Rating: 
Summary: Slow beginning, then breakneck with action and convolution
Review: Angels and Demons is a page-turning thriller that achieves a fine balance of action and intrigue in a breakneck pace. The first half of the book, which devotes to principles of physics, though somewhat slow, sets up for the later frantic hunt through sealed crypts, deserted churches, and forbidden Vatican archives. The remaining of the book is packed with pulse-accelerating action and yarns suspense. It coaxes readers through loops.Leonardo Vetra is a prominent particle physicist at the CERN institute. His life dream is to rectify science and religion; to mitigate the century-old rift between the two, for he believes the two different approaches converge to the same truth about creationism. He devises an unprecedented experiment, which led to discovery of a destructive weapon (the antimatter), to show that religion and science do complement each other in the most unanticipated way. More importantly, his work has finally tugged God's involvement in the scientific theory. At the dawn of his fulfillment of life dream Leonardo Vetra is murdered. Professor Robert Langdon is summoned to CERN to analyze a cryptic symbol seared to the chest of the physicist. Langdon stared at the deadly vendetta ambrigram in disbelief for the homicide implies that the brotherhood of Illuminati, a centuries-old, deceased underground organization, has resurfaced and infiltrated the Vatican. What follows is Langdon's embarkation on intriguing loops to chase after the killer and unsolve the mystery of the Path of Illumination. Historical Background and Myth. The Illuminati dated back to the 1500s when the Catholic Church had always persecuted scientists and ineluctably led to a jaundiced rift between science and religion. A group of scientists banded together to combat the church's tyranny and proclaimed science did not undermine the existence of God. For two millennia, the Catholic Church had exclusively claimed the quest for truth, manipulated the truth to suit its needs, and murdered those whose discoveries did not serve its politics. The Illuminati had waited for more than 400 years for the day when Vatican will be annihilated. The brotherhood had infiltrated the most elite organization and incurred fear that among people whose faith it removed. The brotherhood had vowed to stay silent as long as it took, amassing enough influence and power that the organization can resurface without fear but indomitable retaliation, confirming the conspiratorial myths as fact. While the hints to the Path of Illumination (series of carefully marked symbolic markers placed in public locations around the city of Rome) have dawned on Langdon, the Vatican hosts at the St. Peter Basilica the IL Conclave, the election of the new Pope. The entire power structure of the Roman Catholic Church was jeopardized as all 165 cardinals from all over the world are sitting on a time bomb. Angels and Demons is a quick brainy thriller, a blockbuster perfection if not a literary masterpiece. The fast-moving action and the twist-and-turn plot make the book "unputdownable". Whether it is believable I will leave to readers but all the locales, references to arts and churches and the Illuminati brotherhood are factual. A historical thriller. 2004 (31) © MY
Rating:
Summary: Pretty good, but not Da Vinci Code good
Review: If I had not read the DaVinci Code first, I would have thought this book was fantastic. It moved well, was action packed, and was really intriguing with the insite on the mysterious Illuminati cult, not to mention all the details about the secret tunnels and rooms in the Vatican. I must admit, I am very disappointed to see that some of Brown's facts are off, because he sites them so convincingly you just want to believe them. But, fact is I did read the DaVinci Code first, and because I loved that book so much I went seeking other Dan Brown books. The books are so paralleled it is not even funny. Both start with Robert Langdon getting a call in the middle of the night requesting his expertise because there has been a high profile murder, of course the victim's nearest relative is a beautiful and attractive young female that has wits and intelligence to match Langdon's. There are so many similarities (I won't go into details so I don't spoil the plot for anyone) that it is impossible not to compare the two books. While Angels & Demons was a good and easy read and kept my interest, I thought of it as another DaVinci Code with a different secret club being exploited. I would have liked to have seen something different to set the two books apart.
Rating: 
Summary: Why resort to a bit of intellectual dsihonesty
Review: This book is not a bad read, but I almost put it aside after a bit of intellectual dishonesty. At the outset of the book, the author sets the stage for an anti-religious sect called the Illuminati. As a part of this, he uses the the US one-dollar bill as evidence that famous Americans were related to this anti-religious group. As part of this evidence, he translated the slogan on the back of the US dollar, "Novus ordo selorum" as "New secular order"--implying an ant-religious theme. In fact, the proper translation is "New order of the ages". Was this bit of intellectual dishonesty necessary in an otherwise enjoyable book?
Rating:
Summary: More Suspense
Review: If looking for a book with the wit of the DaVinci Code, but with a faster plot line, this is definitely the book to choose. Although the plot is very similar to that of the DaVinci Code, it has much more suspense and provides for a much quicker read as soon as you get past the first fifty pages. After that, prepare for one wild ride. That, and the scenery, as well as the characters, are written in much more vivid detail. When comparing Dan Brown's Robert Langdon stories, this one is certainly the better of the two.
Rating: 
Summary: SCREEN PLAY NOT A NOVEL
Review: Dan Brown can't solve the biggest problem of a techno-thriller writer: how to incorporate knowledge that the average reader won't know into the story in a natural-sounding way. For instance, the stuff about nuclear physics or medieval religious societies. Sure, we need to be told some of this stuff as background, but when the characters explain it to each other, it sounds dumb. Would a Harvard professor--even a religion professor--know as little about science as Langdon does? Would a scientist really be as ignorant about religion as Vittoria, especially when she's been raised by a priest? Would an Italian woman need to be told who the Swiss Guards are?
Basically, this book reads like a screenplay. I think it should make a pretty good action-packed movie, but as a book, it's quite tedious and artificial-sounding. I'm also kind of offended by the stereotypical character portrayals; it's as if Brown wrote them with an eye to actors who would play them. The wheelchair-bound Dr. Strangelove-like director of CERN. The handsome afraid-of-commitment bachelor professor. Why does Vittoria the scientist have to be beautiful and sexy? Because that way someone like, I don't know, Liv Tyler or Penelope Cruz can play her in the movie.
Rating: 
Summary: FICTION... NOT FACT
Review: I loved this book. I get really mad when people talk about how all of the facts were wrong, and things like that. When I went to my local book store and bought this book in the FICTION section of the store. If I were looking for a book with all of the fact right, I would look for it in the NON-FICTION section. I don't care if the pyrimid of the Great Seal was created by Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, and John Adams, not Henery Wallace. I thought it was a good read,and that is all that matters. I think all of the other people who say that the facts are wrong should just keep it to themselves. I've read all of the Dan Brown books, and they all were good, even if the facts were not right.
Rating:
Summary: Science and Religion mixed with ancient cults
Review: The age old question: Is it Science or God who created the Heavens and Earth? Mixed up in the question is a deadly vendetta against the Catholic Church by a group known as the Illuminati. A symbolgist, Robert Langdon, is called in by a little known scientific group when one of their own is found murder with the Illuminati symbol burned on his chest and his eye missing. The scientist's, daughter Vittoria, works together with Robert to undercover who murdered her father. The trail takes them into the heart of the Catholic Church where a new pope is just being selected. Four of the most respected cardinals are missing. A message is received that each will be murdered. The location of each murder is given in a cryptic message. There is little time. Can Robert and Vittoria stop the Illuminati? The late pope's right hand man seems to be willing to help in any way he can. He provides Robert access to the Vatican library where Robert finds an ancient writing that decrypts the message from the Illuminati. Based in Catholic religion, Dan Brown writes so even a non-Catholic can follow along. I thought I figured out "who done it" about five chapters before the end. Then as I kept listening, I changed my mind. The ending kept me in suspense right up to the VERY last words. Although this a story torn between science and religion, I found some of the story to be a bit out of character for the Catholic church. That aside, there are a couple of twists that I did not foresee until the very minute they happened. This makes for a book that is hard to put down. I know this was certainly true for me. If you are a history buff, love suspense and like being kept on the edge of your seat, this is a book for you.
Rating:
Summary: Not a Bad Book
Review: I thought Angels and Demons was a good book overall. The book was suspensefull and kept you wanting to read the next chapter.It seemed a little long at times becuase it seemed like he could have ended the book at a couple places earlier in the book, but the ending he gave was still really good. I liked how it kept you guessing at who was the good guy and who was the bad guy.
My only real problem wth the book is how i find some of the events in it a little unbeleiveable. Like when Langdon managaed to survive the fall from the helicopter with a real parachute. I mean the idea of someone surviving that fall seems ridiculous. And it also seemed like a lot m ore went on then would have been allowed in just a 24 hour period.
All and all thought I thought the book was very entertaining and I like it a lot.
Rating:
Summary: Science vs. Religion
Review: After reading The Da Vinci Code, I did what most did and read Angels & Demons. Angels & Demons still had all of the conspiracy theories and religious facts that The Da Vinci Code had, but Angels & Demons added the element of God vs. Science (instead of Gods vs. God). I found this conflict incredibly interesting and once again, Dan Brown wraps a suspenseful story around his theories and research.
Whether or not Dan Brown's research is true, the facts and theories presented in Angels & Demons had me doing my own research on the Illuminati and the secret history of the Catholic Church. This book gets you interested in certain things that most readers (me included) didn't even know existed before this book.
The first few pages of the story may sound slightly familiar if you've chosen to read The Da Vinci Code first but the rest of the story is truly unique. I read quite often, but I rarely find a book that I simply can not put down. I even lost sleep over this book.
If you've read The Da Vinci Code, then this should be your next choice. However, if you haven't read either, don't worry. You can read either one first and still understand everything that is going on.
Rating:
Summary: disappointing
Review: I read this after reading the Davinci Code. It follows too much of the same pattern but since I loved the first protagonist, I read on. It is intersting in some parts and gory in others and also exciting near the end but then gets very tedious. Brown manages to totally destroy the book with the ending. It seems he couldn't end with anything inspirational or thought provoking. The ending, in fact, made me angry that he had wrecked the book to propogate his own cynicism.
| 
