Drawing comparisons to The Da Vinci Code and The Rule of Four, Jon Fasman's debut novel is a literary historical thriller about a reporter who stumbles across an international smuggling ring, stolen artifacts, and a mystery dating back almost a thousand years.
Critic Reviews
|
Outstanding
|
Kirkus Reviews
One of the year's most literate and absorbing entertainments.
|
|
Outstanding
|
Los Angeles Times Allen Kurzweil
A cabinet of wonders written by a novelist whose surname and sensibility fit comfortably on the shelf between Umberto Eco and John Fowles. [6 Feb 2005, p.R12]
|
|
Outstanding
|
Chicago Tribune Art Winslow
We are enamored of that Bright Lights tang of youth-facing-the-Real-World-for-the-first-time, which floats from the pages of The Geographer's Library like the scent of jasmine. [24 Apr 2005, p.C2]
|
|
Favorable
|
TLS: The Times Literary Supplement Michael Caines
Accomplished and highly entertaining, The Geographer's Library keeps the reader guessing - about how seriously it should be taken, as well as about the who, how and why of an eccentric old professor's death.
|
|
Favorable
|
The Globe And Mail [Toronto] Margaret Cannon
There is more than enough action and plenty of arcane references for the most adoring Dan Brown fan, along with some really good writing. [5 Mar 2005]
|
|
Favorable
|
Library Journal Barbara Hoffert
The ultimately supernatural aspect of the brotherhood didn't quite work for this reader, but otherwise this debut tells a terrific story--it's gripping, intelligent, and beautifully wrought.
|
|
Favorable
|
Washington Post David Liss
The Geographer's Library, in other words, is not only a genuine celebration of intellectual effort, it is also jarring in all the right ways.
|
|
Favorable
|
Booklist Brad Hooper
A generally admirable historical thriller.
|
|
Mixed
|
Entertainment Weekly Jennifer Reese
There's a grand underlying plot, but Fasman takes far too long stitching the pieces together, never achieving the momentum that makes The Da Vinci Code such a breathless read.
|
|
Mixed
|
PopMatters Patricia Storms
Fasman obviously knows a great deal about history, alchemy and the former Soviet Union, which are all key elements in the story, but he lacks that magical, elusive gift -- the ability to spin a seamless, gripping narrative that sustains a reader's interest over nearly 400 pages of text.
|
|
Mixed
|
San Francisco Chronicle David Lazarus
The material is uniformly interesting, but the structure of the book keeps the story from ratcheting up to a more exciting pace. Every time things get going, we take a break for yet another history lesson.
|
|
Mixed
|
The New Yorker
The novel is inventive and spirited but, like its protagonist, prematurely ambitious.
|
|
Mixed
|
Publishers Weekly
Appealing more to the intellect than to the emotions, the book is slowed by the catalogue-like descriptions of precious objects that close many chapters, while the protagonist, however likable, is often too nave to be entirely credible.
|
|
