Really good books grab hold of you and don’t let you go, even after you close the cover. I have a feeling this one is going to stick with me for a while. It is not at all what I expected. As the description indicates, it’s part alternative history of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, particularly the beginning of WWI, and part coming-of-age story for Robert Weekes, a male skilled in a female dominated branch of science/magic. The world Tom Miller creates is richly detailed and his empirical philosophy is well thought out and intriguing. But I think what really makes the biggest impression is Robert’s experiences of sexism, harassment, and discrimination as a male who dares to dream of becoming part of Rescue & Evac for the Sigilry Corps - the best of the best of traditionally women. This flipping of typical gender roles and experiences shines an even brighter spotlight on the evils of such behavior because it’s so unexpected. If this were another tale of a woman fighting a rigged-for-men system, I don’t think readers would pay as much attention, sad to say.

More than the history and more than sci-fi/fantasy, this really is Robert’s story of leaving home, attending college, and experiencing life and love. There were times when the story seemed to drag, but there were also times when I just couldn’t read fast enough to find out what would happen next. The full cast of characters are wonderful and I wouldn’t be at all surprised to see a sequel come out in a year or two. I would certainly be willing to read it.

A totally engrossing read that smoothly sets the scene in a magical and tumultuous America, with vivid, endearing, and complex characters.

A fun, frolicking fantasy with an alternative history that intrigues and excites.

Robert Weekes is a practitioner of empirical philosophy in WWI America in this fresh new fantasy novel. Empirical philosophy is a branch of magic used to summon smoke and wind, heal the injured, and fly - and Robert is unusual because this branch of magic is normally and predominately performed by women. After an accident involving his infamous philosopher mother, Robert journeys to Radcliffe School, formerly an all-female college, to hone his skill.
In this funny, well-paced coming of age fantasy, Robert faces the trials of being one of the only men in an all female profession with wit and grit, and bonds with a motley cast of characters that will make the reader smile, sigh in frustration, and keep the pages turning long into the night.

Thanks to NetGalley, Tom Miller, and Simon & Schuster for an ARC of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

Robert “Boober” Weekes is one of a few male philosophers. His mother is a famous war veteran transporter, and he aspires to become the same, despite the limited capability of his gender.
This book was fun, despite how harsh the gender politics came across during the first half. Eventually, the alternate history/reality unfolds and makes sense.

Recommend! Thanks to Netgalley for access to the advance copy in exchange for a non biased review.

All his life, Robert has admired the valiant ladies of the US Sigilry Corps (his mother chief among them) who use their magic to airlift soldiers out of harm's way. However, even with America finally entering the Great War, they'll never be desperate enough to allow a man into their ranks: the most skilled man is merely mediocre at empirical philosophy. A heroic response to calamity earns him a spot at Radcliffe College, where he must fight tooth-and-nail to defend himself as well as the role of sigilry in American society. Fantastic world-building, with a level of detail that really sells this gender-upending alternate history. More, please!

This book ended up being way more than I expected for a debut novel! The story was fascinating and very well-written. And Tom Miller did such a fantastic job of entwining his story with true history that I found myself getting caught up in the narrative and asking, “Wait, did that really happen?”
Miller managed to spin a tale that both entertains and calls out those who would be prejudiced against their fellow man (or woman) for whatever reason, rather than taking them on their own merits. He turns both sexism and religious intolerance on their heads to expose their useless underbellies, all while creating an alternate history that is seamlessly written.
I laughed, I cheered, I teared up, I wanted to scream at the characters…all signs of a well-crafted story. Do yourself a favor and pick up a copy of The Philosopher’s Flight by Tom Miller when it is released by Simon & Schuster on February 13, 2018.
Many thanks to Simon & Schuster for the advanced copy of this novel for review purposes. I was not required to give a positive review. All opinions are my very own!

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I wasn't sure what to expect from The Philosopher's Flight, but the premise piqued my interest enough that I decided to take a chance. I'm glad I did!

The premise -- sort of an American alternate history version of Harry Potter set in WWI-era New England -- is interesting enough. But the magic system has one major twist: the primary practitioners are women, and they are much, MUCH better at it than men. That turns the tables a bit on the usual "woman makes it in a man's world" trope and kept my interest on Robert and what happens to him throughout the book.

The world building is very good, and Tom Miller seems to know how to write good women characters. I confess, I sometimes seemed to recognize a touch of "Gary Stu" in our dear Boober as he progresses through Radcliffe College and discovers that he's one of the most powerful male magicians ("philosophers") in the world. The specter of World War I hovers in the background of this novel throughout -- men (and women) are dying in the trenches, and philosophy is used as much for warfare as it is in keeping the peace.

However, even as Robert seems to progress alongside the best of Radcliffe's women in his quest to join the prestigious Rescue and Evacuation Service, he seems to hit the ceiling of his own ability; no matter what he does the best women philosophers will always be much, much better than he'll ever be. Therefore, the central question in the book becomes less "can Robert unlock his potential" and becomes more "can his best ever be good enough"?

Without spoiling the story, there is conflict, there is love, and there is heartbreak. It all adds up to a compelling first novel for Mr. Miller. I hope he is able to write more books in this world, since although the book ends with a satisfactory conclusion, I suspect that this isn't the end of Robert Weeke's story. At least I hope not.

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What the heart loves, the will chooses and the mind justifies.
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The epigram appears as a chapter heading, but is as good a description of the substance of this highly original, utterly fascinating bit of alt-history as any I could come up with... In Robert's world, women have all the strength - the philosophical, magical, strength. Or so common parlance understands things - and the world spins accordingly. Or does it? This is an absolute delight of a story, full of power struggles and personal growth and difficult relationships - and magic. Lots of cool, magically realistic, magic. And the magic isn't *just* the kind that lets Robert and his mother fly - it's also the literary kind, which allows the reader to fly right along with them...

Tom Miller is a genius at blending steampunk-like magical tech into a world-coming-of-age story that combines real history with perfectly manipulated bits of story-history that keep things rolling along until - BAM! - they slam up against an obstacle, psychological or physical, that forces the characters and the reader to flip everything they thought they knew on their heads and shift on a dime. To use one of my favorite images, it's tap-dancing amongst landmines and it makes for an utterly compelling and engaging book. The book took me longer to read than I expected - but in a good way. It's dense and rich and full of bon mots and witty repartee and surprisingly adept insights into humanity. Miller is definitely one of my new favorites...

I love when I read a book and just wish it was longer because it was that good.

This book is hard to put in a 'genre' because of all that it encompasses. That can make for a tough sell for some books. That being said, this book was AMAZINGLY good.

In trying to review it, I wanted to use deep profound words as this book is in part a philosophical book. I came up with simple words because I am still wrapping my mind around the book.

This book was FUN and it made me laugh many times.

This book was DEEP and it made me think many times.

This book was EMOTIONAL and it made me feel many times.

I feel like these are such simple words to describe such a good book.

I am hoping Tom Miller writes MORE and I am hoping he re-visits these characters in future books.

A fun romp of a book. Reimagined American history with female heroes. The protagonist is a male in the world man’s world of philosophy (a sort of chemistry based magic). Well paced and entertaining.

I didn't finish this book. I read about 20 pages and I just couldn't get into the story.

I loved this book. It was another read-aloud with my wife, and we both agreed it was great - and even more importantly, there better be sequels, since this was too good to end just after one book. Tom Miller has created a world pretty much just as magical as the world of Harry Potter, but more anchored to our world, with the wars we've had and rivalries between schools, and totally magical things that seem almost normal in this world. In this world Philosophers can fly, and they are mostly female. This is the story of a male philosopher from Montana who embraces the opportunity of going to Radcliffe for college since it is the best school for his talents. I don't want to say much more, since the book is so wonderful that you really should be allowed to enjoy watching the magic unfold in this world so closely related to the one we live in. Read it - love it - beg for more.

The Philosopher's Flight is weirdly good. The magic system is great and the complexity of the characters was unexpected and cool. Unexpectedly cool, you might say.

All the moving parts of the novel were developed nicely — the war effort Robert longs to join while others become disillusioned with it, the political complexity of the Trenchers who want to outlaw philosophy (that's the Magic, except here we call it by the name of something entirely different, because reasons), the violent clash of the Philosophers fighting back, Robert falling for war hero and political activist Danielle Hardin, all while Robert just wants to be taken seriously as a male Philosopher.

But within the plot were the things that gave me mixed feelings about the book. Its slowness at many parts (it has pockets of action, but overall it's not fast-paced), and the fact that honestly... I wasn't there for the politics. Now, it's not the book's fault. The blurb didn't lie and say there wouldn't be politics and violent factions. It's just that the thing that drew me to the book in the first place was the "female-dominated branch of science", not the politics.

I wanted the reverse narrative.

You know that story, the one where a girl wants to enter in a male-dominated field and must go up against massive amounts of sexism and roadblocks to succeed? I wanted it flipped. I was tired of "everyone is sexist and everything is terrible but watch this young girl fight tooth and nail to prove that one (1) girl can succeed anyway!". I thought it would be fun to watch a boy have to do it instead. But I got cheated, because The Philosopher's Flight is fairly historical. Meaning that while this fictional field of magic is majority-women, the rest of the world is extremely misogynist.

Women cannot vote during this time. Girls' strengths are described in terms of delicateness and gentleness while boys' strengths are described in terms of superior physical strength. Rape threats and slut-shaming abound. Not condoned by the narrative — I'm not saying this is a sexist book: it's just set during a sexist time period. Robert's position trying to succeed as a male Sigilrist didn't actually flip the script (though there were many times that his struggles paralleled those such as, for example, Kel's in First Test). If you're thinking of reading this book, read it because you want a story of sciency-magic grounded in history, not because you think this'll be a cool reversal of the story you already know. In many ways, it's still that story.

Also present are quite a few instances of era-accurate (I assume) racism, homophobia, and transphobia. There were mentions of gay women at the college, which was nice, but it would be nicer to have major gay and trans characters. Racism was probably addressed head-on the most, with Danielle being mixed race and the worldbuilding integrating the magic system with history, including slavery to how things stood at the time of WWI, not that it was a focus of the book. Read with care if these things will upset you.

Another thing I'd hoped for with Robert attending a 99.9% female college would be a lot more speaking time for female characters. And compared to many other books there was. But there were more male characters in the book than you'd expect from the blurb, so it wasn't quite the women-heavy book I wanted/expected. (Though again, better than you get from plenty of male writers)

So here's where we stand: sometimes the pace and historical setting of this book made me want to give up on it, but it has some real strengths in its worldbuilding, plot twists, and treatment of moral/political grayness (not to mention I actually really liked the romance, and descriptions of food made with magic. Sorry, made with Philosophy). It's not for everyone, but I don't regret reading it.

The Philosopher's Flight is offbeat and quirky in an entertaining, can't put this book down, kind of way. It also kept me thinking, thinking, thinking about this world written by Tom Miller, the politics, the shaking up of gender norms, and the magic of sigilism.

This will be a book that I'm going to read again because I enjoyed that it made me question the status quo and envision differences in a new way.

I will be recommending this book whenever I get an opportunity.

Whimsical originality is the way in which I would describe Philosophers Flight. It is rare these days that a book seems to come out of nowhere... creating a whole new fictional world that seems livable yet entirely new. If you have read the Wool series by Hugh Howey then you have some inkling of what this book delivers. Highly entertaining.

Did Not Finish 30%

I really liked the concept of this book--an alternate history was interesting, especially considering the conflicts (civil war, wwi) were similar to actual history. The fantasy/science fiction element also drew me in. I enjoyed the brief history lesson that was the prologue, and some of the action in the opening chapters was intriguing, however, over all I struggled with the voice of the narrator and the slower pacing of the novel.. The concept is interesting, and I have a feeling other will really enjoy it, unfortunately, it wasn't for me.

A very fun read! I finished in one sitting. What a fabulous mix of the real and the not as real.

I loved everything about this book. To be taken to a familiar, yet unfamiliar landscape where women are the heroines, and a man is trying his best to fulfill his own dreams was really refreshing. It was about magical, but entirely about magic. It was a twist on historical fiction, but so relevant right now. I am only disappointed that I need to wait until February to get this book into everyone's hands!

Young Robert Weekes has grown up in the west in a female dominated family. His mother is an empirical philosopher engaged in search and rescue, utilizing her ability to fly. Empirical philosophy is considered a women's field, so careers for men with the same talents are nonexistent. But Robert can fly. One of his older sisters taught him to fly and to draw sigils to work spells. One stormy winter night Robert aids his mother in a search and rescue mission that is dangerous. He goes above and beyond his recognized talents and wins support to pursue his dreams academically. He applies to Radcliffe College to major in Empirical Philosophy and is accepted. This book covers his first year in college. He has to deal with female prejudice against males in the college, societal hatred of empirical philosophers, World War I, and secrets in his own family. Robert is a wonderful character and I rooted for him right from the beginning. He makes some good friends in school and it is a joy to watch him grow and mature. I hope hope hope there is a second book coming so I can find out what happens next in Robert's life.

Robert just wants to be a rescue sigilist like his famous mother but there is just one setback - they are always women. As he is not a woman he goes where no man has gone before - to Radcliffe College. His hovering is impressive though so soon he is able to convince the women around him that he might be the right person for the job. In a world where empirical philosophy uses magic and science to control the elements and heal the wounded this imaginative look is a combination of search and rescue pilots/divers, magical paramedics and wartime medics all wrapped up in a fast paced alternative historical fantasy. Witty and fun - it throws back all the things that kept women out of traditionally male jobs in men's faces. My thanks to the publisher for the advance copy.