I'm afraid I can't think of any novels dealing with alchemy, period. It's not actually an interest of mine. When I try to think of books with alchemy in, it's generally depicted as a scam, which I assume is not really what you're looking for.

I can absolutely see wanting to put off church authorities. If one must use such prose -- Clarke quotes it several times at length -- good grief -- that's a far better reason.

Thanks for the Liz Hand recommendations. I will hie me to a wishlist.

P.