This book took me quite some time to get through, because, honestly, it is quite dry.  I was intrigued by the description, as I do not usually read fiction work involving mathematics or science.  To be honest, there were many times where I contemplated not finishing the book, but I wanted to give it a fair shot.

An Elegant Solution, by Paul Robertson, is just over 400 pages long.  I started to get intrigued around page 350.  There are a lot of seemingly unnecessary descriptions, and the dialogue is stilted.  Even so long ago, I find it hard to believe that people talked in such a manner.  It is almost as if they speak in riddles.

What I did love about the book was the way in which the author uses words.  It is hard to find good fiction these days…and by that I mean fiction works that use words well.  Paul Robertson is phenomenal with word play.  I appreciate that he played with rhymes, comparison, description, small themes woven throughout, and lots of Biblical references.  As a word lover, I got almost giddy sometimes with how clever the word play was.  Rarely is that seen in books today, as usually authors just state the facts or use a lot of dialogue to tell the story.

While often the word play is quite clever, it also often delves into the ridiculous however.  Too much of a good thing is still too much.  Sometimes the words were playing so much, I couldn’t figure out what was meant.

The overall plot was intriguing, as again, I do not usually read about that time period or about mathematics.  I enjoyed how mathematics was related to Christianity and how it shows us more of God.  The telling of the story however was quite slow and dry.  At the end, I also was left somewhat confused as to what happened.  The main character, who seemed so honorable throughout the story, suddenly trades his respect and honor to engage in theft and deceit.

Overall, I was unimpressed with the book.

Note: I received this book for free from Bethany House Publishers in exchange for this review.

-Bonnie