Jo Walton

A tale of gods and humans - trying to live together by the principles of Plato's Republic. Featuring an extraordinary cast that includes giant robots, Athene, Apollo, and Socrates himself, The Just City is a whimsical, philosophical novel about love, life, choice and being mortal.

The Just City

In a community planned by the time-traveling goddess Pallas Athene, Simmea is one of ten thousand children and a few hundred adult teachers from throughout history who must make their way in a community shared by Sokrates and the human manifestation of Apollo.

Aloe Han

One of the most thought provoking books I've read in a long time. Fascinating read. I'm considering reading the dialogues of Plato because of this haha.

Janice Hopper

Pretty much everthing I've read by Jo Walton has been worth reading. Her writing is excellent. Her writing actually carries me along even when the subject matter starts to lose me.

Plato is a closed book to me. I have no particular interest in Plato, and relatively little interest in philosophy in general. I fall pretty solidly on the side of Samuel Johnson and his refutation of Bishop Berkeley.
 Samuel Johnson's refutation of Bishop Berkeley. I know, I know, and I'm sure my life if poorer for it, but alas, there it is.

So I wasn't too sure that a book about a Greek god and goddess wanting to set up a society based on the one in Plato's Republic would be for me. I was partly right, I guess.

A lot of the story sounded like earnest freshman debates in college to me. Would people actually talk like that in real life? Do people really worry about the things these characters worry about? There were sections where I thought "Ok, this is addressing THIS hot button topic of our day." I did a little eye-rolling in spots.

But the writing pulled me along in spite of my doubts. And then things Got Real at the end. And I'm curious about what happens next.

So: earnest philosophical discussion, Apollo and Athene, and Sokrates being a gadfly to everyone. If this sounds like fun, read this book. Even if it DOESN'T sound like fun, give it a try. It's interesting.

"Here in the Just City you will become your best selves. You will learn and grow and strive to be excellent." 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. At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

Vilde

For clarification sake; I have received a copy of The Just City through netgalley.com, but I ended up reading a copy through the library instead.

The Just City felt like a odd, but weirdly intriguing mix between Greek mythology, Ancient Greece and more modern times. Athene and Apollo meddles with mortal humans (as gods always does), and sets up a societal experiment using Plato's Republic as a blue print, with other mortals involved. It's weird, fascinating and strange to read, all in a good way.

Sunyi Dean

Clever and detailed, not to mention elegantly written, but ultimately the narrative is constrained by the very strictures it sets out to explore. 

I have a pretty high tolerance for musing, thoughtful, character novels which ramble gently without heavy plot, and of course the promise of Socratic dialogue in spades was a huge draw. 

However, the book did drag in places even for me; I found myself skimming Maia's sections but avidly reading Simmea's and Apollo's. 

What definitively knocked the last star off for me was Sokrates. Any story which includes him as a character is always going to be taking a risk, since he is a phenomenally influential character for whom readers will have high expectations. I suspect only Plato or another Socratic scholar could have any hope of pulling it off.

Matt Hilliard once said that authors should refrain from writing messianic messages or sermons unless they are themselves Messiahs. I wonder if perhaps this also applies to writing philosophical arguments, when authors are not philosophers. The didactic rhetoric and Socratic dialogue often fell flat for me, with logical disconnects between arguments. I would also argue that Socratic dialogue isn't really debate; it's artificial and constructed to prove the main speaker's point. Walton seems to have aimed for a halfway point between true rhetoric and group discussion, but didn't quite nail either in many instances. Sokrates versus Athena carried well (the Final Debate) but not so much Sokrates and Simmea/Apollo.

The novel did offer a robust defense of the Republic which often gets much flack, although in the end it did come down firmly on the side of Plato's ideas being too unworkable in many cases. 

I think its other strong point (I don't usually say this) is the thoughtful and scintillating examination of feminism in this context, with full nuance and no easy answers. 

I would happily recommend to any fans of Jo Walton's other works, or fans of literary and/or philosophical science fantasy.

Nathan Robertson

Alexandria Wilkie

Sonia Grgas

Scordatura

Isabella

Sara Piteira 

'Here in the Just City you will become your best selves. You will learn and grow and strive to be excellent.' One day, in a moment of philosophical puckishness, the time-travelling goddess Pallas Athene decides to put Plato to the test and create the Just City. She locates the City on a Mediterranean island and populates it with over ten thousand children and a few hundred adults from all eras of history . . . along with some handy robots from the far human future. Meanwhile, Apollo - stunned by the realization that there are things that human beings understand better than he does - has decided to become a mortal child, head to Athene's City and see what all the fuss is about. Then Socrates arrives, and starts asking troublesome questions. What happens next is a tale only the brilliant Jo Walton could tell.

The Just City

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