Rating: 
Summary: Don't Waste Your Time
Review: As an occasional fan of the "thriller" genre and an avid reader, I was looking forward to reading this much-publicized book. I was severely disappointed. While some of the background information regarding early Christians and alternate gospels is interesting, it cannot begin to make up for the poorly paced and developed plot and the cardboard characters. Even by the standards of mystery and thriller writing (admittedly not as high as the standards for the literary novel), this novel is badly written. Such popular novelists as John Grisham, Stephen King and countless other mystery and thriller writers are much better writers than Dan Brown. It is a sad comment on the level of expectation of the reading public that so many readers consider this novel well-written.
Rating:
Summary: Novel
Review: As another commentator already wrote, please don't take this book so seriously. The author himself asserts it is fiction. It's a novel, enjoy it if you fancy such tortious prose but don't swallow it all & confuse fact with fiction. Too many people believe everything they read in the papers: it will serve the general population much better if we be more discerning readers!
Rating:
Summary: pathetic
Review: As entertainment, some people seem to find this book enjoyable. Can't say that I did. The characters are wooden and totally empty, and you can see each plot development coming from a mile away. An awful piece of writing.A lot of people have praised the book for its "research." I'm sorry, but research that involves reading two books of concocted conspiracy theory and goddess lore and ignores documented history and the work of real historians can't be dignified with the word "research." Do people think that ANYTHING that's printed or on the web has the authority of being accurate? Doesn't it occur to them that sometimes people MAKE THINGS UP? Doesn't anyone have any idea how to critically evaluate evidence and separate the credible from the bogus? Real historians never say "the goddess was worshipped in prehistoric times" as some kind of statement of fact -- they say "there is no indication, either archaeological or in the written record, that any ancient people ever worshipped a single, archetypal goddess; all the accounts of early religions that we have describe polytheistic systems of belief. That is, the ancients had pantheons of many gods and goddesses, Venus, Hera, Zeus, etc. As far as we know, there was no 'divine feminine'." Gerald B. Gardner (1884-1964) originated the faux history of the goddess. The "history" that Gardner claimed to have discovered was actually a melange of material from modern sources: Charles Godfrey Leland, a nineteenth-century amateur American folklorist, Margaret Alice Murray, and various late 19th-century occultist groups, with a helping of Freemason rituals added in. Pretty tawdry origins, actually. Getting people together for "goddess worship" allowed Gardner to indulge his taste for nudism and do the "sky-clad" stuff. It also allowed him to write in fake Ye Olde Englishe Style. The idea that university professors would spout such drivel as historical truth made the characters completely unbelievable to me. The idea of worshipping the Goddess... now that's embarrassing.
Rating: 
Summary: Something you should know first!
Review: As every other reviewer will tell you, the Da Vinci code was an amazing story. As other reviewers will attest, if you like a good detective story where anybody can be the villian, this is a great book. But there was an issue I had with the book which, while not ruining the book for me, it could catch you by surprise and should be pointed out before reading this. The thing is, the story strongly goes against Christianity and in order to follow the investigation of the book, you have to make some assumptions that what you learned in sunday school was wrong. I'm not saying don't buy the book (I did give it four stars) but at least be aware that you may have to deal with it as you read it. That aside, enjoy!
Rating: 
Summary: I wish it had a biography
Review: As far as "non-classic" fiction goes, I like my books with brains. That's why I love Umberto Eco. Enter Dan Brown. I'm not going to give a run down on the plot because I'm bad at that; I always end up giving too much away or being too vague. All I'll say is that this is a riveting and intellectually stimulating thriller/suspense novel.
One thing I love about Dan Brown's novels is that he works in so much intellectual detail. I really wish he added a bibliography to his books - this one and Angels and Demons specifically. I cannot recommend this book enough. Get Angels and Demons too! Dustin
Rating:
Summary: Great (but borrowed) plot...a little much toward the end...
Review: As has been mentioned, the main thrust of this plot has been covered in "Holy Blood, Holy Grail" (which this book does credit.) However, most of the book moves rather quickly, until the last hundred pages where the author gets a little carried away with the symbol deciphering and a lot of different locations. I have read (and loved) all of the author's other books, but this is the only one that didn't seem to have it's plot as well-thought out as the others. But I am just nit-picking: it's very refreshing to have a thriller-writer who can lift the genre into a new intellectual realm. I recommend this book (as with all of Dan Brown's books) very strongly: for a quick read and something interesting to learn.
Rating:
Summary: A long, convoluted, inaccurate polemic
Review: As I read this book by Dan Brown, I wanted to be drawn in, to examine and enjoy the puzzles, and to ride the chases to satisfactory conclusions. None of these things occurred. Instead I was plunged headlong into a piece of anti-Christian propaganda not unlike the anti-Semitic Protocols of the Elders of Zion. What Mr. Brown is selling is nothing more than Gnosticism in the guise of 'history.' In many places his characters reassure us that everything about the Goddess Cult and Mary Magdalene is 'historical fact.' Of course it is no such thing. The Gnostic gospels were written after the synoptic Gospels (upon which the 'Passion of the Christ' was based) and are far more likely to be inaccurate than are the traditional Christian canonical writings. The attempt by Mr. Brown to convince us that the goddess cult and the 'divine feminine' are somehow superior to the Christian and Jewish faiths is pitiful. Think a minute about the pagan cults of old: 1. They were murderous, brutal, and intolerant. Christians were slaughtered for centuries by these enlightened pagans who worshipped the 'goddess.' 2. Human sacrifice (along with cannibalism) was a hallmark of paganism and polytheism (I refer you to the Aztecs, the Incas, and South Sea Islanders to name only a few, and I'm not even talking about mass murdering pagans like Attila and Hitler, himself a worshipper of the Teutonic gods) 3. The ridiculous rituals carried out by the Pagans, described in the book as having this deep meaning and power, come off like stilted, neurotic, sex-obsessed Klan meetings only with people chanting and watching some old geezer have sex with a younger woman to 'unite' the feminine with the masculine and thus complete the human psyche. How can people who are so driven to dress up in party hats and chant and have sex supposed to be superior to anyone let alone Christians and Jews? They're just using their religion to party! As to the style of the book, how many times did anyone else count phrases like, "he reeled with this information," "The statement was mind-numbing" (I must have counted the use of 'mind-numbing' at least six times, 'reeling' another five). This is the worst kind of writing. Instead of letting us make our own conclusions about what is being said, Mr. Brown needs to tell us in case we miss the point. Horribly amateurish and very dull. This is a truly mediocre book. It has garnered far more interest than it deserves. What I worry about is that many people think that they are learning 'real history' here. It's a polemic, a doctrinaire screed dressed up like a thriller. But one thing it is not is history, unless you want to count all the myths and falsehoods concocted by haters of monotheism since Abraham left Ur and traveled to Canaan 2000 years before the birth of Christ. It is certainly a history of *that* if nothing else. On this basis alone - that we get to hear all the anti-Monotheist trash-talk that has been floating around for the past 4000 years - then this is a history. Otherwise, it's pure codswallop.
Rating:
Summary: Rate the BOOK not your opinion of what is the TRUTH
Review: As i started reading this book, i swore that i would read little by little because it would take away too much of my time. However, once i started reading this book, i could not put it down, mainly because of the exciting plot and partly because of short chapters. This is one of those books you say "just one more chapter..." and before you know it, you're finished with the book! Now, i know that many of the facts in this book may bother some people and some of the facts might mot be true. However, there are conspiricies which exist and no one can prove for sure what is the absolute TRUTH. This book is a novel and the purpose of a novel is to stimulate your mind and enjoy the story. Anyone who has read this book knows it cannot possibly deserve a ONE STAR rating. I just want to say, do not rate the book based on your opinion of what the truth is. Rate the book AS A BOOK. The definition of a good book is a book that gets hold of you and keeps you reading til the end and The Da Vinci Code is certainly one of those books. Trust me, this book will boggle your mind.
Rating:
Summary: Two Thumbs Up
Review: As much as I love my wife, she and I don't usually agree on our book preferences (a typical conversation in our home might lead you to believe that the books I like are "stupid" while the books she likes are "boring"). I am happy to report though that of the books we have been reading we have found THREE (yes, count them again THREE) books we both agree WE BOTH LOVE. Now that either means these books are both "stupid" and "boring" OR they are superior books and transcend the differences in our tastes. Obviously one of those books is THE DA VINCI CODE by DAN BROWN (along with THE SECRET LIFE OF BEES by SUE MONK KIDD and MY FRACTURED LIFE by RIKKI LEE TRAVOLTA). The Da Vinci Code is a fantastically captivating mystery that follows all the established patterns of the genre to satisfy expectations, but with such unique twists and turns as to not be complacent in the genre. Using some religious elements without making it a story about religion was brilliant and handled fantastically. We (Mr. Stupid and Mrs. Boring) hope you enjoy our recommendations.
Rating: 
Summary: do your own research before making snap judgements
Review: As one previous reviewer noted, this book is very interesting, but it contains several errors in its creative "re-telling" of the history of Christianity. Because it is fiction, the author's, or at least his "historian" characters' theories, did not require attribution. Good thing too, because with a little research into early Christian documents, anyone could spot the mistakes. In my opinion, if you are going to attack a religion and its history, even in a fictional novel, try not to sound so pompous when you conveniently blur the facts to help your story.
It makes one wonder what the public's reaction would be if this novel focused on defaming the history of Islam or another world religion.
| 
