Rating: 
Summary: Angels & Demons - Exciting and very different
Review: Angels & Demons by Dan Brown Robert Langdon is a professor of religious symbology. Vittoria Vetra is the beautiful scientist.
They are brought together to track down an assassin who is a member of the deadly Brotherhood of the Illuminati. He has captured four Vatican cardinals and has pledged to execute each one, using the four elements:- Earth, Air, Fire and Water. As well as this, the Illuminati have informed the Vatican there is a new and powerful device, an anti matter bomb, planted beneath the Vatican and set to explode in only a few hours time. The Illuminati are pledged to destroy the Vatican. A culmination of the centuries old argument of Science and religion. Apart from being such a terrific thriller, it is the way in which Dan Brown creates and allows the reader to enter the thought process of Robert Langdon, and lets the reader think along with him, as he uses all his skill and historical knowledge to try to outwit this assassin. To save the lives of the cardinals from such a deadly fate. The ongoing going issue of Science versus Religion is brought strongly to the forefront in Angels and Demons. Thousands of people are gathered in Vatican square still unaware of the bomb ticking away the minutes to their oblivion. Robert Langdon, battered, bruised but still unremitting, and with the camerlengo - the Priest, is crawling through the catacombs and underground passages beneath the Vatican. Can they find and disable the bomb in time? Can the Church of Rome be saved? It is here, that each twist and turn in the plot comes into it's own, cumulating in the final climax (climaxes) as well as a religious "manifestation" and takes the reader through to the end, in a spellbinding, page turning frenzy. One final thought. Apart from the thrilling potential offered by this novel, I was left with the thought that however beneficial science can be in our lives, whatever new discoveries are made, God is in these discoveries. He is one and the same and exists in our lives. In the words used in the story, by the camerlengo, 'Do you not see God in your science? How can you miss Him!
Rating: 
Summary: Blah!
Review: Since the 50's (bad ol' times of the cold war), the thriller fiction category has been one of the most crowded in the book publishing market - I don't think there's a need to give a list of the authors' names. Action, espionage, techno-thrillers, science-thrillers, etc. etc. etc., mostly all with the KGB and the Soviets as the unmitigated villains. MOre or less well plotted and written, but still palatable reading in those days. The all-out rivalry between the USA and the USSR does not now exist anymore (or at least, that's what they tell us, even though there's some element to the contrary), so the turn came for the introduction of new types of heroes and of baddies, such as in this book where the former is an American university professor in symbology, and the latter an ultra-secret, deeply rooted, well hidden, association or brotherhood, the "Illuminati" (the "Enlightened") (with immense powers, ruthlessly exerted, a total beef against the catholic church, and the usual program of world domination). This has been just another twist of the kaleidoscope tube. The writing is artificial, pompous, plethoric, redundant. I put the book down after reading the first 15-20 pages and, 5 minutes later, I was online with Amazon.com, cancelling my standing order for another one ("Digital Fortress") by the same author. Don't waste your money on him.
Rating: 
Summary: Flawed Research?
Review: This was the usual thrill-a-minute book. Interesting concepts, lots of twists, turns and surprises. The author purports to be an authority on a number of subjects from symbology to theology. However, I did notice two mistakes. Brown writes that only Cardinals can be elected Pope; acutally any male (and, please God, someday any woman)can be elected Pope without even the need to be an ordained priest. Secondly, Brown defines "Devil's Advocate" as the cleric who vets any potential Pope. The "Devil's Advocate" is the cleric assigned to challenge the canonization of a person being considered for sainthood. These two points could have been easily researched --so how valid is the remainder of his research? I'm reading the "DaVinci Code" now, so I'll see how accurate he is.
Rating:
Summary: Trouble in Vatican City
Review: What an amazing book! My only complaint, of course, would be that every religious novel and movie revolves around Catholicism. Why don't the Methodists and the Southern Baptists get equal billing? Seriously, this book is an incredible thriller, a tour guide to Rome, and an educational adventure all rolled into one. I've never learned so much from a work of fiction. Being an art major in college, I appreciated so much the references to art from the Renaissance. I think the book suffers a bit from Crichtonism. That being defined as "when an author can't decide what to do at the end so he throws out the most ludicrous thing he can think of." Let's just say one thing at the end stretched my ability to suspend disbelief just a tad too much. Despite these picky criticisms, I highly recommend this story.
Rating:
Summary: Awesome! ! Action, Adventure, Religion, Science & History
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: Awesome. Simply Awesome!
Review: Dan Brown can keep you clutching your book, well into the night, despite your better intentions to put it down. If you have to move, you will take the book with you. To the bathroom, to the breakfast table, even to your important meeting the next day.
Quite possibly one of the best of his generation's storytellers, Dan Brown weaves a fascinating tale of betrayal, papal intrigue, and scientific terror. All of his books are extremely well researched, combining the facts most of us desire with the what-if that most of us fear. A compelling storyteller with his head in the clouds and his feet on the ground, he is one of his generation's best. This was the first book by Dan Brown that I read, and it reinforced my belief that you can teach and entertain at the same time with fiction. Set against the backdrop of the Vatican and a Papal election, this book is the fascinating introduction of Robert Langdon, Brown's bookworm hero. A Harvard symbologist, Langdon gets called in to help solve a mystery. Unfortunately, he gets caught up in it and it has some very good and very bad lasting results for him. He returns in Brown's latest book, The Da Vinci Code, which is incredible as well. I recommend all of Brown's books, because they are simply great. Get this book.
Harkius
Rating:
Summary: Spellbinding!
Review: All right, a few suggestions. DO NOT START THIS BOOK IF YOU HAVE TO GET UP THE NEXT MORNING. Forget it, you WILL NOT be able to put it down. I suggest a long weekend, an early morning start and unplugging the telephone. Brown has successfully created a character driven suspense tale (an unusual acheivment in and of itself). The people here are as arresting as the ephemeral strands of history that tie the tale together with continually tantalizing possiblities - Add edge-of-your-seat suspense and I defy anyone to put it down before each puzzle is unravelled, every villain identifed and our heroes crowned. The best part is you THINK you know how each of those things will be managed. Forget it, you don't have a clue.
Rating:
Summary: Not Even Good Enough For Vacation Reading
Review: Based on all the great reviews, and the comparisons to "The Eight" by Katherine Neville, I brought this book along on my last vacation. While it is a page-turner, the writing is poor, and the plot borders on the ridiculous. I completely second the other review that mentions the preposterous ending. I was highly disappointed in this book, even for beach reading.
Rating: 
Summary: Well Done, Robert Langdon Rocks!
Review: Angels & Demons is a fast-paced thriller with marvelous depth of character. Dan Brown introduces the reader to Robert Langdon, Harvard symbologist, who is destined to become the next Indiana Jones. Let the kids line up for J. K. Rowling's next installment, Dan Brown is brain candy for grown ups!
Rating: 
Summary: Fun but ignorant of Catholicism
Review: This is a page-turner, with an interesting plot and what appears to be expert information about architecture and renaissance art. The Masonic symbology of the dollar bill is fascinating. However, the author's sloppiness with orthodox Catholicism is a disappointment. I won't spoil the ending with specifics, but his Catholic characters who should think in an orthodox Catholic way, do not. I would have no problem with characters who wanted to "reform" the Church having unorthodox ideas if they were presented as such. Those in the highest positions in the Church with beliefs at odds with Catholic teaching should know where they, themselves, differ with orthodoxy. This betrays a lack of familiarity with doctrine and those in the Curia. I read techno-thrillers in part to get an insider's view of organizations I want to know more about. Now I have doubts about much of the technical info in the book.
|
