Angels & Demons (Robert Langdon)

I had been very impressed by DIGITAL FORTESS, Dan Brown's first novel, and found his treatment of a complex subject matter both knowledgeable and compelling. I had then missed the publication of ANGELS AND DEMONS, but felt that he had overplayed his hand in his third novel DECEPTION POINT, which started with an interesting premise but wandered into unnecessary complexity and violence and ultimately complete implausibilty. With the publication of THE DA VINCI CODE, upon learning that Robert Langdon is the central character in both DA VINCI and ANGELS, I decided to first read ANGELS in order to keep the stories in sequence. This is a mesmerizing page turner as long as you accept the author's central technological premises concerning scientific achievements in the near future. Robert Langdon, a professor of iconography and religious symbology at Harvard, is awakened by a telephone call from Maximilian Kohler, head of a prestigious European scientific institute. One of Kohler's fellow scientists has been murdered and an ancient symbol burned into his chest. Langdon feels compelled to investigate, and soon finds himself in the midst of a plot involving not only the death of Leonardo Vetra, a priest who is the world's leading antimatter researcher, but of the revival of a centuries old vendetta by a secret society, The Illuminati, against the Catholic Church. Langdon is forced by circumstances and the nature of the threat to join forces with Vittoria Vetra, Leonardo's adopted daughter, in an attempt to uncover the Illumunati's secret and halt not only several additional murders which have been threatened but the destruction of The Vatican itself. Incredibly, the entire story takes place within a time span of just over twelve hours, which adds to the compelling nature of the action. The book is typical Dan Brown, meticulously researched (despite the complaints of a few reviewers about some details), with lots of interesting information about a variety of subjects related to religion, the Vatican, art, science and morality. It is a well constructed story, with several plot twists and enough misdirection to make it extremely difficult to anticipate the conclusion. (I doubt that the outcome was as expected by those critical reviewers who didn't finish the book after identifying their choice for the "obvious villian". I also did not feel that the story was at all anti- Catholic, in fact the author met with the Pope and was helped by the Vatican during his research efforts.) While there are several gruesome scenes, they are integral to the context of the story and the violence is usually minimized and only briefly described. The real bonus of reading this story is the wonderfully well articulated discussion of the tension between science and religious faith, which forms the heart of the story. The last section of the book has a particularly insightful monologue in this regard, but the subject infuses the whole discussion woven into the plot concerning the historical conflict between the Illuminati and the Church. For instance, early in the book Vittoria challenges Langdon's evasion concerning his apparent lack of a belief in God with the observation "I did not ask if you believe what man says about God. I asked if you believed in God. There is a difference." In addition, the book is almost worth reading just for the ambigrams (words or phrases which read the same right side up or upside down) which Dan Brown had created. These are truly works of art and their design is incredibly clever and beautiful. Finally, if you are familiar with Philips Exeter Academy, the author's alma mater, you will also have the fun of recognizing the source of the names of several of the characters referenced in the book.

Harvard professor and symbologist Robert Langdon is called to Vatican City when a murder and branding occurred at the CERN laboratory and a canister of antimatter has been stolen from there. Along with him is Vittoria Vetra, the daughter of the slain physicist to help him through his investigation. Some events occurring are tied to the Church of Illumination and a mysterious killer known as the Hassassin, and the duo discover that a more sinister plan that involve the antimatter. “A&D” is certainly a mysterious and turn-filled story that never slows down. One thing for sure is that it has a very intellectual feel in its tone, given how it centers on science and religion. Langdon and Vetra’s teamwork and chemistry is what made it worth reading while I did get a bit lost when it dives deep into facts while the story can get a bit exhausting and predictable. It’s still a fine read that has interesting topics in its mystery that are a bit more fascinating than its story. <b>B+ (83%/Very Good)</b>

I learned so much about how the Catholic Church works and about conclave!! And, it was fun to read!!! I also got an amazing art history lesson along with some Illuminati history. But still, the story was so great it was a true adventure!! Loved it!!!

As with the other books of his I have read, it is factually accurate in it's details of locations and science, and truly riveting from the getgo with few "slow" parts. If there were ever must reads, this would be way up my list!!

Although written in 1999 Dan Brown has proven time and again that his writing and subject matter knowledge are exceptional.

First off, I enjoyed this book, especially the second half when the plot thickens and twists unpredictably. I read the entire second half in one sitting. I also liked the photographs and maps in this illustrated edition, which I found helpful to trace the action and ponder the symbolism. Having said that, the book suffers from drawbacks that puts it well out of the league of good literature. I am not sure if this is because it's Dan Brown's first book, not having read others. The writing style is completely amateurish. I found it too wordy, slowing me down when the plot is supposed to be action-oriented and fast paced. Things are explained ad nauseum, with much repetitiveness, insulting the reader's intelligence. There are many irrelevant details and descriptions. For example, Robert Langdon, upon entering a church or a room, first takes the time to survey the place, admiring the artwork, even when he well knows there's a killer in the room. Something about this kind of timing irks me. The whole novel is supposed to happen in the span of a few hours, but I cannot believe so much action could take place, not at the pace it is written out in. More annoying is the language used. Every character, whether Italian, CERN scientist, Harvard Professor, Vatican Cardinal, Swiss Guard, or British reporter speaks with the same accent, peppered with "I'll be d*mned". At least one "D*mn" has to pop up on every page. It cuts the believability of the story and constantly reminds me I am reading a work of fiction - an imperfectly-crafted one at that. As many other reviewers pointed out, the characters are unreal. A Harvard professor who is a champion diver and swims 50 laps a day? The author has no idea of the amount of time and devotion it takes to be a successful academic. There were also problems with the research and with consistency. The editors could have done a better job spotting those things. A poison that darkens the gums, then the tongue is found to be black. A Middle Eastern assassin who "speaks Islamic" [Islam is a religion, not a language], with a "cold Middle Eastern accent" [Middle Eastern accents I heard can be described as anything but cold]. The springtime sun in Rome setting at 9 PM? Even in midsummer the Mediterranean sun barely makes it past 8 PM. Or how about the scientist who secretly works on the CERN accelerator late at night to produce anti-matter? [Large accelerators are operated 24 hours and there are several people in the operator room at all times]. The greatest faux pas of all? The Rome in which action was taking place, at 7 PM, 8 PM appears as if it was deserted. This is quite unlike my experience of Rome, with mountains and mountains of people, packed piazzas, packed churches, packed tourist sites. In summary, I enjoyed it, but I won't bother reading his other books. Go straight to the movie instead.

The ending to have so many endings and keeps going. Never what I thought. Loved it. I could not stop wanting to read it.

Angels & Demons by Dan Brown is the second installment in the Robert Langdon saga. After having literally breezing through The Da Vinci Code, I felt it was a long enough hiatus to pick up the next installment. It was offered for a good price and I didn't exactly get a chance to watch the movie so it was a win-win situation! After finding out that it had to do with the Illuminati cult, I thought to myself this is definitely going to be another solid winner. If you frequent the Internet, no doubt you've heard of conspiracy theories about modern day celebrities being a secret member of this Illuminati group. I thought it was interesting but never had a real chance to research it on my own. Angels & Demons I was hoping to give me a lecture on this very subject. Although this is fiction work, I was still hoping the author would shed light on this matter in hopes of getting the readers to think with their mind similarly to how it did with The Da Vinci Code. I knew I was in trouble only after reading the first couple of chapters or so. Why? Because I remember The Da Vinci Code starting off the same way! It starts off with some person getting killed by a mysterious person, leaving a clue of some sort, Robert Langdon getting woken up and briefed on the situation, he moans and groans about not wanting to do anything about it, he suddenly gets convinced its worth a look, he makes a trip to the location, meets and teams up with a hot woman and you get the rest. Some readers obviously don't mind an author rehashing a tried and tested formula but then there are readers like me who thinks its lazy work. At this point, I thought not all was lost because I could at least count on the author delivering a solid mystery that will no doubt wheel the protagonists around Rome in hopes of trying to save the day or night. Well, I was semi-wrong again. The mystery part that is. It's not that the Illuminati is boring to read about. I said in the beginning that this subject does interests me. It's just that this time around, the author failed horribly to capture my attention. With The Da Vinci Code, the mystery about the whole Mona Lisa and the Holy Grail was extremely captivating and that's why it lead to that book being hailed as a page-turner. The use of real life artifacts no doubt is a staple with these stories but unlike The Da Vinci Code, it didn't really make me go on the Internet to look for pictures on these art pieces. Something just felt lackluster in Angels & Demons. As far as character goes, well, let's just say the author isn't really gifted when it comes time to fleshing out the villains. The main killer here is a bore to read. It seems as if the author doesn't know how to flesh him out as a evil person so hey, what to do? Oh, why, lets turn him into a sex craved maniac who gets high off of torturing the women before having his way with them? Hmm, where have we heard that one before eh? Again, it makes the author look lazy when he does these kinds of things. The book started off slow but picked up at around 23%, which I was glad for. There is no doubt that many would consider the author "brave" for tackling such a sensitive topic for so many. I'm sure he knows that controversy creates publicity, good or bad, and that in turn allows him and his publishers to cash in. I can say for certain that I will not being reading another Dan Brown book for a long time. It even got me thinking about whether my outcome of Angels & Demons would have been the same if I read it first instead of The Da Vinci Code. I can honestly say that I don't really know. The latter set the bar pretty darn high. I rarely will read a book twice but I can say for certainty that I will read The Da Vinci Code again. Not so much Angels & Demons.

This history provides a travel through the ancient times and quite a non-stop action. I really liked the development of the Camerlengo's role during the novel.

The copy I received was damaged and there were water stains on the cover. Slightly disappointed with the copy I received.

Perfetto

Very nice book

I absolutely love Dan Brown so I can never leave a bad review. Best books ever and this one is, of course, fantastic. Highly recommended.