Rating: 
Summary: Wow! What a great storyteller!
Review: I picked up this book after reading "The Da Vinci Code," my first experience with Dan Brown, and I have to say, this book is *much better* than "The Da Vinci Code."Both books are painstakingly researched and you learn a lot as you are entertained, but while Da Vinci Code only had one twist/reveal in its plot, "Angels and Demons" has several, making it a much more satisfying read. Langdon is again the star of the novel, an academic specializing in religious symbology. He is hustled out of bed early one morning to fly in a special jet to CERN in Switzerland, the R&D group responsible for the Internet and now, Anti-matter. Langdon is brought in as an expert consultant due to a bizarre brand sported by a murdered scientist. Just like in the Code, soon the murdered man's daughter and Langdon are unraveling clues and seeking justice, lives constantly in peril. Apparently, a long-dead conspiracy/cult known as The Illuminati has risen again in order to use anti-matter (the most powerful bomb ever created) to destroy the Catholic Church by blowing up the vatican. The vatican is at its most vulnerable as all the Cardinals have arrived to elect a new Pope. The entire vatican is held hostage as 4 kidnapped Cardinals are killed by the Illuminati in order to publicise their terrorism. Langdon tries to figure out ancient clues as to where the murders will take place to save the Cardinals, aided by the Pope's elite police force, while the rest of the police force search for the bomb. It's another fast read - can't put it down! The action takes place over a single day but you feel like you've lived an entire lifetime by the time you're done reading! The characters are all well done, action, art and the city of Rome described in wonderful sensory detail, the historical details, clues and ambigrams are fascinating. Underlying all of the marvelous entertainment are important questions about the morality of science (just because we can clone sheep, should we?), the varying paths to God, the unifying force uniting us all. Whether you're a skeptic, atheist, or true believer, you will appreciate the fine line Brown walks in his attempt to portray all arguments and find the common ground between the varying and diametrically opposed points of view. He succeeds in giving a very balanced argument overall without ever getting preachy or dogmatic or heretical. I especially like it when a highly-entertaining read is also a thoughtful one. It's tough to find a book that combines action, adventure, history and philosophy, and this one does it very well. The ending of the book completely satisfies - so much so that I felt emotionally exhausted by the denoument! Be sure to begin this book when you have a lot of time to devote to reading or you'll be going to work red-eyed from staying up all night long! :)
Rating:
Summary: An Excellent Story
Review: This book is one of the best I have read in a long time. The imagination and originality that the author shows in this book is exceptional. The clarity in which he writes makes you think you are there.
The book is packed with information about the Vatican that not many people know about.
This is an exceptional read in fact it's a must read!!!!
Rating: 
Summary: Pretty awful
Review: I guess my expectations were too high given the other reviews of this book and the description of the plot. Maybe Mr. Brown's writing improved as he wrote more books, but I find this book unreadable. In particular, he doesn't make logical transitions from the end of one scene to the next. For example in an early scene, he leaves the hero with his skin crawling with apparently overwhelming horror at something he sees. When this scene is continued just a few pages later, it does not continue or explain the earlier reaction. I kept going between the two trying to figure out what happened. I decided I just couldn't continue with the book, it is just so badly written. I recommend Umberto Eco's Foucault's Pendulum (which appears to have "inspired" this book) instead.
Rating: 
Summary: Earth, Wind, and Fire
Review: No, not the rock 'n roll group, but three of the four elementals of science - earth, wind (air), fire, and water. These play a major role in Dan Brown's novel of an ancient secret brotherhood, the Illuminati, and their quest to condemn and destroy Cathoicism as an organizational entity. Robert Langdon, a Harvard symbiologist who also appears in "The Da Vinci Code", finds proof that the Illuminati still exist, and have hijacked a cannister of anti-matter from the Conseil Europeen le Recherche Nucleaire (CERN) and hidden it somewhere beneath the Vatican on the eve of the election of a new pope. A physicist has been murdered and Langdon and the physicist's daughter, also a scientist at CERN, follow a 400 year old trail through Rome to prevent the incineration of the Catholic Church as we know it today. "Angels & Demons" pulls no punches and provides cover to cover action. Sure there are assassins, 15,000 mph jets, anti-matter, mad scientists, murdered cardinals, sealed crypts, abandoned cathedrals, and ambigram branding irons, but Brown has it all hang together. The ambigrams are of special note because they read the same, right side up or upside down, and this figures prominently in the story. And the entire story, all 600 pages or so, takes place in one day! Still, Brown hurls the reader along from one elemental to the next with breakneck speed and hardly a chance to catch one's breath. CERN really does exist, as does anti-matter, and Brown points out that CERN has recently succeeded in producing the first particles of anti-matter and it is now the most powerful energy source known to man. So, there is a lot of cerebral exercising in the book, be it physics, biology, church history, or papal conclaves. While I, personally, found the ending somewhat predictable, Brown poses a larger question. Will this substance, like atomic energy, be used to save the world or condemn it? And this little piece of brain candy, as someone called it, gives us a glimpse of What if. Good job Mr. Brown.
Rating:
Summary: A Miracle
Review: That this novel is so popular makes you believe in God. Miracles can happen. For this is simply a very bad book. The language is flat, the characters are caricatures, and the physics simplistic. Copernicus was not executed. The story of Galileo is more complex than Brown allows. The Catholic Church embraces evolutionary theory and does not require the teaching of creationism. And their are legitimate moral concerns about scientific research and developments.
Maybe there is a superb plot twist at the end. But I can't put myself through the torture of reading such bad writing and so much misinformation to find out.
Check out something like The Seville Connection for an intelligent mystery involving the Vatican. The difference is as between light and darkness.
Rating: 
Summary: Factful, but teachy.
Review: Somebody at my favorite Borders store told me I had to read Angels and Demons first (before The Da Vinci Code). After reading this one, I'm not sure if I'll read the Da Vinci Code. While this book was filled with fascinating historical facts, these facts were often laid out in the form of a lecture. I felt the author was just trying to show off his knowledge, rather than sneaking it into the story subtley, so that we don't realize we are learning. This book fails the "Show-Don't-Tell" rule. Also, if you're going to do historical fiction, then I need to know which parts are true and which parts are made up. I can only use the true stuff to impress my friends with historical trivia at parties. Just throw in an afterword or something. However, having said all that, I kept reading the thing, so it couldn't be all bad.
Rating:
Summary: Can't stop reading
Review: Just bought it already half way through hours later and already looking for a new book from Dan Brown. Excellent book, I was looking for a book of this sort since a long time. Enjoy...
Rating:
Summary: Faith and Science an interesting mix.
Review: I like this book, it brought complex scientific ideas to the public without overwhelming anyone with too much information. The idea of proving God's creation of the world using physics was interesting and gave way to several different avenues of discussion. It gave an interesting account of how people since history began have been searching for something higher than themselves but at the same time always qualifying proof as something that we can understand. It's an interesting paradox that in a search for something greater than ourselves people tend to dismiss what their minds can't grasp. It's as if the idea that God can move in ways that human beings can't comprehend is unacceptable. I personally much prefer a God that knows more than I do. Dan Brown presents this conflict and allows the reader to consider both complex arguements. I would have given this book a five if not for the final sentences of the book, I felt the ending was trashy and seemed out of place. Overall a good book that holds your attention.
Rating:
Summary: I am now a die hard Dan Brown fan all cause of this book!!
Review: When I first picked this book up, I didn't know what to expect. Reading the first few pages, I could only stare down and wonder, "What exactly am I reading?" However once I started reading the book from page 1, the beauty of this incredible story became very coherent. The plot takes off from page 1, as Brown wastes no time getting down to the good stuff! Robert Langdon wakes up one morning (or rather awoken) by a call from Maximillian Kohler, the director of CERN, a Swiss research facility. Langdon is a Harvard Symbology professor, and is called down to CERN to analyze the branding on Leonardo Vetra, a scientist who with his daughter, was perfecting the new technology of anitmatter. When Langdon arrived, he was shocked by what he found, Vetra was branded with an ambigram from the long (thought to be) underground clan called the Illuminati. From there, Langdon and Vittoria Vetra embark on a journey through Rome and Vatican City to find the missing canister of antimatter, which will blow up and destroy Vatican City on the eve of conclave (the election of the Pope by all the cardinals). The way Brown was able to use the rich history of Vatican City and Rome along with all the famous (and not so famous) churches, made me want this book to never end! If not for that, this book is incredible for the ambigrams scattered throughout the book! Read it, you won't regret it!!!
Rating:
Summary: An intriguing story with plenty of twists
Review: Brown delivers a fantastic novel. His in-depth information on the Vatican and way of surprising the reader is applaudable! actually bought this book out of sheer boredom while in a small town as it was the only on out of the small selection that looked remotely interesting. I started the book and literally could not put it down! I have since made my best friend read it and she enjoyed it just as much! I am baffled as to why there is not a movie based on this book-how thrilling it would be! Cheers to Mr. Brown for an extraordinary adventure!
| 
