The Just City
Jan 2015 · Thessaly Book 1 · Macmillan + ORM
4.6star
8 reviewsreport
eBook
369
Pages
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About this eBook
The goddess Athene attempts to create a utopia with robots and time travelers in this science fiction fantasy by a Hugo and Nebula Award–winning author.
“Walton’s no-nonsense prose and dialogue are the kind of thing I can read anywhere, in any situation, and fall into a world of intelligent people speaking to each other intelligently in interesting ways. . . . Brilliant, compelling, and frankly unputdownable.” —NPR
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 unguarded 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 . . .
“A remarkable novel of ideas. . . . Superb.” —Booklist (Starred Review)
“A brilliant and haunting meditation on utopia, power, and consent—with deeply engaging characters and consummately clever world-building. Jo Walton has given us another winner.” —Susan Palwick
“Walton’s no-nonsense prose and dialogue are the kind of thing I can read anywhere, in any situation, and fall into a world of intelligent people speaking to each other intelligently in interesting ways. . . . Brilliant, compelling, and frankly unputdownable.” —NPR
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 unguarded 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 . . .
“A remarkable novel of ideas. . . . Superb.” —Booklist (Starred Review)
“A brilliant and haunting meditation on utopia, power, and consent—with deeply engaging characters and consummately clever world-building. Jo Walton has given us another winner.” —Susan Palwick
Ratings and reviews
4.6
8 reviews
Vicki
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22 August 2016
Absolutely loved this book. It has everything I've been looking for. A dystopian society, Greek gods, a dash of sci-fi, and it focuses more on platonic love instead of romantic. The book is thought provoking, having consider your own view at every turn. It may not griping, where you can't put the book down, but it was a delight to read
1 person found this review helpful
R N
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15 July 2016
If you have read Plato, and could not decide if you wanted to argue with the characters or just punch them in the face, this is the book for you. Delightfully philosophical while being far more grounded in reality than most philosophers ever manage. Excellent.
1 person found this review helpful
Lauren Kennedy
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29 March 2019
Love this series. Not one to reread books, but I come back to this series again and again.
About the author
JO WALTON won the Hugo and Nebula Awards in 2012 for her novel Among Others. Before that, she won the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer, and her novel Tooth and Claw won the World Fantasy Award in 2004. The novels of her Small Change sequence—Farthing, Ha'penny, and Half a Crown—have won acclaim ranging from national newspapers to the Romantic Times Critics' Choice Award. A native of Wales, she lives in Montreal.
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