Reviews

Der Medicus by Noah Gordon

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gyara's review against another edition

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adventurous slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

bergsteiger's review against another edition

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4.0

Definite overtones of "The Walking Drum" here. The book started out very good-I enjoyed the young life of Rob Cole and found it to be very plausible. Loved how he was driven by a singular, and nearly impossible, dream. As he makes his way across Europe and eventually joins a caravan, his plan begins to take shape and a little bit of skepticism seeped in for me. In fact, this middle part of the book was very astutely skipped over in the movie (which, like Bird Box, made some plot changes but still captured the overall feel of the story quite well). Then we come to the goal of young Rob Cole, the great hospital of Ibn Sina, and you certainly delight in his learning and experience the tension of dealing with the Shah. The ending requires an even greater leap of faith and is a little too neatly tied together for my tastes, but didn't ruin the tale. My only other commentary is that it read a little bit like old school fantasy books with some needless and detailed sexual encounters, detracting, for me, from the feel of the book. It's really a 3.5 star book, but the good pace of the plot and subject matter of the book, made me want to round it up. Pick it up off the shelf if you have the time.

suzysai's review against another edition

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5.0

This was less of a book and more of an experience. The characters are so lovingly and carefully developed that I shed more than a few tears. This is a book for anyone who struggles with family, faith, and the direction our lives take us. I pretty much wrapped up in this book like a warm blanket, rearranging my schedule to allow for as much daily reading as possible.Simply amazing.

mikernc's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful informative tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

mmilligan94's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging informative reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

Top notch historical fiction.

curlyln's review against another edition

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3.0

Maybe I was trying to read this too haphazardly without giving it major chunks of time. But I got about halfway through the 700+ page book and although I enjoyed the plot, it was just a slow mover. I had it checked out though an interlibrary loan and couldn't renew again so....decided it was just as well. Maybe I'll go back to it sometime.