What do readers think of The Book of God and Physics by Enrique Joven? Write your own review.

'Fiction' grounded in 'fact' makes for wonderful reading; it literally combines the best of both worlds. Enrique Joven has woven an engrossing tale around a centuries-old, medieval text that is currently housed at Yale University. (Copies are available on the Internet, and on CD)
Brought to light in 1912 by a rare books dealer, the Voynich Manuscript is written in a code that scholars and scientists worldwide are trying to decipher, with no apparent success. This novel follows the efforts of several such protagonists as they travel through Europe exploring Jesuit monasteries searching for clues in old astrology and astronomy texts.

Anyone with an interest in the history of the middle ages (and, astronomy, in particular) will be hooked in the first few pages.

Take a Jesuit priest, a beautiful woman, a brilliant atheist, a young student, an untranslatable manuscript, astronomy, alchemy, theology and physics and put them all together in a novel.

Dr. Enrique Joven has done all that and has been more successful than would seem possible. Unfortunately, he fails to deliver a satisfactory conclusion to this amazing compilation. Possibly because the Voynich manuscript is still untranslated.
Nevertheless I enjoyed this book ... it taxed my brain at time, but google was a big help.

While this book may not be a heart-pounding, mile-a-minute mystery/thriller, it still has a lot to offer. Do not expect a Da Vinci Code here, although I'm sure the comparisons will be made. This book is much better, and offers a bit more depth. Couched within the fictional story of two separate groups of people in a race to find the key to unlocking the Voynich Manuscript, there is a lot to offer those readers who enjoy history, or reading about esoteric knowledge (especially alchemy), and those who are interested in the topic of religion vs. science.

I really enjoyed this book; my major was history in college and so this was right up my alley. I also enjoy a unique mystery, and this one fit the bill completely. It requires a bit of patience because of the author's historical exposition - but it is well worth the time you put into it.

I wish I could have given this book more stars. It combines science, history, and religion in trying to solve the mystery of an untranslatable book, and we certainly learn a lot of all three along the way. But the explanations are often confusing, particularly in the beginning, and the writing is pedestrian. It's a translation, from the Spanish, so it's hard to say where the fault lies. I had a hard time getting into the book at first, but it finally caught me enough to continue - and I'm glad I did. Joven has a first-rate imagination and intelligence which shine through the poor prose.

Enrique Joven has written what promised to be an exciting read, but fell short of the mark. This novel is loaded with names and dates important background to the story, but also with references to the internet and and "e-dialogue" which I found to be annoying. The characters are underdeveloped and the dialogue between them is flat. I started to be hopeful for some level of redemption with about 75 pages to go only to be let down at the end.

I loved the premise of this book, a Jesuit Priest, who teaches high school physics, is trying to decipher an old manuscript. Hector, the Jesuit Priest, is an interesting, personable character. He loves to utilize the internet whenever possible. He also enjoys making his physics students think. But, the prose was a little awkward, possibly translation issues. And the book bogged down a little in the middle. The last third of the book was exciting, interesting and hard to put down. So actually 3.5 stars.

In Enrique Joven’s The Book of God and Physics, a Jesuit priest seeks clues to the deciphering of a mysterious Renaissance document referred to as the Voynich Manuscript. The story is, of course, in a vein similar to The Da Vinci Code, and fans of that book will probably enjoy many aspects of this one. Yet, while the idea of the plot is intriguing, the execution leaves much to be desired. It suffers from common first-novel faults, such as poor character development, wooden and plodding dialogue, uneven pacing, and a general lack of subtlety in the writing. For me, the narration also fell flat. Then there is the egregious use of footnotes to explain the dialogue and actions of the characters, and Joven’s annoying habit of reprinting multiple passages from research websites (as his protagonist, Hector, reads them) in order to provide the reader with necessary historic details. Some of these could be issues with the translation, or it may be that (hopefully) by the next book, Joven will have developed as a fiction author.

There is a lot of neat scientific history in the book; however, these passages are not always well integrated into the story. (And if you don’t like a little edification with your novels, you will not appreciate this book.) Unfortunately, Joven’s work feels like two distinct books that have been poorly mixed together—a non-fiction treatise on scientific history, and a fictional piece that wants to be an entertaining mystery/adventure. The historical portions of the book were the best rendered. If readers can get past the average writing, as well as Hector’s frequent denigration of Creationism (which may be offensive to some) they may be pulled along by the story. But when the planned sequel to this book comes out, I will probably pass.

I really really wanted to like this book. The premise is good...religious mystery, a mysterious book, and a young Jesuit scholar. But sadly, the writing is bad, really really bad. I did not find myself relating to any of the characters and the plot seemed stilted and disjointed. I made it though about half of the book before I gave up. It just didn't seem worth my time to finish it.