Faces of Mist and Flame. Jon George

by Jon George and George John

Phoenix Lafayette is a combat correspondent on the Pacific island of Guam during World War II, who comes to believe he can only survive the carnage by enacting for himself the mythical twelve labours... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0330419846
• ISBN13: 9780330419840
• Release Date: January 2005
• Publisher: Tor Books
• Length: 390 Pages

Customer Reviews

Well worth finding and buying this book.

I never would have seen this book had I not stopped by a book store at Heathrow on the way back to the States. I wanted something to pass the time away on the plane as I cannot sleep as my wife can and the choice of movies would likely be lame. (They weren't, but the book prevented me from watching any of them.) When I read the description of Faces of Mist and Flame I couldn't resist this triple threat. I enjoy science fiction, history, and classical mythology. Author Jon George gives us all three plus more. The science fiction part is the near future and a brilliant young English scientist, Serena Freeman, has created a machine that will let her mind go to the past. Unfortunately there are government organizations that would like to control this machine for their own ends. Serena selects the mind of a young marine jounalist involved in the invasion to liberate Guam in 1944. The struggle on Guam seems more graphic than any war story I have ever read and having had a foster brother involved in that horrible series of battles, I felt great empathy for Phoenix Lafayette who has ancestors originally from Guam. The back ground on these two characters and their friends is beautifully handled and you feel you know them intimately. The two are able to converse and eventually even see each other. As if this isn't enough, there is also a retelling of the labors of Hercules and this challenges Phoenix, with guidance from Serena to re-enact the twelve labors of Hercules on Guam. How this is accomplised and the stunning ending makes this one of the best science fiction tales I have read in years. On another level this is also a great love story. I highly recommend this book and appreciate the research and effort the author made to put it together. I'll happily look forward to more works by him in the future.