Genre: Science Fiction
Length: 300 pages
First Published: 2009
View in Goodreads
Buy on Amazon
Rachael’s Review
I received a complimentary copy of this book from Blackstone Publishing. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
Serial arsonist Evan Michaels’s life changes when he stumbles into a church while evading the police. There he meets Poppy who is just like him: they are both reincarnationists. They can perfectly remember their past lives. Soon Evan is introduced into the secret society of reincarnationists and must pass a test to join their ranks.
The Reincarnationist Papers is being adapted into the sci-fi thriller Infinite on Paramount+ this summer, so I was excited to snag a copy. The Reincarnationist Papers is dreadfully boring. Almost nothing happens in the entire book. Maikranz spends his time discussing the past lives of the reincarnationists and how their ability affects their philosophy life (most opt for lots of sex and drugs). I hope the movie will take the interesting premise and change everything else from the book.
Publisher’s Description
Discovered as three notebooks in an antique store in Rome at the turn of the millennium, The Reincarnationist Papers offers a tantalizing glimpse into the Cognomina, a secret society of people who possess total recall of their past lives.
Evan Michaels struggles with being different, with having the complete memories of two other people who lived sequentially before him. He fights loneliness and believes he is unique until he meets Poppy. She recognizes his struggle because she is like him, except that she is much older, remembering seven consecutive lives. But there is something else she must share with Evan — she is a member of the secretive Cognomina. They are, in effect, immortals — compiling experiences and skills over lifetimes into near superhuman abilities that they have used to drive history over centuries.
Poppy invites Evan into the Cognomina, but he must face their tests before entering this mysterious society as their equal.
About D. Eric Maikranz
D. Eric Maikranz has been a foreign correspondent, a tour guide, a radio host, and a Silicon Valley software executive. He is the author of The Reincarnationist Papers. Visit the author’s website →