What do you do when you briefly hold in your hand and then lose a legendary book reputed to contain the secret name of God which will protect you against the pending Apocalypse? If you're anything like Balthasar, the hero of this one, you kick yourself and then go chasing it around Europe.

It took a few dozen pages to get into but after that I was hooked and thoroughly enjoyed it. An easy to read but erudite novel which left me wondering what became of a number of the other characters he met on his travels. This is the first book I've read by Maalouf but it certainly won't be the last. ( )

A good read particularly for the way Maalouf brings the historical period to life however I found the journal entry format to grow a bit tired after a period. The scope of the novel from Asia Minor through the Ottoman empire to London and back to Genoa is impressive. ( )

A synopsis would make this seem like a great book. It deals with the travels and adventures of a merchant facing the prophesised end of the world in 1666. He goes to places that should be interesting and meets people who should be interesting. Tedious in the extreme. ( )

Balthasar's Odyssey explores the speculation of the world coming to an end. The author has written quite an ambitious novel that sets at the eve of the year of the Beast; the year as predicted in the Book of Revelations in which the Antichrist will appear and the Apocalypse will resurface. God has 99 names in the Koran and it has been said that God has the most clandestine 100th name that contributes to the scope of the novel.
Balthasar Embriaco was a merchant and antique dealer living in the Levant. The Geonese embarks on the quest for a mysterious book entitled "The Hundredth Name" by fortuity. Crazed for the rumor and religious myth, Balthasar was convinced, with unshakable conviction, that the mere knowledge of this hundredth appellation will help him find salvation for not only himself but also mankind.

From Levant Balthasar set out on a tumultuous odyssey that spanned the Asia Minor, the Mediterranean and finally to Europe, a distance that was comparable to Paul's missionary routes. He left his mark in Constantinople and then bound for Smyrna, sailed across the Mediterranean to Genoa then Lisbon, and finally London. During his indefatigable quest for the book, Balthasar encountered fear, falsehood, charlatan, deceit, and disillusion, to the point he wished to give up.

Whether Balthasar found the book or not must be left to the readers, but Balthasar's journey had opened his eyes to the civilized world, to stricken communities, and cities in ruins. Though parts of the novel are somewhat trite and disjointed, Balthasar's Odyssey tells a tale of the Mediterranean through a unique religious perspective. ( )