Origin by Dan Brown
You can also watch the Dan Brown Origin book review on my YouTube channel- https://youtu.be/8xXnclkUUAw
Introduction:
Where do we come from? Where are we going? – The fundamental
premise of Dan Brown’s latest religio-political conspiracy thriller – Origin.
Origin is the fifth installment featuring the protagonist
Professor Robert Langdon, the World renowned professor of religious iconology
and symbols. Like in the previous books, Robert Langdon finds himself amidst
yet another controversial event involving a murder followed by a cryptic chase
to find the killer.
The Dan Brown bandwagon moves to Spain in this latest
installment and the story begins with Edmond Kirsch – a futurist, a world
renowned billionaire scientist and an outspoken atheist making a startling
claim, a discovery which promises to wipe out all the religions and bring about
a paradigm shift in the thought process of the people by answering two of the
most important, unanswered questions in the history of mankind – where do we
come from? And where are we going?
Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain is where the Who’s who of
the World have assembled to watch Edmond reveal his discovery in a live event.
The audience includes Edmond’s erstwhile teacher and a good friend – Professor
Langdon himself.
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| A view of the Guggenheim museum in Bilbao - Spain |
Dan Brown - Origin - The plot
The event begins with an astounding video about the timeline
of mankind and the key events in history that have altered the life as we know
it forever.
The audience is intrigued and the suspense is at its peak
when Edmond walks on to the stage to reveal his discovery. Edmond is in the
middle of his presentation when, to the utter shock and disbelief of the world,
he is shot dead by Admiral Avila, a former Navy commander who is being guided
by a shadow called “regent”.
Prof. Langdon is joined by Ambra Vidal, the director of the
museum and the fiancée of the future king of Spain, who is also in shock as she
witnesses the horror unfold. Together, the two embark on a chase to find out
the password to Edmond’s presentation so that they can trigger it and make his
discovery public.
They are joined by a special individual named Winston – who
is the most advanced piece of AI that Edmond has produced. A computer assistant
who is capable of getting anything and everything done and is a formidable
partner for the two during the chase.
The plot picks pace with different individuals getting
involved and the duo un-raveling mysteries en-route their journey to solve the
murder case.
My thoughts about the book
To begin with, the story line is bulky and there are many
parts in the book which would not enthusiast the reader. While the chase has
its fair share of thrills, suspense and tense moments, the flow is stemmed by
parallel stories about the King, the Prince, Ambra Vidal’s love story amongst
others that fail to hold the attention of the reader and are sort of
inconsequential to the outcome of the book.
Dan Brown seems to be in love with Tesla as reference to its
AI enabled car is given several times. A good product placement may be.
Unlike his previous books, this one is not an out an out
page turner. At many places, I felt the urge to skip reading and fast forward.
Giving credit where its due, every time the story turns
towards Robert Langdon, you feel the thrill and anticipate something exciting
is about to happen. Langdon is up against a formidable opponent who is one step
ahead at every stage. There are several attempts to murder Langdon and Ambra
Vidal and the way in which they survive these threats is exciting.
Previous editions of Brown novels were high on describing
various conspiracy theories about famous museums, churches and Christianity as
a whole. While this book is also on the same lines, it unfortunately is not as informative
as the previous books. After reading all the Dan Brown books, your expectations
are bound to sky rocket and this one might disappoint you as you are left
yearning for more.
A little spoiler for those who are yet to read the book –
the answers to those two fundamental questions are not at all mind boggling,
nor is the antagonist a big surprise.
All in all – I would recommend you to read this book only
for Robert Langdon and if you are new to Dan Brown, do not start with this
book.
Well summarized. I am a Dan Brown fan and had similar feeling son reading this book!
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