The Book of God and Physics: A Novel of the Voynich Mystery

by Enrique Joven

Book Overview

"Joven has put together a fine recipe for a thriller."
--Washington Post

A novel of the Voynich mystery, The Book of God and Physics is a gripping, fascinating, and eminently intelligent literary thriller akin to the genre-bending masterworks of Michael Gruber and the "secret histories" of Dan Brown (The Da Vinci Code et al). Author Enrique Joven centers his compelling, fast moving story around a very real historical artifact--the...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 006145687X
• ISBN13: 9780061456879
• Release Date: May 2010
• Publisher: William Morrow & Company
• Length: 368 Pages
• Weight: 0.70 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 6.6" x 7.9"

Customer Reviews

Very deep book

This book is being marketed as another "Da Vinci Code". It isn't. The "Code" is a much faster, more exciting book with short chapters. "The Book of God and Physicks" is a much deeper, more complex book. It was hard going, not because it wasn't an interesting story but because there was so much in it which took time to understand. I suppose if you really like Astronomy or Math, it will be much easier going. I didn't find any problems with the characters except that I never realized that Jesuits had such flexible lives. No wonder they keep getting into trouble with the Vatican. The book contains a couple of conspiracy theories and if you like that sort of thing, you will be in wonderland. Its really hard to recommend this book except to say I liked it, and its worth a go at reading it. If you need to stop, oh well. I've done that before and, at least you tried.

Author's introduction

The Book of God and Physics: A Novel of the Voynich Mystery To be published in USA on June 30, 2009 by William Morrow Publishers (NY) Title: The Book of God and Physics. A Novel about the Voynich Mystery. Rights sold to: Harper Collins/William Morrow (USA), Il punto d'incontro (Italy), Livanis (Greece), AST (Russia) and Hainaim Publishing (Korea). * Press releases: Rene Alegria at William Morrow bought world English rights to Enrique Joven's Castle of the Stars. This suspense novel is narrated by a Spanish Jesuit physics teacher who attempts to unravel the mystery of the Voynich Manuscript, an artifact that first appeared in the court of Rudolph II (1583-1612) of Bohemia. [...] *** An astrophysicist by training, Enrique Joven recently published in Spain El castillo de las estrellas ("The Castle in the Stars"; Roca Editorial, 2007), a captivating novel about Johannes Kepler, arguably one of the most influential astronomers of all times. From Criticas Magazine, 06-01-2007 Why They Do It Better? - Spain and the Historical Novel By Andrea Montejo [...] *** Written by astrophysicist Enrique Joven, The Book of God and Physics (Castle of the Stars, publishing Roca) has at its center the mysterious Voynich Manuscript, an actual book written in an indecipherable language that could possibly hold the scientific and mathematical secrets of Tycho Brahe, Johannes Kepler, Copernicus, and Galileo. Héctor, a Spanish Jesuit high school science teacher and the novel's narrator, belongs to an online group of Voynich enthusiasts who try to uncover the truth behind the document. Their investigation is impacted by the publication of a popular science book, Heavenly Intrigue (Doubleday, 2004) by Joshua and Anne-Lee Guilder, which suggests Kepler murdered Brahe to take credit for hismaster's mathematical discoveries. Héctor then finds out that the solution to the Voynich Manuscript mystery may lie closer to home than he ever imagined. When his Jesuit superior tells him that a foreign real estate speculator has been scheming to close the prep school, Héctor learns the speculator is interested because the Voynich Manuscript may have been hidden in the catacombs beneath the church next door to the school. As the plot thickens, more and more Voynich enthusiasts come to light, many of whom have connections to religious, quasi-religious, and political organizations based around the world, including in the U.S. From Publishing Trends (March 2007 issue) [...] Plot summary: Héctor is a Jesuit teacher who works in a small Spanish town, but his interests go further than his job. He belongs to an Internet group of investigators that try to unveil the secrets of a book known as the Voynich Manuscript (an actual book of unknown authorship that is currently housed in the Yale University Rare Books Collection). The story of this historical manuscript has been linked to the biggest astronomers of all times and its contents have never been deciphered since it appeared i