This is one of the many The Da Vinci Code type books published this decade, although this one's by a more established writer. I found this is an average thriller, with the 'draw' being that the Codex being sought after by the investment banker protagonist, sees him not just investigating literature and literary riddles, but also computer tech as well, especially games! One needs to be more than like The Da Vinci Code to make one an interesting book! 5 out of 12, Two Star read.2005 read

I'm hiding this review because it's impossible for me to review this without discussing the ending. Codex was a book that I really, really wanted to love. I'm a lover of literary mystery and of medieval history, so the premise began as enticing and quickly became irresistible. It presented a mystery so big and so ancient, that I couldn't wait to see where the author was going. It seemed like an incredible story for anyone who is fascinated by the mysteries of the past. Throughout the book, it se...

If you were an investment banker before the 2008 recession, and you had just begun your first vacation in four years prior to moving from New York to a cushy new position in London, would you take on a job unpacking and cataloguing an ancient library for an elusive, eccentric, and extremely wealthy British couple who also happen to be nobility? That’s what Edward Wozny does in Codex, and it changes everything. On the surface, that seems like it should be a good thing to say about a novel. Change...

I was enjoying this book right up to the last twenty pages, when the plot just collapsed. It was as if the author had run out of ideas or got so bored with the project that he just slapped together something like an ending and walked away. When I set the book down I actually looked at it and said, “That’s it?” What a disappointing finish. It had started well, with an interesting plot and enigmatic clues to follow. I never really bought into the protagonist’s motivation, the fact that after demon...

Codex started so well, with a tone that reminded me strongly of Grossman's other novel, The Magicians. The book has one of those great beginnings that plunge you straight into the intrigue of the plot; from protagonist Edward's encounter with a strange couple, to his appointment with a client and subsequent acceptance - reluctant but instinctive - of a book-related quest, I was hooked within the first chapter. Scores of titillating details - Laura Crowlyk's archaic apartment building with its ec...

Codex has a very interesting premise - a long lost manuscript that holds a secret and good guys and bad guys going after it. Sure, it's been done before but I'm always up for more stories like this.But. . . .Ultimately unsatisfying.It is going to be very hard for me to review this book without spoilers, so -(view spoiler)[Edward - the main character. Not particularly likable or unlikable. How a hard driving investment banker becomes a gob of goo over a bitchy woman he sees once and talks to a co...

Written before his wildly acclaimed Magician series, I can tell this is an earlier attempt at a novel. While Grossman spins a wicked tale, it's not as polished as later books.Edward is a high-profile investment banker with a short sabbatical between job postings, when he's asked to sort out an antique book collection for a distant Duke and Duchess; specifically, to watch for a "certain book" rumored to be real and potentially in their stacks.This of course leads to intrigue and suspicion, advent...

I read this book on vacation, and so my brain was as relaxed as possible and as willing to be understanding. However, for the sake of full disclosure (and, hopefully, credibility), I am a graduate student in Medieval Studies, and I happen to have been taking a couse in the Medieval Book this semester, so that was my background while I was reading Codex.I don't really need to repeat the comments of most of the people here -- that the plot is thin, the characters shallow, and that at best, the nov...

I never just pick up a book off the shelf and buy it. But the title caught my eye and with a scan of the back cover I got carried away…. Medieval Manuscripts, Videogames, New York, mystery, rich people… SOLD to the man in the book story with the wandering eyes. And the quipped reviews on the back from the New York Times, the Village Voice, the Boston Globe, the Los Angeles Times, et al were practically beating off all over the cover. Buyer beware!It was a shallow breezy read Grossman gives us th...

Here's the thing. I loved the story and the way it unfolded--at a leisurely pace, with moments of inspiration and excitement. The problem, however, is that the last couple of chapters build build build and FIZZLE. There were at least half a dozen scenarios that I could think of for the ending as I was reading up to it, and instead what I got was this uninspired, pat ending with loose ends left everywhere. I don't need everything to be resolved by the end, but really. The author couldn't have at

I was all set to give this book a higher rating, really. The writing is not uncompelling -- I wouldn't say it's slick and fascinating prose, but it's not a turn-off, either. It's okay for lazy reading, and the descriptions are pretty good. Some parts are quite fascinating, particularly the descriptions of MOMUS.Characterisation is shaky, though. I don't particularly care about any of the characters, or feel convinced by their relationships to each other. Edward, the main character, was blandly u...

This is by far the worst book I've ever read... I'm not an expert and I'm really sorry but this was a huge disappointment. At first it seemed quite promising. The first chapters were fast paced and quite intriguing I have to admit. However, there is nothing worse than a book which gets more and more boring as the story unfolds. It should be the other way around. When I finally made it to the last chapters I gradually regained my interest only find out that I had just read THE WORST ENDING EVEEEE...

I honestly can't remember the last time I read a book so incredibly up its own arse as Codex. My God, this was a slog and could I see the last day or two over, knowing the ultimate revelations at the heart of the 'mystery', I would not have bothered. Nor should you.The book gives us a rare library and priceless manuscript, as promised, but there's nothing 'deadly' about the secret. There's nothing interesting about it either. Plus we have to wade through 300 pages of dry, humourless prose driven...

Codex got great professional reviews, with The New York Times comparing it and putting right next to The Name of The Rose. But when you read the "unprofessional" reviews you'll see that it bombed and was panned practically everywhere, including this site. I disliked Grossman's The Magicians, but I decided to give him another chance since I already had the book. It was this title that made me interested in him, after all. The title caught my eye and the backcover caught my interest - a mystery in...

Interesting. Yes, it was an engaging story, well written. The reader is sucked tightly into Edward's mental struggles. But the conclusion--the very last pages--was as unsatisfactory as it was inevitable.Edward stumbled through the story, the game, and life with little apparent engagement. It was like his youthful bout of chess mastery: it came and went with little investment by him. He observed as much as acted it. Several times Edward admits being afraid, but he never acts afraid. He never chan...

Young investment banker gets caught up in the search for a medieval manuscript that may or may not exist.Ouch, this is not good. It's what appears to be Grossman's default protagonist: young white New Yorker dude who is deeply confused that his enormous privilege doesn't translate automatically to happiness. But his later fantasies have so much more muscle and richness to them. This thriller, by comparison, thumps blandly along to its dull conclusion.That's actually one of the saddest things abo...

Reading the book jacket, I was intrigued by this story, only to be horribly disappointed. And a fair bit of it, I'm sure, was that the writing just didn't develop the characters at all. Where to begin? We first meet our protagonist (Wozny - can't even remember his first name, even though I just finished this yesterday) and quickly learn that he is good at his job, headed to London for his company, and has 2 weeks of vacation. He somehow (it's never properly explained why he ends up on this proje...

This book took a long time to grow on me. This was partly due to the basic fact that most thrillers start out slow and then speed up faster and faster until you cannot put it down. The other part was that, early in the novel, he uses the phrase(if I can recall correctly) "very expensive grey handmade suit." Whenever a banker wears a handmade suit, it is costly. He did not need to use "expensive", let alone "very expensive." My snobbery, though, came back to bite me because I spent a good hour be...

Really enjoyable, readable, suspenseful bookworm stuff for weekend/vacation reading. There were some annoying elements, but nothing off-putting enough to wreck the fun for me. Maybe not as good as the very best in the genre, but I liked it way more than the NYT bestsellers revolving around similar themes.Reading other people's 2-3 star reviews I have to agree with a lot of their complaints, but I still managed to really like the book. Even though the ending isn't very satisfying I didn't feel li...

So I've started watching The Magicians on Neftlix, a tv show based on a strikingly derivative Grossman's book the appropriates ideas with kleptomaniacal glee. I didn't care for the book originally despite loving the theme of magic, this wasn't an inspired choice. But it made me think of Codex, the book Grossman wrote before The Magicians fame, so I checked it out. Just as much as I love magic, I love a good bibliomystery and as far as bibliomysteries go this was pretty decent. Once again Grossma...