Devil gold

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novel
title Devil gold
Original title Devil gold
country Germany
author Andreas Eschbach
illustrator Cover design: Johannes Wiebel , punchdesign, Munich
publishing company Bastei Lübbe
First publication September 9, 2016

Teufelsgold is a novel by Andreas Eschbach from 2016.

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The book's protagonist, a young investment advisor named Hendrick Busske, had to hold investor seminars on his behalf at the end of the 1990s, a job that initially didn't appeal to him. All in all, he is dissatisfied with his life, especially his career, especially when he is watching the world of the rich as an onlooker , as is now the case when preparing for a seminar . To dampen his excitement, he steals an old book from a second-hand bookshop that tells and fascinates him of the experiences of an alchemist at the end of the 13th century. Although Hendrick himself does not believe in his investment recommendations, the seminar turns out to be an unexpected success, especially since he has a natural talent for storytelling and spices his seminar with wisdom from alchemy, in which he has always been interested. A young woman who hooks up with Hendrick after the seminar at the hotel bar and seduces him, steals the book from him, which he had previously copied. His professional development advances, his young wife becomes pregnant, and an unexpected financial blessing as a result of inheritance and an apparently random offer from a generous stranger who is also interested in alchemy make him the apparent owner of the castle, for him just an arrangement that of advertising for his investor seminars, which he now runs as a self-employed person. This was preceded by a chance hit in the forecast of the bursting of the dot-com bubble in 2000.

Although his career is progressing, he has a loving wife and a bright daughter, he feels a sense of emptiness, as if he has not yet found his true destiny and happiness. He uses his seminars to cheat, but soon that doesn't satisfy him either. By chance he learns of another book fragment from the story of the alchemist.

In this late 13th century story, a traveling alchemist is arrested by a count's bailiffs. In the arrested man's cart there is a stone that emits deadly rays and is said to be the legendary philosopher's stone . Despite massive resistance and warnings of calamity, the count forces the alchemist to produce gold in order to finance a new crusade . From this gold a golden armor is forged for the count. The count and all those gathered around him die from the radioactivity of the irradiated gold. The alchemist and a fellow soldier manage to escape and the Teutonic Knights Order , who investigate the catastrophe, tries to get hold of the stone, which ultimately succeeds in eliminating it and its unfortunate powers.

When the gold armor that was lost at the time is rediscovered while working on the motorway, Hendrick contacts his brother, who works as a nuclear physicist at CERN in Geneva and who has a scientific explanation for the whole thing. According to this, gold was probably made from mercury using a strong radiation source, probably from a meteorite . Together they want to examine the armament for radioactivity , but the find is stolen beforehand. The two come under suspicion, and due to an unfortunate chain, Hendrick loses his well-paid seminar assignments, as he is exposed as a charlatan .

The lord of the castle uses the situation to initiate Hendrick into the secret of alchemy and pretends that his real goal is eternal life in a better parallel world , like paradise. In the basement of the castle, he presents the actual lord of the castle, the now 800-year-old alchemist. To rejuvenate him and learn the secrets, Hendrick is supposed to get the gold armor. He can track down the woman who stole the book from him on Staten Island , she is the heir of a large corporation. She tells him that she melted down the armor in order to get at the fragments of the Philosopher's Stone it contained, since she too knows the story of eternal life. She is the descendant of the alchemist's comrade.

After Hendrick stole a missing document from the Teutonic Knights Order and injured those responsible there, those involved try to reach the other level of existence promised by the alchemist. Hendrick manages to get out at the last moment after learning the truth about his brother and daughter. The alchemist, Hendricks brother and the New Yorker complete the experiment, but it remains unclear whether they will die in an explosion or reach the other parallel dimension. Hendrick tries to build on his old life, but first has to face justice for his deserved punishment.

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