Review of 'Origin'
Origin by Dan Brown
Harvard professor Robert Langdon, familiar to readers of Dan Brown's books, attends a presentation at the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao by the Billionaire Edmond Kirsch (a la Elton Musk). In the presentation Kirsch reveals he has found the secret to the origin of the human race and, critically, has determined what it's future is. But before his secrets can be revealed Kirsch is killed and Langdon flees the scene along with the museum's director Ambra Vidal who also just happens to be the fiancé of Prince Julian of Spain. On the run the two hope to determine the password that will reveal the presentation containing Kirsch's secrets to the world but there are political and religious forces willing to stop at nothing to see that these secrets are never revealed…
Another easy to read, interesting and fast paced novel from Brown that this time sets its sights on the nature of religion. “Origin” sees Robert Langdon's talents largely unused with very little in the way of complicated historical intrigue and cryptic symbols. Here Langdon is a passenger as the plot unfolds doing a lot of running and sight-seeing (particularly of Barcelona and the famous Gaudi cathedral Sagrada Familia) but not a lot of thinking which may be a bit of a relief to some viewers. As in other Brown novels there are a number of related story strands going on at the same time though they are quite easy to follow and are not so distant from each other to confuse the reader. Some of the ideas here are quite interesting and the sight seeing is also enjoyable but it is not as enthralling or compelling as previous novels and the ending is a bit of an anti-climax as well…Still, it only took me a few nights to finish it's 500+ pages, determined to learn the secret.
Another page turner from Dan Brown that manages to entertain if not entirely shock and intrigue as we were when reading the The Da Vinci Code.
Rating: “Really good but I have some issues”
Review Date: 2022-05-23
Genre: General Fiction
Publisher: Corgi
Publication Date: 2017
ISBN: 9780552174169