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Lets be honest. I wanted to like this book. I wanted to love it. I just came off [b:The Lost Symbol|6411961|The Lost Symbol (Robert Langdon, #3)|Dan Brown|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1358274396s/6411961.jpg|6600281] which I adored. But I'm not sure I totally bought this story. My main problem was that I think Dan Brown tried to do something very different with this story. This is a risky move on the 4th book of a series, throwing us a curveball is very confusing.
This book starts off with our lovely Robert Langdon waking up from a coma with no memories after being shot. Essentially, the story takes place in reverse, with Robert being forced to retrace steps that he'd already taken the previous day in trying to solve a mystery relating to Dante's Divine Comedy. This backward retracing works with some stories, I'm not sure it works here. At times it felt very repetitive, even if I didn't see Robert go to the museum the first time or solve the puzzle the first time, it feels redundant knowing that he's essentially doing all this work twice.
All the while there is this group, the Consortium, who are a shady group who has been financing a scientist who is adamantly supportive of Malthusian population catastrophe, appears to be trying to hunt down Langdon. Still with me?
So far, we have The Divine Comedy, Malthusian Population catastrophe, privately contracted corporations with hitmen, the World Health Organization, and an anesthetized Robert. This book is not for the faint of heart, obviously.
But to complicate matters, then we start throwing in the fact that this scientist could have created a super virus to wipe out part of the population. I'm out of breath trying to remember everything.
Dan Brown tried to tackle too much in this book. There were too many things going on. And I really just disliked Sienna. This book was well written, it just wasn't what I wanted with Robert Langdon.
This book starts off with our lovely Robert Langdon waking up from a coma with no memories after being shot. Essentially, the story takes place in reverse, with Robert being forced to retrace steps that he'd already taken the previous day in trying to solve a mystery relating to Dante's Divine Comedy. This backward retracing works with some stories, I'm not sure it works here. At times it felt very repetitive, even if I didn't see Robert go to the museum the first time or solve the puzzle the first time, it feels redundant knowing that he's essentially doing all this work twice.
All the while there is this group, the Consortium, who are a shady group who has been financing a scientist who is adamantly supportive of Malthusian population catastrophe, appears to be trying to hunt down Langdon. Still with me?
So far, we have The Divine Comedy, Malthusian Population catastrophe, privately contracted corporations with hitmen, the World Health Organization, and an anesthetized Robert. This book is not for the faint of heart, obviously.
But to complicate matters, then we start throwing in the fact that this scientist could have created a super virus to wipe out part of the population. I'm out of breath trying to remember everything.
Dan Brown tried to tackle too much in this book. There were too many things going on. And I really just disliked Sienna. This book was well written, it just wasn't what I wanted with Robert Langdon.
I love Florence, so this was perfect! The movie was very disappointing and changed the ENTIRE ending! The book made so much more sense. You won’t be disappointed. Love an ambiguous villain.
Langdon isn't at his best, but Brown still impresses.
adventurous
inspiring
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
This story started of very very slow for me. The build up felt overly lengthy, which is not something I normally say about Dan Brown novels but I enjoyed being back in Robert Langdon's world one more time.
adventurous
challenging
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
One of my favorite parts of Dan Brown's writing is the sheer amount of research that he puts into his books. This review is following a reread because I wanted some additional context for when I visit Florence and Venice later this year. I wanted to see if there were any off the beaten path places suggested in this book I could explore (maybe) and gain some insight into the history of these cities (definitely provided).
As a biologist, I find the premise of this book exceptionally interesting, though a little out there. Not in terms of the threat of a virus/global pandemic (and our exceptionally poor systems to deal with them as exemplified further by the response to the COVID-19 pandemic), but because of the slightly mad scientist who created an utterly ridiculous series of clues for his nemesis (the head of the WHO) to follow.The absurdity of this is heightened by the fact that his nemesis could never figure out these clues on her own and also that there was absolutely nothing that could have been done to prevent the inevitable plague. .
This book has some of my favorite "wait, what?" moments for a mystery/thriller as you try to figure out what's happening, which side is good, and who is working together. I love how this story begins, with Robert unable to remember the past two days, and how he and Sienna have to piece together what happened to him and what he was trying to accomplish.
I do think that the ending of this book leaves a little bit to be desired, as the characters all just seem to sweep everything under the rug and move on. I wish they spent slightly more time dealing with the implications of what has happened and how the world could be impacted moving forward.
As a biologist, I find the premise of this book exceptionally interesting, though a little out there. Not in terms of the threat of a virus/global pandemic (and our exceptionally poor systems to deal with them as exemplified further by the response to the COVID-19 pandemic), but because of the slightly mad scientist who created an utterly ridiculous series of clues for his nemesis (the head of the WHO) to follow.
This book has some of my favorite "wait, what?" moments for a mystery/thriller as you try to figure out what's happening, which side is good, and who is working together. I love how this story begins, with Robert unable to remember the past two days, and how he and Sienna have to piece together what happened to him and what he was trying to accomplish.
I do think that the ending of this book leaves a little bit to be desired, as the characters all just seem to sweep everything under the rug and move on. I wish they spent slightly more time dealing with the implications of what has happened and how the world could be impacted moving forward.
adventurous
challenging
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I loved the plot of this book, especially when compared to the movie although I understand why the changes were made when it was adapted to the screen. I found that this book is the most haunting of all the Robert Langdon books, especially when reading it after the COVID pandemic. As usual, the thought and research into this book is especially fascinating and I was interested the whole time!