Book 9

And so the Dan Brown movement comes to a close. Finished off Angels and Demons - the first Robert Langdon book. It was certainly better than Digital Fortress, but that doesn't necessarily mean anything. Actually it was, for the most part, pretty good. I'm still not crazy about the way Brown's characters have moments of plot-serving stupidity. And it was pretty obvious early on who Janus (the main antagonist) was. But it was a fun read and that counts for a lot when you're talking this kind of literature. I think one of the things I enjoy most is his little forays into architecture and symbology. Not that most of it should be taken as the only way to look at it. Symbols are after all pretty open to interpretation (Freud's cigar notwithstanding).

I'd like to see an illustrated edition of this book as well. The illustrated Da Vinci Code is certainly fun to flip through and Angels and Demons is right up there with art and architecture references. The bad guys this time around are the Illuminati. Poor Illuminati, always picked on. I have the card game version of the Steve Jackson Illuminati game mentioned briefly. Haven't played it in ages though.

At any rate, you could do worse than to flip through this one. The science vs. religion debate is a little grating at times. Brown does manage to play it pretty even handedly though - both sides get their moments. Although it's arguable that religion comes off a little worse for the wear. Still a fun popcorn book and probably Brown's best.