The Plot to Save Socrates by Paul Levinson

Paul Levinson takes a departure from his Phil D'Amato series with his newest book, The Plot to Save Socrates. It's 2042 and Sierra Waters is working on her graduate thesis on the development of the ancient Greek language when one of thesis advisors gives her a copy of what appears to be a lost Socratic dialogue. The dialogue appears to describe a discussion between Socrates and a mysterious visitor just before the philosopher is forced to drink the hemlock. The visitor appears to offer, using words that a person of 400 BC might understand, to take Socrates forward in time and leave a clone behind to die in his place.

Was this dialogue truly written by Plato or is it a clever forgery. Sierra isn't sure, but her advisor mysteriously disappears, leading into a secret society of time travelers. Who is truly behind the plot to save Socrates and what is his true motive? Is it even possible to save him? And, more importantly, does he even want to be saved?

The book is told in a nonlinear fashion that jumps forward and backward in time and from the perspective of character to character in each chapter. Some fans may find this a little confusing to follow, but Dr. Levinson manages to keep things fairly tight. He's also done his research on the period and the subjects. At 266 pages, the book is a short by modern SF standards, but the author crams a lot of information in those pages.

I found The Plot to Save Socrates very satisfying, not too long or pretentious, but also respectful of its subject matter. It neither insults the reader's intelligence nor tries to be above them.

Highly recommended.