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I’m sure most people who have read The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown will want to read the book written before it which is Angels & Demons. The Da Vinci Code is actually the second book with Robert Langdon as the main character, it only got more famous than the first one. Most of Dan Brown’s books are rather controversial. Mainly in controversy with religion. But half of it is fiction so I hope people don’t take it too seriously.
Angels & Demons starts off by introducing the protagonist of the story, Robert Langdon, a professor of religious iconology at the Harvard University. In the beginning of the story, he is awakened by a phone call from Maximilian Kohler, a particle physicist and the director of CERN (Conseil Européen pour la Recherche Nucléaire which means European Council for Nuclear Research), the world’s largest scientific research facility in Geneva, Switzerland. It turns out that one of the world’s top particle physicist has been murdered and his chest was branded with the word "Illuminati". The Illuminati is an ancient brotherhood formed by brilliant scientists and is thought to be long gone. Since Robert Langdon is an expert on ancient religious iconology, he was asked to help solve the mystery.
He was flown to Geneva, Switzerland in a high tech X-33 plane in less than an hour. Upon reaching his destination, he is escorted by Maximilian to the murder victim’s apartment. The victim was known as Leonardo Vetra, a top particle physicist and also a Catholic priest. He believed that science and religion are able to go hand-in-hand. Together with his daughter, Vittoria, they used the world’s largest particle accelerator to create antimatter. On Earth, we have opposites of things. Like light and dark, and fire and water. So Leonardo and his daughter created the opposite of matter, antimatter. The antimatter had to be kept suspended in a canister, so that it doesn’t interact with matter. When the canister containing the antimatter is removed from it’s electrical charger, the backup batteries will run for 24 hours. If the canister isn’t returned to its charger in time, the antimatter and matter will collide and that will result in a annihilation which happens when both antimatter and matter make contact. An explosion will occur, depending on the amount of antimatter.
With the creation of antimatter, Leonardo Vetra was able to simluate the Big Bang. In his mind he thought he would be able to proof the existence God by creating a universe just like how God created our universe. However, it was later found out that the canister containing the largest amount of antimatter has been stolen. This is where the story really begins. Both Robert and Vittoria were sent off to Vatican City and in there the canister with the antimatter was found by a security camera. The problem was that the camera itself has been removed from its original position and hidden somewhere else. The digital clock on the canister showed that they had less than six hours before the annihilation. Which means by midnight.
So the race against time begins and to make things worse, with the recent death of The Pope, the cardinals of the Catholic Church are all gathered at Vatican City for the conclave, the election of the new pope, and the preferiti, the four cardinals who are the preferred candidates to become the new pope, have gone missing. A call is received from a mysterious man who claims to be from the Illuminati brotherhood. He says he has the four cardinals and will murder them one by one every hour before the antimatter annihilates. He doesn’t have demands, his only wish is to destroy the Catholic Church in revenge for the church’s treatment towards scientist and the Illuminati over the centuries.
The Illuminatus who made the call unknowingly left some clues about where the cardinals would be killed. Robert being an expert in art history and religious symbology picked it up instantly and together with Vitorria, they dig through old archives and folios to solve the mystery. Just like The Da Vinci Code, Robert had just enough knowledge to solve each mystery. I would say that Angels & Demons has more suspense with the antimatter bomb threatening to destroy the Vatican City and all its priceless possessions.
But even then, they weren’t able to prevent the deaths of the cardinals. They always appeared to be a step behind the Illuminati. The way each of the cardinals were murdered were according to the elements honoured by the Illuminati - Earth, Air, Fire, Water including being branded alive with the names of the elements. They soon find out that the Illuminati has an inside man located within the walls of the Vatican City, with that they don’t know whom to trust anymore.
Very much similar to The Da Vinci Code, the story ends with a little surprise on learning who is the mastermind behind all the mysteries. In this story, Robert Langdon and Vittoria are led to ancient buildings and structures like churches, fountains, secret passages, hidden lairs, necropolis and catacombs. The mysteries in this book appears to be a little more harder to solve than the mysteries in The Da Vinci Code. Most of the mysteries in Angels & Demon requires an extensive knowledge in art history and religious iconology. I would say that Dan Brown did a fairly well job of explaining the meaning and history behind art works and symbols through Robert Langdon. There is a certain something about Robert that makes him a very likable character. Perhaps it’s his modesty and charm and the way he shares his knowledge in a way that doesn’t make him sound superior to others.
However, there are some characters that you will find annoying and always getting in the way. But I suppose these characters were made intentionally. Additionally, some minor characters were given too much character background which is irrelevant. But on the overall I would say that Angels & Demons is a very good book for people who love mysteries and thrillers. I actually like this book better than The Da Vinci Code because it is more controversial (lol…i’m sorry but i like controversy, and conspiracies). It is more on about the huge debate on how the universe is created, by God or by science and the never ending disagreement between religion and science. Dont get me wrong, I’m not against religion or anything but like Dan Brown who is a Catholic Christian once said that the controversy is good to inspire "discussion and debate" that will ultimately lead to a more solidly defended faith.
So, to people who are into controversies, conspiracies buffs, mysteries, thrillers and religion history you may want pick this book up and get ready to spend hours in a comfortable chair or bed devouring this book. It is definitely worth the time.
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If it’s possible, I would like to hear comments from people who have read this book. It would be fun to discuss it together =P.
Review of Angels & Demons written by lil nikki with a little help from Wikipedia and www.reviewsofbooks.com.
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