Jose Rodrigues Dos Santos Historical Fiction Novels

hello Raj maladi and today we'll be going over some of the novels from oose Rodriguez do Santos or also referred to as JR Santos or Santos is how I'll be referring to him during this video Santos was born April 1st 1964 in pi mamic which was then a Portuguese colony and then his family in the mid '70s uh following the independence of mosambi which was uh which was like under Portuguese control till that time and then it what the independence they moved back to Portugal and he's a very prominent author journalist and a university Professor he pursued a career in journalism and graduating from University of Lisbon and later earning his PhD in war journalism from new University of Lisbon he has a distinguished career as a journalist and working primarily as a reporter and War correspondent and he was also a news anchor for RT which is the Portuguese uh public television network he has covered conflicts in countries like Iraq Afghanistan and East timore and sort of these uh journalistic uh uh Ventures have deeply influenced his writing style and also the Thematic choices Jr Santos uh then went into the literary world with novels uh which are a lot of uh history fiction and history fiction Thrillers and his novels are known for their meticulous research and very complex plots uh with the seamless blending of factual historical events with the fictional narrative and he has a series of novels that feature Thomas norona he's a crypt analyst and a professor and he gets involved uh in very International intrigues and Mysteries providing like thrilling stories uh all these novels are very thrilling with the historical fiction and they also incorporate detailed discussion on a scientific front the historical front and also there is a mix of philosophical uh topics uh which makes them very intellectually uh very stimulating reads uh grr Santos has served as professor at new University of Lisbon where uh uh he teaches journalism his academic background and journalistic experience they sort of had a particular sort of depth and realism to his novels and his novels are published in multiple languages a very popular author so his first uh novel that we be uh going over is codex 632 CeX 632 is very interesting um novel uh of course historical fiction trer right and uh the novel starts off with the death of a historian uh who is investigating uh something related to a lot of history and especially the history of Brazil at that time uh so uh he dies uh mysteriously at a hotel in rioo Brazen um and a sort of very mysterious circumstances well drinking a fruit juice he suddenly perap a and dies uh Thomas norona the history professor and crypt analyst he is uh enlisted to complete the research of this diseased uh diseased historian So This research is funded by a mysterious American Foundation uh which wants to find the true identity of Christopher Columbus uh and essentially the historian was involved in uh some something of that sort as well also related to brazel uh so the now the true identity of Christopher Columbus uh which happens to be like a 500y old conspiracy during the age of Discovery so during that time there was sort of a royal Espionage you can look at sorts and who were the global superpowers in those times like there are superpowers in every Century right and there were two Global superpowers back in those days uh and it deals with a lot of the esoteric word of cabala and the Knights Templar is is covered in this uh novel so norona is uh is investigating the series of encrypted messages uh that the deceased uh historian left behind and these cryptic messages are found among various documents and uh they actually question the established history of Columbus and suggest uh that his Origins were deliberately obscured and who was trying to obscure them and to what purpose and uh what would what would be the benefit for someone who would be obscuring this truth as uh norona is deciphering all these codes he uncovers like startling evidence pointing to rather a very complex figure Christopher Columbus was of course a very complex figure right when you have to deal with uh sort of research it was a research around those time to sale around the world and uh it weaves together a range of historical documents they kind of get pieced together including the enigmatic codex 632 uh which is a secret document supposedly written by uh Columbus himself right and narrative takes the readers across different continents and the eras uh when when the investigation is happening uh uh it goes from uh Jerusalem the ancient Jerusalem and historic Portugal to the modern day New York and R Jiro uh this is what you get to read uh when you're uh reading the Santos's novel uh essentially he takes you to these uh locals and uh like paints a very Vivid picture of the current scenario and while investigating pouring over some of these uh uh do ments as well you you get transported back in the time he explores the theories of Columbus as a secret agent for the Portuguese monarchy and uh also about whether he was a Jew and uh whether he was polish or catalonian or Italian all these are explored and uh that's what keeps you engaged uh when you are reading this Noel and there is also references to Pedro Alvarez cabal who discovered Brazil in the early 1500s from the Portuguese and there is a lot of references in this novel for for cabal as well and also a lot of details on what officially has been part of history and the age of discoveries uh a discussion around the location of Columbus Tom uh is it in civil Cathedral or some other place so almost uh norona while investigating Dives deeper he faces increasing danger that suggest powerful forces are wanting to keep the truth about Columbus's Origins headed and why would they try to hide there reasons behind that as well the research leads to a lot of Revelations about the involvement of secret societies there is espionage and complex politics around the age of Discovery all these exist in all the centuries previous centuries as well as they exist now and through this whole process the protagonist under goes personal growth of himself and faces the ethnical dilemmas uh regarding the historical truth versus the national myths The Narrative that get weaved uh by various uh Nations and uh and there is a reason for everything of why history gets written this way it it is written and C 632 is can be praised for its meticulous research uh and a plot that challenges the conventional history of one of the most iconic figures in the world exploration um uh around ping America as well right like there is a lot of credit that needs to go and uh also uh how the colonies got established and so on uh there is there is reasoning provided uh enough reasoning provided to the leader of why uh there is some discussion happening down that path the novel is a mix of uh uh mix of historical mystery sort of an academic adventure and an Espionage Thriller it it can be appealing to readers that are interested in hist and also uh a lot of the cryptography uh in uh guys who are involved in cryptography and the conspiracy theories this will be a good this will be a good uh to uh to have and uh Jose Rodriguez do Santos uses his background in journalism and the skills as a Storyteller uh to craft a narrative uh which which was both educational and entertaining for me personally and I believe the readers will uh also like to question how history is written and why it gets written in a certain way so you get you get Ponder on these questions yourself like when you are reading and get transported back uh like centuries right in history and uh how the narrative gets weaved and uh why do they get weaved the way they are and if one needs to make progress what needs to be done right and uh those are those are all the sort of intriguing questions you will end up uh end up getting answered as well and also Ponder in your own mind so the next uh novel Einstein Enigma and beautiful beautiful novel which is Again part of the Thomas neurona series and uh it follows the protagonist who is Thomas norona and crypt analyst and a history professor and now he has to embark on a quest to unravel a puzzle that is that is a puzzle related to Albert Einstein the great scientist and the story actually opens out uh in 1951 when Ben grian the then prime minister of Israel he visits Einstein in Princeton requesting some help from the scientist uh this is newly formed Israel at that time right new country uh that is being established and uh this meeting actually happened and uh Einstein around this time is is closer to death and he's struggling with his final project about the theory of everything that we know about and that could potentially in of unite all the physical laws of the universe how would rather than leaving a pure scientific manuscript uh what Einstein leaves behind is a riddle that uh is sort of an intersection between science and spirituality Einstein was both a scientist and also he became very spiritual uh in towards the end of his life uh if we read a lot of history of Einstein and in this manuscript uh which is sort of cryptic Einstein is suggesting a profound and potentially world changing secret and that is the God's formula and the narrative now after that meeting between benuron and Einstein the narrative shifts to the present day where Thomas norona is recruited by the Iranian uh nuclear physicist who has discovered a hidden sepher in one of Einstein's long lost papers so this document seems to point to a formula that could potentially lead to the creation of a nuclear bomb and potentially like uh a different version of the nuclear bomb um as norona tries to dive deeper into decrypting the cipher he realizes the stakes are much higher than what he initially thought the formula not only has some Global Security implications but it also questions the philosophical and ethical nature of uh What uh what he is trying to uncover and dive deeper into and and the existence of God itself right and and th's journey takes him around the globe from Teran to Cairo from Princeton to the Vatican along the way this is what you get to uh like immerse yourself like uh if you are if you are a traveler you you immerse yourself when you are reading the novel uh any of these novels the previous one as well get transported back in time transported back to different places and you visualize things so along the way uh when uh when norona um is trying to dive deeper he encounters various Scholars scientists and religious leaders uh each of them offering their own perspective right and then on the interplay between science and Faith so there is is there is an enigma to be solved so now norona confronts both the external dangers and the internal philosophical dilemas that he's himself growing uh when when he's Tred to dig deeper find out more and solve something he meanwhile is know growing himself and particularly the conflict between reason and beliefs that we are all uh been LED uh to follow uh and Thomas has to now unravel the code in a stepwise fashion this Einstein anding the God's formula he has to do that in a stepwise way to and actually keeps the readers engaged to Solve the Riddle and begin to explore what we really believe and we will grow ourselves as well that's why reading is is amazing like uh you question and then uh uh you you question in contemporary sort of nature right and uh begin to grow more as well when you read these things and we also begin to explore what we really believe when it comes to the big questions and uh Santos is not afraid to ask questions in the novel right and uh this we get a lot of critics as well and some admirers uh critics and admirers usually have a democracy there so uh it asks the questions uh why are we here what came before the universe how is the universe and these are deep deep questions philosophical and spiritual questions right and the universe Eternal does God exist and and uh we can ask the questions ourselves as well how can we prove God exists and some people don't like and that's where the critiques start to form the own narrative right and and personally you need to look at these novels with an open mind and that's when you will really enjoy uh look at it for the reason it is written it's a historical fiction as well and uh in and sort of contemporary uh Thriller in a way when it comes to norona trying to solve this uh historical uh fact combined with fiction so that's how we need to read it I believe the Einstein Enigma is not just a novel about solving a scientific mystery it's also the deeper questions and the exploration ation that we can have about the larger questions about universe and human existence Santos integrates the real scientific theories and philosophical questions into the fabric of the story it's very intellectually stimulating and broadly accessible and uh I would encourage you yourself also have to go through these thoughts and that's when it becomes interesting any novel becomes interesting that way a thrilling narrative that combines the factual SCI ific exploration the suspense the Intrigue and it's a well-crafted thriller and it will appeal to the readers uh who want to know more philosophically and uh and the metaphysical inquiries and spirituality as well so it's a very good novel for uh asking these questions and pondering over in your own mind about uh how would you address these questions yourself and the questions get posed so einan Enigma is a wonderful wonderful read and I would encourage the readers to pick it up and uh go through it so that's it for today and uh till next time for another author and their novels uh will come back thank you bye [Music]