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The Antikythera and The Source
In The ‘Antikythera and The Source’, the quintessential Oracle of Delphi, Theoclea, has passed on from the Earthly Realm ca. 500 BC and has gone through many gates, incarnations, and reincarnations to become a near-deity, The Source. The same process has happened to Pythagoras, one of Theoclea’s counselors at the Temple of Delphi. He has become The Mage in a far future time and place. They live in Plateaunia, a two dimensional spider web-like region between the spiral arms of the galaxy surrounded by a blue mist. Piloting her ship, The Firefly, The Source sees a huge object coming at them in space. The name ‘Antikythera’ is boldly shown on the side of what appears to be a World-ship. An adventure begins, an adventure that explores TIME and what we think that it is. The ancient past meets the far future in this thrilling metaphysical sci-fi mystery that presents us with TIME and what it really may be. The Spirits of “JANIS* an Earthly-Realm singer from the 1960’s and the Spirit of Nikola Tesla make their appearances…along with the android ‘children’ of the Mage and The Source. With Mark Twain-like humor and Steampunk elements like clocks, gears, ray guns, and more, the world of ‘The Antikythera and the Source’ moves through time and space to a surprising ending!
368 pages, Paperback
First published April 24, 2015
1 person is currently reading
20 people want to read
About the author
PanOrpheus
22 books26 followersPanOrpheus is the author of the 'Delphic Oracle' series of books...in the alternate history, fantasy fiction, metaphysical genre. The books in the 'Theoclea' series are generally set in ca. 500 BC, and feature the adventures of Theoclea, the Oracle of the Temple of Delphi. One of her teachers was Pythagoras...and so we have a rare moment when Spirituality and Science were brought together...the ultimate person who 'Sees' meets the ultimate person who 'Knows'. Reincarnation, visions, poetry, and other means are used to keep the action going.
The Phoebe' books feature Phoebe (The Delphic Oracle) and add spice and humor to the plots as Phoebe and her friends enter modern times, and intervene into fictional and non-fictional lives and events. His latest book is 'Songs and Stories from Tesla's Tower.
PanOrpheus is on the Board of Directors of the Phila. Tesla Club and the Tesla Science Foundation...and the inventor Nikola Tesla or the Spirit of Nikola Tesla are characters in some of the books and short stories.
A new book 'The Antikythera and The Source' will be coming out next...
The Phoebe' books feature Phoebe (The Delphic Oracle) and add spice and humor to the plots as Phoebe and her friends enter modern times, and intervene into fictional and non-fictional lives and events. His latest book is 'Songs and Stories from Tesla's Tower.
PanOrpheus is on the Board of Directors of the Phila. Tesla Club and the Tesla Science Foundation...and the inventor Nikola Tesla or the Spirit of Nikola Tesla are characters in some of the books and short stories.
A new book 'The Antikythera and The Source' will be coming out next...
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
August 6, 2016
This author doesn't allow anything to limit his imagination and his books are a mixture of quite complex ideas presented in a style anyone can enjoy. What is time? The author asks the question and suggests there are many answers including multiple dimensions. This is a fascinating book which both educates and entertains the reader. I learned about the Antikythera and other historical facts about the history of time pieces, which was all new to me.
Some of the familiar characters from previous novels reappear but there is also a wide collection of new characters, many of them famous and known to us from different times in history but the author provides a new insight into them. There are few authors capable of bringing together such a variety of characters in one book but this author manages to do so without any problem and integrates them into an adventure in time and space.
Highly recommended!
Some of the familiar characters from previous novels reappear but there is also a wide collection of new characters, many of them famous and known to us from different times in history but the author provides a new insight into them. There are few authors capable of bringing together such a variety of characters in one book but this author manages to do so without any problem and integrates them into an adventure in time and space.
Highly recommended!
December 19, 2015
I must confess that this was my first time of reading a novel like this and even though I had to use google a couple of times to find out the meaning of some words, I quite happily did it because I found the story really captivating.
The Antikythera and The Source revolves around the reincarnation of different characters. It begins with The Source who in a different time is Eleanor and in another time, The Oracle of Delphi Theoclea. She has the power to see not just the past and the present, but can remember bits of herself from previous lives. She also has the ability to say the right words at the right time while maintaining that child-like wonder we seem to lose as we grow older. Other characters such as The Mage who is also Pythagoras (Theoclea’s instructor) in a different life, The Mercenary, Ion, Phoebe, Agent Lovinia Drummond, The Reporter, The Dreamer, *JANIS* who was also Janis, a musician in the earthly realm.
The story begins with The Source escaping from the Plateaunia on the Firefly after it is hit and destroyed by a ship with the word, Antikythera written boldly on its side and then takes us on a thrilling, captivating and well written journey of the never-ending battle between forces of good and evil.
What I found truly captivating about this story is the way the author introduces spirits of Tesla, Archimedes, Mark Twain and mentions “The One Who Cannot Be Named” who basically stole Tesla’s inventions and wiped him off the history books.
I also found The Source’s speech towards the end very profound and true.
It was clear to me from reading this book is that the author carried out lot of research and it was exciting at the end to see how the characters and story itself were inspired real life people.
This is one book I would love to read over and over again because it both entertained and educated me.
The Antikythera and The Source revolves around the reincarnation of different characters. It begins with The Source who in a different time is Eleanor and in another time, The Oracle of Delphi Theoclea. She has the power to see not just the past and the present, but can remember bits of herself from previous lives. She also has the ability to say the right words at the right time while maintaining that child-like wonder we seem to lose as we grow older. Other characters such as The Mage who is also Pythagoras (Theoclea’s instructor) in a different life, The Mercenary, Ion, Phoebe, Agent Lovinia Drummond, The Reporter, The Dreamer, *JANIS* who was also Janis, a musician in the earthly realm.
The story begins with The Source escaping from the Plateaunia on the Firefly after it is hit and destroyed by a ship with the word, Antikythera written boldly on its side and then takes us on a thrilling, captivating and well written journey of the never-ending battle between forces of good and evil.
What I found truly captivating about this story is the way the author introduces spirits of Tesla, Archimedes, Mark Twain and mentions “The One Who Cannot Be Named” who basically stole Tesla’s inventions and wiped him off the history books.
I also found The Source’s speech towards the end very profound and true.
It was clear to me from reading this book is that the author carried out lot of research and it was exciting at the end to see how the characters and story itself were inspired real life people.
This is one book I would love to read over and over again because it both entertained and educated me.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 25, 2016
I love PanOrpheus stories because they pick the reader up and throw them off the deep end in a steam-punk world mashing together all sorts of characters. A lot of stories involve Tesla, and since I'm a huge Tesla fan I really enjoy it. I'm also a fan of steam-punk and the sort of alternate-reality it presents, so it's a double win for me.
I read this book really fast. The writing is clean and I was caught up in the story, and I couldn't put it down until I had finished. Well worth the read!
I read this book really fast. The writing is clean and I was caught up in the story, and I couldn't put it down until I had finished. Well worth the read!
February 7, 2018
The cover looks like a work of Steampunk, but it turns out to be much more than that. “The Antikythera and the Source” is a delerious trip through history, both real and magical, pushing the narrative to the limits while never pushing it out of readability.
Some of the characters mainly use names such as The Source, The Reporter and The Mercenary, and there are quest appearances by Tesla, Verne and Wells, so we’re dealing with archetypes here. The story is being told by bold figures who resonate in the reader’s consciousness.
The plot itself is baroque and is as elaborate as the fabled Antikythera Mechanism itself, but also a huge amount of fun. PanOrpheus paints a rich narrative, overflowing with haunting prose and fantastical developments, reflecting the sense of spirituality and mystery at the story’s foundation.
There are some very interesting digressions as well, including brief accounts of how timepieces and clocks developed through the ages, and poems and lyrics sprinkled throughout the book. The rock music element reminded me of Shea & Wilson’s “Illuminatus”, and the lyrics were like (appropriately enough) a Greek chorus, making comments on the plot.
“The Antikythera and the Source” is an enchanting tale that endears itself to the reader, and it’s certainly not going to be the only PanOrpheus book in my collection.
Some of the characters mainly use names such as The Source, The Reporter and The Mercenary, and there are quest appearances by Tesla, Verne and Wells, so we’re dealing with archetypes here. The story is being told by bold figures who resonate in the reader’s consciousness.
The plot itself is baroque and is as elaborate as the fabled Antikythera Mechanism itself, but also a huge amount of fun. PanOrpheus paints a rich narrative, overflowing with haunting prose and fantastical developments, reflecting the sense of spirituality and mystery at the story’s foundation.
There are some very interesting digressions as well, including brief accounts of how timepieces and clocks developed through the ages, and poems and lyrics sprinkled throughout the book. The rock music element reminded me of Shea & Wilson’s “Illuminatus”, and the lyrics were like (appropriately enough) a Greek chorus, making comments on the plot.
“The Antikythera and the Source” is an enchanting tale that endears itself to the reader, and it’s certainly not going to be the only PanOrpheus book in my collection.
February 17, 2017
The Antikythera and The Source (Kindle Edition)
PanOrpheus demonstrates his vast knowledge of ancient Greek history and proceeds to travel through time and space to understand the meaning of the Antikythera device. It was thought to be an instrument, constructed by the Greeks, to measure time via the movements of the moon, sun and other celestial bodies. The Antikythera was rediscovered by Greek sponge divers in the early 1900s and has been the source of speculation for over 100 years. During our journey, we're introduced to a variety of important historical figures such as Pythagoras, Tesla, Theoclea (the Oracle), Mark Twain and even Janis Joplin (who performs). The author's appreciation for culture is demonstrated in his poems, explanations of Greek plays and song lyrics from the rock 'n roll era. If you enjoy western history, steampunk themes (gears and steam power) and reincarnation stories, you'll appreciate the depth of the author's story.
PanOrpheus demonstrates his vast knowledge of ancient Greek history and proceeds to travel through time and space to understand the meaning of the Antikythera device. It was thought to be an instrument, constructed by the Greeks, to measure time via the movements of the moon, sun and other celestial bodies. The Antikythera was rediscovered by Greek sponge divers in the early 1900s and has been the source of speculation for over 100 years. During our journey, we're introduced to a variety of important historical figures such as Pythagoras, Tesla, Theoclea (the Oracle), Mark Twain and even Janis Joplin (who performs). The author's appreciation for culture is demonstrated in his poems, explanations of Greek plays and song lyrics from the rock 'n roll era. If you enjoy western history, steampunk themes (gears and steam power) and reincarnation stories, you'll appreciate the depth of the author's story.
May 13, 2015
The 1900 discovery of an ancient geared mechanism in a shipwreck off the coast of Greece established the mystery and the controversy surrounding the device known as the Antikythera mechanism. The metal artifact, designed to track astronomical positions, may have been constructed as early as 250 BC – perhaps by Archimedes.
The Antikythera machine may have answered questions about movements of the sun, moon, and stars, including predicting eclipses and cycles of Venus and Mars, but in the cycle of time, all these answers were lost, just like the library of Alexandria.
In Pan Orpheus’s book, The Antikythera and The Source, the Antikythera is at once an island in the Mediterranean, the ancient computing machine, and a spaceship through which time flows like water through Ctebius’s water clock. The story is a study of time, not linear time but cyclical time. Time becomes a dynamic play of opposites: light and dark, full and empty, good and bad, knowledge and ignorance, creation and chaos.
The story cuts through layers of time that seem to exist simultaneously. The characters, including The Source, The Mage, The Reporter, and The Mercenary have been part of many ages.
The Source gathers the “spirits and minds from two universes, differing from each other in large and small degrees, one seemingly a clockwork universe …based on Newtonian principles and a strange mixture of legend, myth, and art, or artifice, the other based on the physics of the Earthly realm with a basis in magnetism and a strong force, and the eventual vindication of Tesla’s ideas.” This seems to be a battle of opposites, but the conflict in the story merges both myth and science. The Reporter and The Mercenary battle, mostly with their minds, inside the gears of the machine. The Source gathers the crowd in order to give hope that the cycle is always continuing. Her repeated magic words are “It is starting.”
The Antikythera and The Source is a thoroughly engaging, well-crafted book. Highly recommended!
The Antikythera machine may have answered questions about movements of the sun, moon, and stars, including predicting eclipses and cycles of Venus and Mars, but in the cycle of time, all these answers were lost, just like the library of Alexandria.
In Pan Orpheus’s book, The Antikythera and The Source, the Antikythera is at once an island in the Mediterranean, the ancient computing machine, and a spaceship through which time flows like water through Ctebius’s water clock. The story is a study of time, not linear time but cyclical time. Time becomes a dynamic play of opposites: light and dark, full and empty, good and bad, knowledge and ignorance, creation and chaos.
The story cuts through layers of time that seem to exist simultaneously. The characters, including The Source, The Mage, The Reporter, and The Mercenary have been part of many ages.
The Source gathers the “spirits and minds from two universes, differing from each other in large and small degrees, one seemingly a clockwork universe …based on Newtonian principles and a strange mixture of legend, myth, and art, or artifice, the other based on the physics of the Earthly realm with a basis in magnetism and a strong force, and the eventual vindication of Tesla’s ideas.” This seems to be a battle of opposites, but the conflict in the story merges both myth and science. The Reporter and The Mercenary battle, mostly with their minds, inside the gears of the machine. The Source gathers the crowd in order to give hope that the cycle is always continuing. Her repeated magic words are “It is starting.”
The Antikythera and The Source is a thoroughly engaging, well-crafted book. Highly recommended!
June 18, 2015
Imagine you could throw a big party where the guests were your favourite characters from books, films, TV series, along with their creators, plus a bunch of brilliant inventors, a handful of iconic rock stars, and, in starring roles, a pantheon of legendary figures from the Ancient World. The dress code would include Grecian robes/velvet smoking jackets/World War II uniforms/19th century illusionist rig-outs and Steampunk. The buffet would serve Andouille sausage, Asiago cheese and cheap Chianti. Oh, and don’t forget the props - steam engines, clocks, Jacks, crystal skulls, keys, Mississippi steamboats, birds and boxes, including the one containing the Antikythera itself.
We can dream. And that’s just what PanOrpheus has done in his book, ‘The Antikythera and The Source’, creating a Jules Verne-type adventure story that is ‘a journey through the river of time and space’, a truly ‘extraordinary voyage’.
I raced through the book, caught up in the intricacies of the plot, keen to know how the Battle between The Light and The Darkness was going to end. Then I went back to the beginning to read it properly, savouring the author’s humour, his impressive erudition, plunging more deeply into the different layers of meaning, enjoying random encounters with old fictional friends, stepping into familiar settings, acknowledging hat-tips, winks of the eye, and catching echoes from past and future.
Along with the familiar was the new. New friends–Phoebe, *JANIS* Captain Steamzooka, Lovinia Drummond and of course the ones who started it all, the Mage and the Source; new battlegrounds for endlessly repeated struggles featuring memorable set pieces like the speech of Theocleas at Eleusis, ending with the appearance of a fiery Phoenix in the sky, or the concert for the celebration of light, with its hundreds of musical instruments and glowing LEDs, like the opening ceremony of a celestial Olympic games.
For dreamers, lovers of magic, fantasy, literature and invention, this is a book for you.
Let the Mystery Find You!
We can dream. And that’s just what PanOrpheus has done in his book, ‘The Antikythera and The Source’, creating a Jules Verne-type adventure story that is ‘a journey through the river of time and space’, a truly ‘extraordinary voyage’.
I raced through the book, caught up in the intricacies of the plot, keen to know how the Battle between The Light and The Darkness was going to end. Then I went back to the beginning to read it properly, savouring the author’s humour, his impressive erudition, plunging more deeply into the different layers of meaning, enjoying random encounters with old fictional friends, stepping into familiar settings, acknowledging hat-tips, winks of the eye, and catching echoes from past and future.
Along with the familiar was the new. New friends–Phoebe, *JANIS* Captain Steamzooka, Lovinia Drummond and of course the ones who started it all, the Mage and the Source; new battlegrounds for endlessly repeated struggles featuring memorable set pieces like the speech of Theocleas at Eleusis, ending with the appearance of a fiery Phoenix in the sky, or the concert for the celebration of light, with its hundreds of musical instruments and glowing LEDs, like the opening ceremony of a celestial Olympic games.
For dreamers, lovers of magic, fantasy, literature and invention, this is a book for you.
Let the Mystery Find You!
July 18, 2015
This is a quirky, steampunky kind of book, hopping around through time and space, following the author's butterfly trains of thought. The famous discovery of the bronze Antikythera Device, a solar and lunar calendar with other uses, is the inspiration for a story in which the device and its inventors / users are travelling and exploring.
As in 'The Gate To Women's Country' by Sheri S Tepper we first find a discussion on a Classical Greek play. This suits the timeline in which the device is created, possibly by Archimedes or another inventor Ctebius (who invented the siphon and water clock). Later on we meet Archimedes in dialogue with Nikola Tesla, so get ready for anything. In between we've been in space on a ship called Firefly, accompanying an android, and we've met a woman who decides to leap into books ranging from Verne to Twain and live out the stories. I suppose we'd all do that if we could, provided it was only temporary.
Books are a large part of the story, either buying them or discussing them, and we also learn a great deal about clocks - their ancient varieties in particular and their many uses as well.
I need to warn that one of the characters in particular is foul-mouthed, which could be a handy device to help us tell her apart given that characters are described as shifting their skin, eye and hair colour to suit; one prefers to look like a person from the 1920s I've never heard of so that doesn't tell me much. For language content I don't recommend this to young readers. Adults however can take their chances and have a laugh.
I believe this book fits in to the author's ongoing steampunk series and if I was familiar with that no doubt I'd be happy to give a full five stars; as it is I'd go for four and a half, rounded up, for inspiration, love of books and fascinating details about clocks.
As in 'The Gate To Women's Country' by Sheri S Tepper we first find a discussion on a Classical Greek play. This suits the timeline in which the device is created, possibly by Archimedes or another inventor Ctebius (who invented the siphon and water clock). Later on we meet Archimedes in dialogue with Nikola Tesla, so get ready for anything. In between we've been in space on a ship called Firefly, accompanying an android, and we've met a woman who decides to leap into books ranging from Verne to Twain and live out the stories. I suppose we'd all do that if we could, provided it was only temporary.
Books are a large part of the story, either buying them or discussing them, and we also learn a great deal about clocks - their ancient varieties in particular and their many uses as well.
I need to warn that one of the characters in particular is foul-mouthed, which could be a handy device to help us tell her apart given that characters are described as shifting their skin, eye and hair colour to suit; one prefers to look like a person from the 1920s I've never heard of so that doesn't tell me much. For language content I don't recommend this to young readers. Adults however can take their chances and have a laugh.
I believe this book fits in to the author's ongoing steampunk series and if I was familiar with that no doubt I'd be happy to give a full five stars; as it is I'd go for four and a half, rounded up, for inspiration, love of books and fascinating details about clocks.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews