Alan Lightman is a best-selling novelist as well as a distinguished scientist; for many years, he taught both physics and writing at MIT. In his latest novel, Mr. g, Lightman spins a playful but reverent story about the creation of the universe from the perspective of its creator.

Because this is a scientist’s creation myth, it elegantly adheres to the laws of physics. After inventing time, Mr. g uses precise exponents to measure its passage. Mr. g brings electrons, muons, taus, quarks, squarks, gravitrons, photons, and neutrinos into being and marks the time as they coalesce into larger particles, creating atoms, molecules, and elements. The divine magic of this creation is science itself.

For a book with no hidden plot twists—the reader knows that Mr. g’s experiments in cosmos-building in his pet universe, Aalam-104729, are bound to lead to the birth of mankind—Mr. g is strangely suspenseful. It turns out that the act of creation is profoundly transformative, even for a formless, timeless, all-powerful primogenitor. The plot moves forward as the universe gradually unfolds, but the real story here is about Mr. g’s inner awakening.

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