Codex

By: Lev Grossman

Narrated by: Jeff Harding

Length: 11 hrs and 10 mins

Publisher's summary

About to depart on his first vacation in years, Edward Wozny, a hotshot young investment banker, is sent to help one of his firm's most important and mysterious clients. His task is to search their library stacks for a precious medieval codex, a treasure kept sealed away for many years and for many reasons. Enlisting the help of passionate medievalist Margaret Napier, Edward is determined to solve the mystery of the codex-to understand its significance to his wealthy clients, and to decipher the seeming parallels between the legend of the codex and an obsessive role-playing computer game that has absorbed him in the dark hours of the night.

The chilling resolution brings together the medieval and the modern aspects of the plot in a twist worthy of earning comparisons to novels by William Gibson and Dan Brown, not to mention those by A. S. Byatt and Umberto Eco. Lev Grossman's Codex is a thriller of the highest order.

©2005 Lev Grossman (P)2012 Random House

Critic reviews

"A genuine treat, with its sneaky plot and richly textured storytelling. Moves so fast that readers won't realize how smart it is." ( San Francisco Chronicle)

"Fascinating, compelling, and deliciously disturbing." ( The Boston Globe)

"Takes its place on the shelf of self-referential, bibliophilic page-turners like The Name of the Rose, Possession and A Case of Curiosities, and it's as entertaining as any of them." ( The New York Times Book Review)

I really like Lev Grossman's other work, but...

Would you try another book from Lev Grossman and/or Jeff Harding?

If I had listened to this book before Lev Grossman's other work, I probably would not have done so. This was the very first audio book that I could not bear to finish because it was so dreadful. I was very disappointed.

Would you ever listen to anything by Lev Grossman again?

Yes, but based on his other work. If I listened to second book like this, I probably would forgo Lev Grossman's work in the future.

Didn't seem to fit

Well. The first half of this book definitely set up something exciting, but the second half didn't seem to know where to take it. I read the first two books of the same author's "Magicians" series, but I hated the second one so much that I didn't continue with the series, and I left this book sitting, un-listened-to, in my Audile library for five years. I just picked it up, and it's... honestly, more compelling and engaging than anything else I've read in a long time... for the first half. It's much more fulfilling to just imagine the book that this could have been from the first 3/4, rather than the book it ended up being. The themes of time, and of the difference between fiction and reality... sort of go nowhere. Maybe he was saving those ideas for The Magicians. But... as cliche as the concept as it was used there might be, the material of the codex in "Codex" is sort of pointless without it, and as much as I dislike The Magicians, it does offer a fresher look at the concept than most. (The Magicians is basically "adult fans realize Narnia-esque world is real," where their Narnia-esque series faded off into an incomplete, semi-coherent, eerie thing like this codex).
Though, if you enjoyed this, and don't mind watching a sci-fi TV series with actual time-travel, I highly recommend Steins;Gate.

No-thrill Thriller, Least Curious Detective Ever

Did you like The Name of the Rose? This is just like it, but told by the janitor, who has no special knowledge or experience with history. Great research on an unusual subject was sadly wasted on a story I kept waiting to start for real, right up to the last paragraph.

A bad trip

What disappointed you about Codex?

An interesting premise quickly deteriorated. The main character isn't interesting. Forty percent of the story describes his poor performance in a video game. The narrator makes it worse with a droning delivery. The book suddenly ended irrationally. Save your credits.

Odd ending

The story built well for a disappointing ending. If there were a second book it might make more sense

Mostly good with moments of brilliance, but incomplete

I found the main character to be unrelatable. The story itself was brilliant at times, but ultimately felt unfinished. I like books that leave some questions unanswered for the reader, but this didn't feel like that. The ending was just kind of agnostic and unfulfilling.

Just couldn't get into it

What could have made this a 4 or 5-star listening experience for you?

Not sure. I honestly just couldn't get into it.. I thought it sounded interesting before I bought it.

Would you ever listen to anything by Lev Grossman again?

Possibly, I am not sure.

How could the performance have been better?

Maybe a different narrator, but maybe it was just the story itself.

If you could play editor, what scene or scenes would you have cut from Codex?

I'm not really sure

Any additional comments?

no

Not as good as his other books by far

Not as good as his other books by far. Good writing, super slow plot development

Not worth the time

A completely subjective an evaluation:
The story is in parts downright boring. There is little to no progression in the story and I can not recommend it at all.
Beautifully read with great choices for the different characters.

No good at all.

Don't waste your time with this book. It is poorly plotted and tedious, a typical first try. Not worth the price and absolutely not worth the time.