The Journeys of Socrates

March 28, 2005
In his landmark 1980 novel, Way of the Peaceful Warrior,
Millman blended fact and fiction to tell the story of a young man whose life is transformed by his encounter with a mysterious sage named Socrates. In this intriguing follow-up, Socrates takes center stage. It's late 19th-century Russia, and young Sergei Ivanov has been drafted into training to become one of the czar's elite guards. When Sergei saves the life of a brutal fellow student, Dmitri Zakolyev, during a difficult training exercise, he knows this act has actually made him an enemy. Dmitri humiliated by his weakness, gets back at Sergei years later when he becomes part of a pogrom to hunt down Jews; during a chance encounter, Dmitri wounds Sergei, who is part Jewish, and kills his pregnant wife, Anya. After a suicide attempt that leads to a kind of vengeance-oriented enlightenment, Sergei studies with a series of masters to perfect his warrior skills. Millman's narration clips along, and he does a fine job with period flourishes. But the extended training chapters suffer from clichés of character and narrative, and dampen the suspense. A shocking surprise about the fate of Sergei's unborn child and a ham-fisted meeting between Sergei and his rival strain credibility, but Millman's fluid storytelling makes this an easy read. Agent, Candice Fuhrman
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September 15, 2005
"Journeys", the prequel to Millman's novel "Way of the Peaceful Warrior" published 25 years ago, begins with the violent birth of Sergei Ivanov in 19th-century tsarist Russia. Young Sergei is sent to an elite Cossack military boarding school for intensive training, and in the course of saving another student's life, he makes a powerful enemy. When he leaves the school, his odyssey begins in a quest for revenge. But as he moves forward, Sergei encounters masters who reveal secrets about martial arts and the path to peace. Although Sam Tsoutsouvas's narration is sometimes rather flat, the ending is exciting and moving. Recommended for public library collections. -Barbara Valle, El Paso P.L., TX

Copyright 2005 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

April 15, 2005
Millman's autobiographical " Way of the Peaceful Warrior " (1980) and 94-year-old gas-pump-jockey Socrates, the young Millman's guru in it, are fixtures in the canon of New Age self-actualization literature, thanks to 2.5 million copies sold. This prequel provides an adventurous backstory for Socrates. It begins in czarist Russia with orphaned Sergei fleeing the Nevskiy military academy. He survives in the mountainous wilderness by fashioning a lean-to against the face of a cave near a waterfall on a stream that hosts salmon, trout, and a beaver dam, and by hunting and drying food for the winter. By his second year as a mountain man (1890), he has turned 18 and become part of the wild, high country. A close call with a hungry bear in 1891 drives him to St. Petersburg, where he hopes to verify his grandfather's promise of buried treasure and use it to escape to America. Millman's smoothly written text recounts a spiritual journey while it tells a creditable survival--adventure-coming-of-age story. " Way" -farers will want to join the journey. (Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2005, American Library Association.)

April 15, 2005
Millman's 1980 novel, "Way of the Peaceful Warrior", first introduced the character of Socrates, the all-night gas station attendant who first sets the author on his journey toward self-enlightenment. In this third series installment (after "Sacred Journey of the Peaceful Warrior"), readers learn about the elusive philosopher's upbringing in tsarist Russia. Born Sergei Ivanov, Socrates goes from being an orphan to struggling as a cadet at the military academy, from knowing nothing of his past to meeting his grandfather, learning that he is part Jewish and part Cossack, suffering a devastating loss, and fleeing the academy on a quest. Fans of the other books will be pleased with this prequel to the word-of-mouth best seller they have come to know and love. Satisfying both in its execution and in its attempt to add another piece to the puzzle, Millman's latest is recommended for popular and New Age fiction collections. -Nanci Milone Hill, Cary Memorial Lib., Lexington, MA

Copyright 2005 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.