Rating: 
Summary: REALLY BAD history
Review: This book had definate potential in the first 10 chapters, which made me all the more frustrated when, by page 325, I realized the ridiulous route it began following by page 225 was not going to change. I am not a historian, but I enjoy history, and have a personal interest in the Knights Templar. The historical mistakes the author made concerning the noble Temple Knights were legion- so many serious errors that I cannot help but feel he took real events and twisted them to conform to a contrived plot that served his own literary interests. With this realization, I began to question his professional integrity, given his claims to accuracy that he made in the opening intro. The many "clues" which guide the characters through a laberynthine maze of intrigue become tedious and never ending, and ultimately one gets the "answers" long after they have stopped caring about the "questions". Sometimes, the clues are just ridiculous: "Eros is an anagram for Rose," points out one character, suggesting a deliberate historical significance in the etymology of the word; except they come from two different languages separated by several centuries. In one chapter, there is a sample writing that the cryptologists cannot decipher. One comments that it looked Hebraic. It looked nothing like Hebrew- and I would expect a linguist to know this. This said, I found the plot ultimately pressing a point that was inconsistent, pushing a feminine goddess agenda while seemingly denying a male god:
Jesus was a mere mortal man, his divinity contrived by the political motives of Constantine; but Magdalene, his wife, was a goddess, worshipped and revered by a secret fertility based religion with sex-rituals, which seemed to be portrayed as normal (only abnormal to modern society because an oppressive, patriarchal based faith condemned free sexual expression). I never understood why Jesus was mortal, but Magdalene was divine. And I could not help but feel this point, pounded repeatedly, was ridulously represented in the main female character, who seemed to take everything, no matter how ridiculous, at face value, because the main male character said so.
Rating: 
Summary: an accurate historical perspective
Review: this book had everything, suspense, action, and more importantly a good history lesson for people with little knowledge of the civil war or the holocaust. Brown's perspective on how the last supper influenced the holocaust and slavery is brilliant, something i'd never seen before. i mean, who knew that da vinci was fascinated by the apostle judas, and that within the painting, there is a code that reveals the coming of hitler, stalin, and our new world tyrant george bush. absolutely mindblowing. i guess art is packed with so many symbols that i never knew were there. contained in christ's beard, we find out, is a subtle inscription in aramaic, an ancient language, which proclaimed da vinci's love for another man named Italo, thus proving, that da vinci was a homosexual after all. man, all of this packed into one mind bender of a book. it's just unbelievable. brown has upped the bar for all writers out there.
Rating: 
Summary: Loved It! Liked It!!! Hated It!!!!
Review: This book had such possibilities, but fell terribly short of achieving them! I'm running somewhere inbetween the person who gave it rave reviews and the gosh-awful trash-reviews. It's true, the very clever people in this book couldn't solve most of the clues fast enough for me (who in the world couldn't tell the one clue was written backwards -- come on!!!) This book was so interesting at times, I actually took notes - and so painfully boring at others, I had to force myself time after time to pick it up again just to finish it. Wish I'd stopped about 2/3 of the way through - my opinion and enjoyment factor would've been a lot higher! What a bunch of bunk at the end!!! For those who swallowed the bait Brown was dishing out - -here's some interesting info: Rearrange the letters in ELVIS and you will see LIVES - - therefore ELVIS LIVES!! It's a miracle!!!
Rating:
Summary: Predictable
Review: This book has a formulaic plot and poor character development - Perfect for a Hollywood B-movie. A page-turner which is basically a treasure hunt with predictable riddles flavored with religious secret society conspiracy theories.
Rating:
Summary: Pseudohistory
Review: This book has a sacreligious premise at its center, it presents pseudofacts as historical "background," it portrays evil as good and distorts good into evil. Bestseller or not, it's not a worthy piece of writing. I stopped a third of the way through the audio version. You've only got so much time in life. Why spend it thinking about this -- especially during the Easter season?
Rating:
Summary: Love it.
Review: This book has codes, conspiracies, secret organizations, murder, adventure, and plot twists a plenty. What's not to love! But it doesn't end with the book. After you've finished the book, go to danbrown.com and continue the adventure. Use the knowledge you've gained in the book to take the Challenge. Go to the Da Vinci code page to start it. Also learn some of the things Dan has uncovered in his studies. See photos of some of the locations. Dan Brown's site is a nice value added feature to the book.
Rating: 
Summary: An O.K. Start...
Review: This book has packaged esoterica that has been available for years into a form that the masses will swallow; fiction. Nevertheless, nearly all of the secret societies, artwork, and history are accurately described. If you want to read a very good historical take on all of this, I would suggest: The Templar Revelation, by Pickett and Prince Another book, Holy Blood, Holy Grail covers the same topics, but The Templar Revelation contains newer research on the subject and corrects many inaccuracies in Holy Blood, Holy Grail. In addition, Holy Blood, Holy Grail is an incredibly dry book. People are attacking the DaVinci Code for its few historical inaccuracies, but unfortunately, there has been strong historical evidence to support a different take on christianity for years. The next time someone says, "The DaVinci Code gets the date of the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls wrong!" be armed with the true history from The Templar Revelation to cut their argument to pieces. Which shouldn't be hard, because most christians aren't big on doing historical research ;)
Rating:
Summary: LOVE IT!!!
Review: This book has reignited an old flame for reading. This book made me sit back and think about so many things I never thought of before. I too went online to do some research of my own and I couldn't believe what has always been right in front of my eyes. I have recommended this book to everyone I know. I wish there were more books like this one. This was the first book by Dan Brown that I have read. I have since read Angels and Demons which I also recommend highly. I am about to start another one of his books. I can't wait to get started.
Buy this book but take warning once you start it you won't be able to put it down.
Rating:
Summary: Not even a grade B
Review: This book has some fascinating ideas....too bad the writer couldn't handle them.
Rating:
Summary: A MUST READ!!
Review: This book hooks you from the first page! This is a fast paced and action packed novel! The author successfully weaves fiction and non-fiction together to the point that the reader is unable to decipher fact from fiction! I found the premise behind the book so interesting that I have begun researching these claims further! Highly recommend this book!
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