The Book of the Most Precious Substance

Should every seemingly objective review begin with a totally subjective disclaimer? Let’s say yes. In my case, as a Lovecraft-obsessed teenager, I once thought that the book of magic spells called the Necronimicon that he referenced in his short stories was a real grimoire. Equally obsessed with the more diabolical extremes of hard rock, like Alice Cooper, Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin, since the latter group’s guitarist Jimmy Page purchased black magician Aleister Crowley’s mansion on the shores of Loch Ness, I forced myself to read some of his tracts on sex magic and memorized a saying of his adopted by many Satanists: “Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the law.” Childhood readings of Poe (at school) and the lurid paperbacks of Mickey Spillane like “Kiss Me Deadly” (purchased from a book carousel in Safeway), inspired a love of mysteries.Now that the reviewer’s tastes and biases have been firmly established, when I first saw this book reviewed in The New York Times, it seemed like a ménage-à-trois of my early reading and listening obsessions. Though I claim no powers of prognostication my hunch was amply rewarded.On the surface, the plot orbits around the search for an ultra-rare book of sex magic memorialized in the title of this novel. The quest involves Lily, a burned-out writer and rare book dealer, who teams up with Lucas, who trades in books but traffics in brief flings and whom Lily describes in yin and yang terms: “There was a fear of depth in Lucas, a resistance to real connection. In truth, that made him a little more attractive, to me and I suspect to the women he dated. All the fun, none of the vulnerability.”This is a good indication of how the characterizations of the principal players and their relationships run blood deep. Many of the book’s sexier moments marry the cerebral to the sensual: “Good sex wasn’t only the presence of pleasure; it was the absence of all other thoughts.”Only three copies of the book are known to exist. To find one for a wealthy collector will take Lucas and Lily all over the world, to meet a billionaire in New York, who shoots seagulls on the beach, an admiral in Washington, who greets them in full naval dress and drinks cups of weak Nescafe, and then they’re off to a sex commune in New Orleans where Lily will leave Lucas to his own vices.Intrigued yet? I sure was.Another rare book dealer, Leo Singleton, explains the five steps of the grimoire involve different bodily fluids that are used in conjunction with words to anoint seals. Naturally, these acts require the coupling of two hetero lovers, namely, Lucas and Lily. Reader beware. The book is also a Pandora’s box, which might confer great wealth and power on those who follow these steps to completion, or it may destroy them in the process.The main thread that binds the book together is power in its many manifestations: the lure of riches and material possessions; the power of business clout and military might; the power of technology; the power of possessing another person’s body and affections; and the power to pursue one’s lottery-winning fantasies of hedonism to the hilt.As they soon find out, power comes with consequences and compromises. For her, finding and selling the book would cure a lot of her financial woes. For Lucas, it would allow him to continue living this five-star life of wanton abandon.Whatever magic the pursuit of the book is working on them (and all great books cast magic spells over their readers) are both subtle and plausible. Sara Gran’s no-nonsense-or-histrionics prose stresses realism over the CGI-heavy excesses of cinematic fantasy or horror fiction.For anyone who loves books – their smells, textures, histories and thumbed pages, the dedications written in fading ink to some long-dead sibling or spouse – this is a different kind of love story. These passages are among my favourites; they’re rendered with a booklover’s eye for evocative details like “vellum paper, likely made from the skin of a newborn calf.” As a girl, Lily’s best friends were books. “Opening a book had always been like opening a window into a new and mysterious world,” she recalls. (Wow! Same here.) And Lucas confesses, in one of the funniest and frankest sections, how he learned about sex through dirty books like “Wicked Wives.” Now that Lily’s selling off her collection to keep herself financially solvent, her old love for books is turning as cold as her stagnating marriage to a man who is now an invalid. No spoilers (okay, just that one), but this tragic backstory and how it overlays the present is the real heart and spine of the novel.As a writer myself, I always read other writers’ books with one eye on the prose and the story, while the other tries to see what plot twists are lurking on the horizon. One of those switchbacks I saw coming. Several others blindsided me.Yet plot twists are like a magician’s sleight-of-hand. After the awe factor fades, you’re left with something illusory and empty unless the twists come with some emotional heft that is both all too real and all too human. We see those qualities on display in the novel’s centerpiece at a mansion in the French countryside owned by a witch/dominatrix/countess and again at the end, where the hard-won wisdom of middle age overrides the vain delusions of youth.In the end, the book brings us to a place where even power has its limits, and the warms jets of pleasure may not be enough to extinguish all the cold drafts of pain.The denouement is bittersweet. Just like life. Just like love.

Okay this one was a drag to get to the good part, i mean i had to read more than half a book. overall good story , kind of predictable ending

This book wasn't a bad book but it just didn't grab me like I was hoping it would. It is about a rare book dealer, Lily, who comes across the knowledge of a book out there that is extremely rare and powerful. There are people willing to pay good money to get their hands on it. She tells a rare book buyer about it and asks if he's heard about it. He has not but will ask around. Lily doesn't think much more about it and heads home to her country house and her invalid husband. When she gets a call from Lucas and a meeting with someone else gives hope to the book, she is now looking at using if for its power instead of the money.So it sounded great and sometimes it was. There was some adventure and some steamy sex scenes but all it all, it was too drawn out. I found myself skimming because I just wanted to get through it. I didn't really like any of the characters either. For a bit, Abe the invalid husband at home, was the only one but changed my mind in the end. Also, the ending... it was neatly tied but it was parts silly and parts depressing. So to sum it up... great premise, meh execution.

Sara Gran is a skilled practitioner of occult and supernatural fiction. Her earlier novel Come Closer is an excellent example of this. The Book of the Most Precious Substance isn’t quite as powerful. It doesn’t produce the creepy chill that Closer induces.However it’s an engrossing page turner up until at around two thirds through .Then Madame turns up !Madame lives in a French Chateau and is a sadomasochistic lesbian dominitrix . You realize , oh no I’m reading The Story of O. Up until then we’ve had delicate hints of Elizabeth Kostova ‘s Historian with a nose of Anne Rices Witching Hour. This section of the book is extremely boring and so overdone that it virtually destroys the book. Up to that point I’d been thoroughly enjoying it. The porno glitz was just annoying., as was the main character Lilli musing in a manner that would do Clive Barkers Pinhead proud. It takes a while for the book to recover and thankfully it does.The ending is very effective.Fundamentally Gran is a very good writer. I read this book in three days. She creates believable characters unlike many other practitioners in this area. There is none of this , I’m going to prove I don’t believe in ghosts even when it’s fairly obvious the ghosts are trying to kill me , that you often encounter. Gran takes on a hard task here. How do you write a sex magick novel without falling into excess. Well at least she resists naming Jimmy Paige!( He is hinted at).There is no question that this is a book lovers book. Most of the characters are in some sense involved in the book trade or are authors or both. Gran is also clearly enamored of cities. Throw in the supernatural and you have a book that is in many respects irresistible.

At its heart, The Book of the Most Precious Substance is a quest novel. Not an action filled Indiana Jones type quest, this one is more about meeting people and talking to gather information. As is the way with quests, there is a lot of travelling. Lily's career as a writer, as well as any enjoyment she had of life, has disappeared with the health of her husband, Abel. During the course of her new career as a book dealer, she hears about The Book. Everything changes. From this point on her life becomes a quest for The Book, with her newly acquired partner and fellow book dealer, Lucas. As I said, it's more about travelling to various places to meet various people than anything else, although the enigma about the book provides some spice in the way of magic/mystery/sex. It's probably a 7/10 for me, but as Sara Gran has tried to do something a bit adventurous (and partially succeeding) with The Book, I'll round it up, not down.

The author has a powerful talent and the book combines strong characters, a sense of place and a driving plot around a McGuffin. At times, the book seems to be the basis for a film - something like a cross between the Ninth Gate and Eyes Wide Shut. As as book, it reads a little like Naomi Novik’s Scholomance trilogy. A competent script writer and excellent director could make a number of different and powerful films from this book, with many strong roles. Therein lies the issue with it as a book - which did the author intend? Read the book and you will see. Hence 4 not 5 stars.

Decent caper. Perfectly readable.However be warned plenty of sex content and not giving anything away by saying the precious substance is the female ejaculation.

Bought this hardback book new because reviews praised it . I should have known better, very disappointing, the principal characters are not believable really. The life description for the female initially rings true because I am a real life full time carer for my wife and know very well how destructive of the carer it can be.But suddenly becoming a globe trotter following , at great expense, a mystical book is laughable.Sorry author but that’s my take on this book. The writing is good but the scenario doesn’t ring true, magic or not.

Two booksellers go racing off on a quest for a book (which might not exist) with magical and sexual powersThey have various adventures, meet lots of weird people, cross continents and indulge in sexual acts. The storyline is unbelievable but that’s to be expected with fantasy. Its very readable but not memorable or frightening a bit like an adult fairy story in many respects