Mrs. Dayson), I brought my wonderful reading obsession to the Allerton Library, and read every science fiction book they had on their shelves.   Indeed, it was there that I first encountered Isaac Asimov's Foundation trilogy, to this day still my favorite science fiction on the page.  (I wrote to him with my analysis of the trilogy, and he sent me this postcard with his response.)

So I was more than happy to go back to the Allerton Branch Library in that blizzard in the 1960s.  Looking back on that time now, it's clear that society had a sensitivity, or at least the New York Public Library did, that may no longer be with us.  The idea of having workers report to the local branches during the blizzard was brilliant - it kept the libraries open to the public on a day when they were especially needed, and they allowed people who worked at the library not to miss a work day and the pay that it brought.

Here's a toast across time to whoever came up with that plan.  And for everyone else - enjoy the snow, whatever you may be reading, and wherever you may be reading it.

Marilyn and Monet

Just published ...




It started in the hot summer of 1960, when Marilyn Monroe walked off the set of The Misfits and began to hear a haunting song in her head, "Goodbye Norma Jean" ...

Fake News in Real Context

Just published - Fake News in Real Context

This essay explores the historical and current context of fake news - with comparisons to government propaganda, and professional and citizen journalism - as well as what impact it may have had on the 2016 U.S. Presidential election, and what can best be done about it.



Skype lecture about Fake News delivered at University of Warsaw, 9 December 2016

Touching the Face of the Cosmos just published

Click here, and then on Look Inside, to see Table of Contents

#SFWApro 

right after my interview John Glenn, appearing in the anthology

#7 on Amazon Kindle Top 100 Science and Religion a day after publication

McLuhan in An Age of Social Media

Just written last Thursday - already #1 on
Amazon Computers and Technology Top 100

last updated 22 November 2016



This essay can be considered a new chapter in my book Digital McLuhan, published in 1999, or before the advent of Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and the social media of our age. Marshall McLuhan's ideas, including hot and cool, the medium is the message, and the tetrad, are applied to help us understand selfies, tweeting, iconic television shows such as The Sopranos and Mad Men, the Arab Spring, the U.S. Presidential election of 2016, and the Kindle revolution itself.

map for The Plot to Save Socrates

The Plot to Save Socrates  by Paul Levinson, original English

Romanian translation (by Nina Iordache):  Complot Pentru Salvarea Lui Socrate

Spanish translation (by Liliana Ganduglia):  El Complot para Salvar a Sócrates - on Kobo ... Barnes & Noble ... iTunes 

What they're saying about the novel...

"...challenging fun" - Entertainment Weekly

"Da Vinci-esque thriller" - New York Daily News

"...a fun book to read" - Dallas Morning News

"resonates with the current political climate . . . . heroine Sierra Waters is sexy as hell . . . . there's a bite to Levinson's wit" - Brian Charles Clark,Curled Up With A Good Book at curledup.com

"a journey through time that'll make you think as it thrills ... so accessible, even those generally put off by sci-fi should enjoy the trip." - Rod Lott, bookgasm.com

"Levinson spins a fascinating tale ... An intriguing premise with believable characters and attention to period detail make this an outstanding choice... Highly recommended." - Library Journal, *starred review

"Light, engaging time-travel yarn . . . neatly satisfies the circularity inherent in time travel, whose paradoxes Levinson links to Greek philosophy." - Publishers Weekly

"A thinking person's time travel story... I felt like I was there." - SF Signal

"This is a dazzling performance. . . .History as science fiction; science fiction as history." - Barry N. Malzberg

"... quick-to-read, entertaining treatment of the problems inherent in time travel with style and flair" - Booklist

"There's a delightfully old-fashioned feel to The Plot to Save Socrates. . . . Levinson's cool, spare style reminded me of the writing of Isaac Asimov. . ." - Colin Harvey, Strange Horizons

"Paul Levinson's new novel is both very different from anything he has done before and very satisfying. . . . This, I think, is the first of Levinson's novels to deserve to be called a tour de force. Watch for it on award ballots." - Tom Easton, Analog: Science Fiction and Fact

"it's exciting to see a book as daring with both its ideas and its approach to narrative structure as this one hit the shelves . . . It's an absolute treat to sit back and be wrapped up in a story that gives a retro SF premise like time travel such a brilliant new kick, and it's doubly delightful to find the story as fun and entertaining as it is thought-provoking." - SF Reviews.net

"proves that excellent entertainment can and ought to be intellectually respectable -- a glorious example to us all." - Brian Stableford

"...readers are sure to enjoy his take on the paradoxes of time travel" -BookPage

"Intricately and intriguingly woven, lots of fun, and extremely thought provoking." - Stanley Schmidt

"Paul Levinson has outdone himself: The Plot to Save Socrates is a philosophically rich gem full of big ideas and wonderful time-travel tricks." - Robert J. Sawyer

"as happens with Kurt Vonnegut's Billy Pilgrim . . . . the reader soon becomes unstuck in time . . . . Levinson presents one of the most unique books I've ever encountered. A highly recommended read." - Matt St. Amand

"Paul Levinson brings both intellectual heft and affection for his delightfully depicted characters to this highly original story of time travel . . . bringing all of its threads together in an ending that is emotionally satisfying and extremely moving. The Plot to Save Socrates will provoke thought long after readers have finished the book, at which point many may want to pick it up and read it again, to savor its twists and turns." - Pamela Sargent, SFWeekly

"Fast-paced and full of plot twists." - Davis Enterprise (California)

"an elaborately-reasoned temporal tale - a novelized thought experiment whose logic and ideas Socrates would have approved of" - John Joseph Adams, intergalacticmedicineshow.com

"a philosophically rich, engaging time travel story . . . a charming portrayal of Socrates" - Fantasybookspot.com

"a fun romp through 2500 years of Western history" - freshfiction.com

"I've never read anything like this before . . . The Plot to Save Socrates is highly, original, creative, and engaging. I enjoyed it from the first page." - Book.of.the.moment. at myspace.com/book_of_the_moment.com

"revels in the possibilities for paradoxes . . . . fresh and welcome" - Steven Silver's Reviews at sfsite

"frankly, he [Levinson] is one of my 'read on sight' authors . . . The Plot to Save Socrates is a tapestry of times and characters and philosophies, with an excellent look at history. . . ." - Jerry Wright, Bewildering Stories at bewilderingstories.com

"a very intelligently written novel . . . ." - GF Willmetts, at SFcrowsnest.com

"Paul Levinson handles a complicated plot and a multitude of characters in a manner that can only be described as masterful. . . . I highly recommend this book, and I won't be surprised if it wins several awards." - Scott M. Sandridge, specmusicmuse

"This book was a lot of fun, and surprisingly poignant at the end. (Yes, I'll admit I cried a little.) . . . I was worried this would be a fairly cold sci-fi book, where I never got to like any of the characters, but somehow by halfway through I found I really cared about them. I'm not sure how Levinson managed that . . . but somehow they all just got inside me." - Lady Amalthea, eharlequin.com

". . . a new metaphor for the literary tradition of time travel." - Robert Blechman, blogcritics.org

"Socrates has always seemed a rather dour and dull figure to me but Paul Levinson breathes new life into this time." - Debbie, ck2skwipsandkritiques.com

"an extremely engaging, entertaining story. . ." - Laurie Thayer, Rambles.net

"truly a thought-provoking, breathtaking, and highly entertaining novel." - Lysette Brodey, PerpetualProse.com

"The Plot to Save Socrates turns on its head Plato's report of Socrates' poisoning ..." - Gerry Elman, Esq., Stanford Alumni Blog

"Doppelgangers, deception, and the sheer amount of historical reference alone make this novel magnificant, but that is not all!... Paul Levinson has created a historical text for all ages, making the plot flow like wine and pleasing to even the most hesitant of readers." - Jenna A, luxuryreading.com

"I was hooked by the second page." - Kanti Burns, Book Reviews and More

"A lively cast of historical figures populates this epoch-bending adventure, highly recommended especially for fans of alternate history novels!" - Midwest Book Review

The State of my Short Fiction at the Start of 2015

Hey, I don't talk enough about my short fiction, which I enjoy writing every bit as much as my novels.   But it's been percolating along with publications the past few years, so I thought I'd provide a little summary of what's been going on and what will be happening in 2015:

• "Ian, George, and George" is the most recent story I've had published in Analog (December 2013).   It's the 3rd story in the "Ian's Ions and Eons" time travel series, and the 14th published in Analog over all.  I expect to be getting all of these up as Kindle ebooks this year.  I've already started with my 1997 novella,  Loose Ends, nominated for the Hugo, Nebula, and Sturgeon Awards.
• "The Chronology Protection Case," first published in Analog in September 1995, was reprinted for the fifth time in The Mammoth Book of Time Travel (July 2013), a best seller on Amazon. The novelette was the basis of The Chronology Protection Case short film made by Jay Kensinger in 2002, recut with a new extended ending in 2013.  You can also read it free on Wattpad.    It's being used again in 2015 as reading in an enlightened class at the College of Dupage in Glen Ellyn, Illinois.
• "Extra Credit" was published in BuzzMag - where it's available free of charge - in July 2012.  It was reprinted in December 2014 in the Altered States cyberpunk anthology, for which I also had the pleasure of writing the Introduction.  And it will be reprinted again, in Chinese translation by He Daokuan, in The Essential Levinson, 2nd edition, to be published in China in 2015 by Remnin Press.
• "Synchronicity" was published in Buzzy Mag, where it's available free of charge, in May 2014.
• "Sam's Requests" - the strangest story I've ever written - will be published in Buzzy Mag in a just a few days - January 9, 2015.  You've heard of space opera?  I consider this space rock 'n' roll, literally.   Mark your calendars.
• "The Wallet" - science fiction based on something that actually happened to me - will be published in the Sci Phi Journal early this year (likely February, in issue #4).  Here's what an earlier issue of this magazine at the intersection of science fiction and philosophy looked like.
• "The Kyss" will appear around Valentine's Day in Speculative St. Valentine's Day Drabbles, edited by Jorge Salgado-Reyes and Roy C. Booth, the same guys who put together Altered States.  At 100 words, "The Kyss" will be the shortest story I've ever had published - not that I believe in short kisses, but a "drabble" is supposed to be just 100 words.
• "The Last Train to Margaretville" is the first "shared world" story I've written.  It will likely be the last, because even though I loved writing it, I still like writing more in worlds of my total creation.   It was published in the Walk the Fire 2 antho edited and conceived by John Mierau in December 2013.  You can hear me do a reading of it here.
• And to end on a charitable note: I contributed two new stories, "Transfer of Power" and "The Chimps Shall Lead," to Something to Read, published in December 2014, a special charity anthology edited by Stella Wilkinson,  for which all proceeds go to a children's hospital in England.   Why England?  I do the like country and that's where the invitation came from.   Happy to do the same for an American charity, or for that matter, any charity on this or any other planet.

So that's the long of it about my short fiction, for now.  I'll try to keep this page updated, or maybe make these summaries a yearly thing.  Hey, I still love the long form, too - and below are six of my novels you can get in a heartbeat on Amazon.




thanks to Joel Iskowitz for illustrating the six above covers

What They've Been Saying about The Silk Code - in 23 reviews

Winner of the Locus Award for Best First Science Fiction Novel of 1999

What they've been saying about The Silk Code since 1999:

"As a genre-bending blend of police procedural and science fiction, The Silk Code delivers on its promises." -- Gerald Jonas, The New York Times Book Review

"As twisted as a double helix. " -- Wired

"D'Amato is an appealingly savvy character, and Levinson brings a great deal of invention to the endeavor." -- San Francisco Chronicle

"It is hard to put down, easy to pick up again, and an interesting read. " -- San Diego Union-Tribune

"Mixes up-to-the-minute biotechnology with ancient myth, science fiction with police procedure, and prehistory with the near future. It's an impressive debut." -- Joe Haldeman

"Forensic detective Phil D'Amato is one of my favorite characters, and the puzzles he solves are always imaginative, ingenious, and addictive, but Paul Levinson really outdoes himself this time in a mystery involving murders, moths, mummies, the Silk Road, poisons, fireflies, and forensics, all woven into a mystery only D'Amato could solve! A marvelous book!" -- Connie Willis

"This damn book has everything: interesting science, suspense, characters that live on the page - and that we like! -- and it debuts a new series hero, Dr. Phil D'Amato, forensic detective. I couldn't put The Silk Code down. I'll wager you won't be able to either. Oh, and this is the kicker: The Silk Code is Paul Levinson's first novel. " -- Jack Dann

"At last we get Paul Levinson's superb forensic sleuth, Phil D'Amato, in a full-length novel. If you know Phil from his previous appearances, I need say no more. If you don't, kick back and enjoy a mystery that spans the ages." --Jack McDevitt

"The Silk Code is an intriguing story refreshingly rich not only in action but in ideas. Seldom have I seen a story so engagingly weave together so many seemingly disparate (dare I say it?) threads." --Stanley Schmidt, editor ofAnalog

"Paul Levinson is an exceptional new writer, behind whose work stands an impressive body of knowledge and a great deal of human understanding. His first novel signals a writer to watch for the provocation and pleasure that he will bring to thoughtful readers. The Silk Code is smoothly written, evocative, and spicy! Highly recommended." -- George Zebrowski

"The Silk Code is a splendidly imaginative novel that explores worlds of ideas both scientific and philosophical, while carrying the reader effortlessly across countries, times, and cultures." -- Charles Sheffield

"The Silk Code is science fiction in the classic style, with an innovative mystery that breaks new ground. Acclaimed for his short fiction and insightful writing on the computer age, Paul Levinson now brings his many talents to a complex novel that will keep you guessing until the last page. " -- Catherine Asaro

"... sheer conceptual verve" -- Robert K. J. Killheffer, Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction

"...cerebral but gripping" -- Booklist

"Combining Neanderthals and mechanical looms, cantaloupes and coded butterflies, Levinson's debut novel...offers a flurry of amazing prehistoric technologies, demonstrating that the mysteries of our past can be just as fruitful as those of our future... Levinson creatively explains gaps in both ancient history and biology... providing more wonders than many a futuristic epic." -- Publishers Weekly

"...well-informed and imaginative" -- Kirkus Reviews

"...spins an ingenious web of genetic manipulation and anthropological evidence" --Library Journal

"A rare thriller that actually achieves its goals as a detective tale and a work of boldly speculative sf." -- Gary K. Wolfe, Locus Magazine

"I read this book quite a few years ago but I felt compelled to re-read it because parts of the story have been so firmly wedged in my brain that I needed to experience the entire thing again." -- Cannonball Read

"This is one I don't hesitate to recommend." - Jandy's Reading Room

"Paul Levinson's The Silk Code is inventive. I can't said I'd ever read another SF novel that included Neanderthals, bioengineering and the Amish." - Kristin's Book Log

"I found the genetic manipulation that Levinson describes absolutely fascinating." - Silk Screen Views

"I was entertained" - The Review Curmudgeon

more about Phil D'Amato here on Wikipedia

What They've Been Saying about The Plot to Save Socrates -- in 42 reviews

 

The Plot to Save Socrates is on 10 Perfect Summer Reads Authored by NYU Alumni list,  along with novels by Joseph Heller, Suzanne Collins, Candace Bushnell,  and Danielle Steel

What they've been saying about The Plot to Save Socrates, since 2006 ...

"...challenging fun" - Entertainment Weekly

"Da Vinci-esque thriller" - New York Daily News

"...a fun book to read" - Dallas Morning News

"resonates with the current political climate . . . . heroine Sierra Waters is sexy as hell . . . . there's a bite to Levinson's wit" - Brian Charles Clark,Curled Up With A Good Book at curledup.com

"a journey through time that'll make you think as it thrills ... so accessible, even those generally put off by sci-fi should enjoy the trip." - Rod Lott, bookgasm.com

"Levinson spins a fascinating tale ... An intriguing premise with believable characters and attention to period detail make this an outstanding choice... Highly recommended." - Library Journal, *starred review

"Light, engaging time-travel yarn . . . neatly satisfies the circularity inherent in time travel, whose paradoxes Levinson links to Greek philosophy." - Publishers Weekly

"A thinking person's time travel story... I felt like I was there." - SF Signal

"This is a dazzling performance. . . .History as science fiction; science fiction as history." - Barry N. Malzberg

"... quick-to-read, entertaining treatment of the problems inherent in time travel with style and flair" - Booklist

"There's a delightfully old-fashioned feel to The Plot to Save Socrates. . . . Levinson's cool, spare style reminded me of the writing of Isaac Asimov. . ." - Colin Harvey, Strange Horizons

"Paul Levinson's new novel is both very different from anything he has done before and very satisfying. . . . This, I think, is the first of Levinson's novels to deserve to be called a tour de force. Watch for it on award ballots." - Tom Easton, Analog: Science Fiction and Fact

"it's exciting to see a book as daring with both its ideas and its approach to narrative structure as this one hit the shelves . . . It's an absolute treat to sit back and be wrapped up in a story that gives a retro SF premise like time travel such a brilliant new kick, and it's doubly delightful to find the story as fun and entertaining as it is thought-provoking." - SF Reviews.net

"proves that excellent entertainment can and ought to be intellectually respectable -- a glorious example to us all." - Brian Stableford

"...readers are sure to enjoy his take on the paradoxes of time travel" - Glenn Grant, BookPage

"Intricately and intriguingly woven, lots of fun, and extremely thought provoking." - Stanley Schmidt

"Paul Levinson has outdone himself: The Plot to Save Socrates is a philosophically rich gem full of big ideas and wonderful time-travel tricks." - Robert J. Sawyer

"as happens with Kurt Vonnegut's Billy Pilgrim . . . . the reader soon becomes unstuck in time . . . . Levinson presents one of the most unique books I've ever encountered. A highly recommended read." - Matt St. Amand

"Paul Levinson brings both intellectual heft and affection for his delightfully depicted characters to this highly original story of time travel . . . bringing all of its threads together in an ending that is emotionally satisfying and extremely moving. The Plot to Save Socrates will provoke thought long after readers have finished the book, at which point many may want to pick it up and read it again, to savor its twists and turns." - Pamela Sargent, SFWeekly

"Fast-paced and full of plot twists." - Davis Enterprise (California)

"an elaborately-reasoned temporal tale - a novelized thought experiment whose logic and ideas Socrates would have approved of" - John Joseph Adams, intergalacticmedicineshow.com

"a philosophically rich, engaging time travel story . . . a charming portrayal of Socrates" - Fantasybookspot.com

"Levinson's prose is clear, concise, and a pleasure to read ... if you're a casual student of philosophy like me, you'll find the discussion fascinating." - Earl J. Woods,  The Earliad

"a fun romp through 2500 years of Western history" - freshfiction.com

"I've never read anything like this before . . . The Plot to Save Socrates is highly, original, creative, and engaging. I enjoyed it from the first page." - Book.of.the.moment at myspace.com/book_of_the_moment.com

"revels in the possibilities for paradoxes . . . . fresh and welcome" - Steven Silver's Reviews at sfsite

"frankly, he [Levinson] is one of my 'read on sight' authors . . . The Plot to Save Socrates is a tapestry of times and characters and philosophies, with an excellent look at history. . . ." - Jerry Wright, Bewildering Stories at bewilderingstories.com

"a very intelligently written novel . . . ." - GF Willmetts, at SFcrowsnest.com

"Paul Levinson handles a complicated plot and a multitude of characters in a manner that can only be described as masterful. . . . I highly recommend this book, and I won't be surprised if it wins several awards." - Scott M. Sandridge, specmusicmuse

"This book was a lot of fun, and surprisingly poignant at the end. (Yes, I'll admit I cried a little.) . . . I was worried this would be a fairly cold sci-fi book, where I never got to like any of the characters, but somehow by halfway through I found I really cared about them. I'm not sure how Levinson managed that . . . but somehow they all just got inside me." - Lady Amalthea, eharlequin.com

". . . a new metaphor for the literary tradition of time travel." - Robert Blechman, blogcritics.org

"Socrates has always seemed a rather dour and dull figure to me but Paul Levinson breathes new life into this time." - Debbie, ck2skwipsandkritiques.com

"an extremely engaging, entertaining story. . ." - Laurie Thayer, Rambles.net

"truly a thought-provoking, breathtaking, and highly entertaining novel." - Lysette Brodey, PerpetualProse.com

"The Plot to Save Socrates turns on its head Plato's report of Socrates' poisoning ..." - Gerry Elman, Esq., Stanford Alumni Blog

"Doppelgangers, deception, and the sheer amount of historical reference alone make this novel magnificent, but that is not all!... Paul Levinson has created a historical text for all ages, making the plot flow like wine and pleasing to even the most hesitant of readers." - Jenna A, luxuryreading.com

"I was hooked by the second page." - Kanti Burns, Book Reviews and More

"A lively cast of historical figures populates this epoch-bending adventure, highly recommended especially for fans of alternate history novels!" - Midwest Book Review

"I was rapidly drawn into this tapestry ..." - Kath Middleton, Ignite Books

"Cool stuff!" - Examined Worlds: Philosophy and Science Fiction

"This single timeline approach is more elegant and more convoluted than other theories, and Levinson handles it extremely well, jumping the narrative through twenty-five hundred years without missing a beat." - Greg Hickey, Socrates, Time Travel, and Donald Trump

In "one of my favorite novels, The Plot to Save Socrates by Paul Levinson ...  the recovery of a previously unknown dialogue of Plato prompts an engaging time travel story ... " - Zachary Fruhling Blog

"An adventurous story, where characters from the past, present, and future travel to different eras and cultures. They live their mundane lives there – talk, eat, fight, love, and die – while trying to bend history without destroying it." - Andrey Mir, Time Travel and Media Ecology, Substack

Loose Ends award-nominated novella now on Kindle - and sequels Little Differences and Late Lessons

Happy to announce that my 1997 award-nominated time-travel novella,  "Loose Ends," is now available on Kindle.   As always, you don't need a Kindle to read it - you can download a free-app for your laptop, tablet, or phone, right there at the top of the "Loose Ends" Kindle page.

The novella was actually triple nominated, for what may be considered the triple crown in science fiction awards.  "Loose Ends" was a Hugo nominee, a Nebula nominee, and on the short list of 1997 stories for the Sturgeon Award.

The story introduces Jeff Harris, who goes back in time to stop the Challenger disaster, but finds himself in November 1963, on the eve of the assassination of John F. Kennedy.

Michael Burstein, reviewing the novella in Tangent, observed that "Paul Levinson has taken the brilliant step of combining the emotional impact of two tragic American events ... But Levinson does much more. He creates a love story set against the evocative portrait of New York City."

*Note added January 11, 2015: Sequel to Loose Ends - "Little Differences" - just published.  
*Note added February 7, 2015: Sequel to Little Differences - "Late Lessons" - just published.




And here's Analog 1999 illo by Randy Asplund for "Late Lessons"

What if the Soviet Union survived into the 21st century?


If you're a devotee of time travel, you might also enjoy my Sierra Waters time travel trilogy, published by JoSara MeDia:




words by Paul Levinson, music and recording by John Anealio



Loose Ends cracks Amazon's Top 100 for Time Travel

Chronica - third Sierra Waters novel - now available for Pre-Order

Delighted to announce that Chronica - my third Sierra Waters novel, after The Plot to Save Socrates and Unburning Alexandria - is now available for pre-order as an ebook on Amazon.   (By the way, you don't need a Kindle to read an ebook - you can download a free Kindle app for any computer, laptop, tablet, or smartphone.)    It will be published on December 1 - Cyber-Monday - and its price will rise soon after publication.

Here's the first paragraph of Chronica -

Chapter 1

[New York City, 2062 AD]

Sierra and Max didn't have to wait too long to learn the change in the future their time in the past had wrought.   They arrived in New York City on November 20, 2062 – the 120^th anniversary of Joe Biden's birth.   It was not yet quite a national holiday, but it was noted in the press on every screen, where it was predicted that Joe Biden's birthday would indeed soon be a national holiday.  He had been the 44^th President of the United States, serving two consecutive terms, from 2008 through 2016.  The nation loved him for many reasons, most importantly because he had revolutionized life in the U.S. with the 200 mile-per-hour fast-rail system he had begun to install across America in his second term.

Delighted, too, that world-renowned illustrator Joel Iskowitz did the cover, and small-press JoSara MeDia will be publishing.   These two have been responsible for all the covers and publications of my science fiction novels in the past two years.

Chronica is an "engaging time travel story" - John DeNardo, Captivating Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror Reads for December, Kirkus


guide to the faces of real people in Chronica



words by Paul Levinson, music by John Anealio, demo by John Anealio