Angels and Demons

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.

I enjoyed the book and found myself thinking about it when not reading it. I have two criticisms, however. One, the book is a bit too critical of the Catholic Church. Yet it is also generally respectful. But I do not read a novel to see a religion criticized. It is dangerous territory.Two, I had decided long ago to avoid fact-based fiction (as in historical fiction). It’s difficult for a casual reader to discern fact from fiction. This book too often presents false history. For example, it says that Winston Churchill was a devout Catholic. I had never heard that before, so I looked it up and it is simply untrue. The book does this too often. So one finishes the book not really knowing whether the posited facts are indeed true.

I've read this book about 20 times now and I'm still not sick of it. It is truly as much a work of art as Bernini or Michaelangelo could reproduce.. easy 5 stars, Mr. Brown. 😉

This is a great suspenseful, intelligent, thriller that has been well researched by Mr Brown by going to the actual Vatican city in Rome as he does with all his Robert Langdon books, which I also highly recommend. I started with The DaVinci Code and then went on to read the others in the proper order. It doesn't really matter which order you read them in honestly because they're all their own separate adventures that don't really need you to know what happened in the previous books because Mr Brown doesn't make any reference to them in each book but believe me when I tell you if you like to read a good intelligent adventure novel and don't mind that it teaches you a little history while you read it then you'll love Angels & Demons. This is the first book in the Robert Langdon novels and has to do with religious scholar history and symbology throughout but now in a boring way at all I assure you. It sets a pretty good pace in the storytelling so you don't feel like you're struggling to get through the book. I couldn't wait to find out what happened next. The next book is the DaVinci Code then The Lost Symbol and finally his newest book which was released in 2013, Inferno. All great books and all very well researched. A lot of people like to go to the different countries mentioned in these books and see the actual piecesbof art and landmarks mentioned in these books because they're real. Mr Brown has been there. Actually researched these things in person to give the reader a sense of realism like no author I've ever come across. He's the real deal and I think any intelligent reader would love his robert Langdon series.

I read this book about 20 years ago and I loved it then and reading it again just made me love it even more!!! You too will become enamored with this extremely well written book!!

I am reading this for the second time. I also saw the excellent movie based on the book. Dan Brown very imaginative writer. Make sure you also read The DaVinci Code,

Dan Brown uno de mis autores favoritos, no descepciono con este libro

El libro llegó antes de tiempo, muy bien empaquetado y en perfectas condiciones.

This is my first Dan Brown's book and I absolutely loved it!

Robert Langdon is searching for a series of clues that will lead him along the “path of illumination” following this path will lead him to the spot where the illuminati has regrouped in order to get their revenge on the Catholic Church.The path of illumination is marked by the four elements of science “Earth, Air, Fire & Water”.Following works of art by the Italian artist Bernini, Langdon races against the clock to save Vatican City and the people in it.Wow. What an adventure. I adored this novel. As a wannabe art enthusiast the way Brown fuses historical, architectural, & artistic fact with fiction is just such a pleasure to read.The story is clear and easy to follow, perfectly paced, engaging and immersive. The characters in the book each have a well thought out role and a reason to be there.I enjoyed the beginning, the middle & the end and wouldn’t change a single word, plot or person in this book.I’m heading for a short break to Rome in March of this year (2023) and I will absolutely be visiting each of the four pillars and church of illumination.1. Chigi Chapel (Habakkuk and the Angel)2. The marble elliptical block at the base of the monolith in St. Peter’s Square. (West Ponente)3. The Ecstasy of St. Teresa at church of Santa Maria Della Vittoria.4. Fiumi Fountain - The Fountain of the Four RiversFinally.- Castel Sant’ Angelo — Castle of the Angel.