Customer Reviews

Angels & Demons

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4 star:		(563)
3 star:		(343)
2 star:		(210)
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Next to Britt Gillette's "Conquest of Paradise", this is the best book I've read in a long time. I'm a first time Dan Brown reader but I'm hooked! I stayed up all night and didn't quit until I finished, blurry eyed and sleepy. I found myself believing every word and had to stop and remember that it's just fiction! I was amazed at the inside information about the Vatican (especially the library), and I finally got out a map and books from my trip to Rome to see if I could find all the churches. Anti-matter, illuminati, choosing a pope - all of it was fascinating. When I finished, I had to laugh thinking about the fact they never ate, slept or made comfort stops and neither could I. The ending was a total surprise! Anyone who enjoys non-stop action and information shouldn't miss this one.

Harvard professor Robert Langdon and CERN scientist Vittoria Vetra have just one night to prevent the Vatican from being destroyed by an antimatter bomb. Can they do it? Of course. But the fun lies in how and why.

A sample of antimatter has been stolen from physics center CERN by the Illuminati -- the all-powerful group made so famous by Robert A. Wilson's books. Here, they are represented as being an ancient order of scientists upset with the way the Church has treated science and scientists. (Me, I always liked the bankers-as-secret-force or blood-relatives-of-Jesus explanation of the Illuminati, but this will do.) This provides for plenty of science vs. religion conversations, and Brown does a good job with them.

ANGELS AND DEMONS is a fast, but satisfying read. It rolls along unstoppably, not the least of which because the action takes place over a 24-hour span. Even if -- as I did -- you guess what's really happening half-way through the book, you'll never guess what happens in the last 40 pages.

The book is laced with fun facts about electing a pope and the Vatican, like that St. Peter's bones are not in the golden casket in St. Peter's Basilica, but two stories under it. Brown knows the layout. And that the artist Raphael's last name was Santi. He also knows how marble statues were carved. Brown's no Irving Stone (THE AGONY AND THE ECSTACY), but he does manage to inform without being pedantic.

As Vittoria and Langdon race around Rome, we get quite a tour, with great descriptions. (Pick up a paperback copy next summer and bring it to Rome. Take the Brown tour.) What's interesting is that all the places and pieces of art in this book really exist. So Brown has played a version of the Sherlockians' Great Game by linking them all with his "history" of the Illuminati and their doings. No small feat.

Several of the plot elements have to be taken with a grain of salt. First, there is the fact that everyone in this book is absolutely amazed by amibgrams (these are words which can be ready the same upside-down as right-side up -- the book's dust jacket has the title in ambigram). They play an important role in the story, and everyone who encounters them is practically struck dumb the fact that even exist. They "seem utterly impossible." I guess no one else in the story (including symbol expert Langdon) remembers that OMNI magazine ran an ambigram contest in the 1980s and published dozens of the thousands of entries they received, I imagine that by now there must be a software program or web site that can make them for you (and make an acrostic that spells out your girlfriend's name). In short: they aren't that amazing. Then there are things like the fact that Vittoria (a physicist) isn't familiar with the classical four elements of earth, air, fire, and water. Come on.

Great literature? No, but you sure keep turning the pages to see what happens next.

My first introduction to Dan Brown was through his incredible thriller, 'The Da Vinci Code' and figured that I had missed out on his previous works, so I picked up 'Angels & Demons' the day after I finished TDVC. This is in every way it's equal. Every bit as compelling. Every bit as entertaining. Every bit as FUN. If you enjoy solving puzzles -- especially REAL ones, than Dan Brown is an author you NEED to get to know and F-A-S-T.

One of the things which made this book so instantly enjoyable was one of the main characters I already knew, Robert Langdon, world famous Symbologist from 'The Da Vinci Code'. Set aside some time to completely absorb this amazing tale, because once you start it, you will instantly be captured up in this highly addictive story. Robert is suddenly awakened early in the morning by the Director of the worlds leading science center, CERN located in Switzerland asking for advice. Robert is less than interested and hangs up when his fax machine spits out a picture which makes his blood run cold. Within a few hours, he is on a quick trip to Europe (heavy emphasis on the word 'Quick'). A murder has been committed. The victim, one of the most gifted scientist in the world has been brutally killed and the mysterious brand of the secret brotherhood of the Illuminati is left on his chest. NOT just ANY brand either, an Ambigram, a word which can be read the same right-side-up as well as upside-down. But Robert is convinced that the Illuminati have been disbanded for the better part of a century. Even so, his curiosity leads him on a quest which will take up the rest of the day and open up secrets long forgotten and better left buried.

Somehow Dan Brown has introduced the element of Antimatter into the story in such a way as to be totally believable. The substance in actuality has been manufactured in microscopic quantities. It's a power source if harnessed could benefit mankind in untold ways -- however with most things the opposite is also true. In this case Antimatter can also be a weapon of catastrophic proportions. Just a tiny half-a-gram of Antimatter if it came in contact with literally ANYTHING, even air, would create an annhialation equal to a 5 kiloton nuclear explosion. When some of this material is stolen from a lab in Geneva and turns up hidden somewhere inside the walls of the Vatican, the chase is on to find it before it decimates the headquaters of the worlds largest Christian Religion. Oh, and to throw a little curve ball to the plot, the Pope has recently died and the worlds senior Cardinals have gathered for Conclave, to decide who will be elected Pontiff. Along the way, we find out the Illuminati's ultimate goal of destroying the Catholic Church, and suddenly it all seems possible -- frighteningly possible. When 4 of the Senior Cardinals are kidnapped and threatened to be murdered one-by-one until the Antimatter goes critical, the stakes suddenly are as serious as the Church has ever faced.

Let me tell you this: NOTHING is as it seems, and NOBDY is safe from suspicion. I was absolutely convinced that one character was involved in the conspiracy and BOY was I WRONG. The surprises are fast and many, and the trip was one well worth taking. Catholics take note: You MAY be a little unsettled at how the Church is portrayed in 'Angels & Demons' but ultimately I believe the basic idea the author conveys is one of hope, and the Church provides that in many ways. I will be recommending this book (as well as 'The Da Vinci Code') to ALL my friends. HIGHLY recommended, and absolutely INCREDIBLY fun.

Dan Brown can't solve the biggest problem of a techno-thriller writer: how to incorporate knowledge that the average reader won't know into the story in a natural-sounding way. For instance, the stuff about nuclear physics or medieval religious societies. Sure, we need to be told some of this stuff as background, but when the characters explain it to each other, it sounds dumb. Would a Harvard professor--even a religion professor--know as little about science as Langdon does? Would a scientist really be as ignorant about religion as Vittoria, especially when she's been raised by a priest? Would an Italian woman need to be told who the Swiss Guards are?
Basically, this book reads like a screenplay. I think it should make a pretty good action-packed movie, but as a book, it's quite tedious and artificial-sounding. I'm also kind of offended by the stereotypical character portrayals; it's as if Brown wrote them with an eye to actors who would play them. The wheelchair-bound Dr. Strangelove-like director of CERN. The handsome afraid-of-commitment bachelor professor. Why does Vittoria the scientist have to be beautiful and sexy? Because that way someone like, I don't know, Liv Tyler or Penelope Cruz can play her in the movie.

Well, let's not mince words. This book features planes that go Mach 15, cliched stereotypical characters such as a brainless, evil mideastern assassin (known annoyingly as the Hassassin), a scavenger hunt plot of the type commonly found in children's fantasy such as Redwall, and... believe it or not... an attempt to blow up the Vatican City using antimatter.

Amazon has this to say: "It takes talent to make that novel anything but ridiculous." I agree completely. Mr. Brown hasn't the talent.

Aside from the horribly hyperdramatic nature of the story, which is so wildly implausible as to defy conventional criticism, the writing is terrible and seems mostly to have been a first draft. To put it bluntly, Brown has a tin ear. Any casual reader can find, for instance, numerous passages in which Brown unwittingly repeats himself rhythmically by rolling out a basic concept followed by two sentence fragments which rephrase it uselessly, like this:

"Langdon was overwhelmed. At a loss. Completely unsure of himself."
"Vittoria struggled to contain her passion. Burned with fire. Seethed."
"The plot was ludicrous. Manifestly juvenile. The brainstorm of a poorly-educated, slightly retarded child."

Seriously, folks, how do you forgive such shortcomings? About the most that can be said for this novel is that if you assume it had to be soap-operatic, badly-phrased crap, it does at least succeed in compelling your attention most of the way through in the same way Grisham's novels do... but I don't make that assumption and I can't recommend the book.

I read "Angels & Demons" after reading Dan Brown's "The Da Vinci Code," and I have to say that I do not think it matters what order you read the two books although there are clear indications this book was written first (Brown does several examples of blatant foreshadowing, including early on the idea that one square yard of drag will slow a falling body's rate of descent by twenty percent). The two books are similar in that Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon deciphers clues to try and solve one murder while trying to prevent others in a mystery that involves the secrets of the Catholic Church. In this book a physicist is murdered at CERN, the Swiss research facility, and branded will a symbol representing the Illuminati, the centuries old underground organization of scientists who have a vendetta against the Catholic Church. The ancient secret brotherhood has acquired a devastating new weapon of mass destruction and intends to bring down the Vatican (literally).

Which book is better? My initial reaction would be that I liked "The Da Vinci Code" a bit more because so many of the clues were written out. When Langdon has to look over paintings, statues and other visual clues I find myself wishing Brown had supplied photographs in his book so that I could play along looking for clues (he does provide most of the requisite images at his website, but I did not know this until after the fact and I suspect most readers will not want to stop and go online to call up the photographs). Not that I had much success in my endeavors, but I did know that Leonardo Da Vinci wrote in his journals backwards so that I was ahead of Langdon for a half a page at one point. "Angles & Demons" is played out on a larger and more public stage than "The Da Vinci Code," and when you get to the conclusion of this novel you might find it a bit much, but that is one of the reasons they call it fiction.

The biggest question in the debate over these books seems to be whether Brown is attacking the Catholic Church in his novels, which strikes me a bit odd after reading "Angels & Demons" since the Vatican is the target this time around. This novel is more about the long struggle between science and religion than anything else, and the position Brown takes seems to be that the two are ultimately compatible. I did my dissertation on the Scopes "Monkey" Trial of 1925 and in the spectacle of Clarence Darrow cross-examining William Jennings Bryan that is codified by the fictional "Inherit the Wind," history has forgotten that the original position of the Scopes defense was that there Genesis and evolution were compatible. Consequently, I have a lot of sympathy for Brown's position and I think a careful reading of the text offers as strong a critique of science as it does of religion. Certainly that ideal is represented by the man who is murdered to start off the story and whatever faults in the history and theology of the Catholic Church might be discussed, there are just too many men of devout faith in the narrative to support the idea Brown is out to get the Church.

Nor do I have any real concerns with the extent to which Brown is playing with historical "facts." The whole idea here is to create a sense that the pieces of the puzzle fit together. I do not think for a second that these novels are true; all I need is to believe that they are plausible, so telling me that some statue's finger is pointed in the wrong direction if you go to Rome and see it for yourself is not going to matter to me because I understand how far the rules of the game apply to the real world. Even so, I think that Brown's factual foundation is more substantial than we will usually find under such circumstances, which would end up being a plus rather than a minus. Besides, I like all of the flashbacks to Langdon's discussions with his students (more classroom scenes in the future, please).

Solving the puzzles is the key enjoyment of these novels and that part of the creative process makes up for Brown's tendency to overplay his red herrings and to hide his true villains in plain sight. Ultimately the game matters more than the characters or the plot. As soon as you know that there will be four more murders you realize that at least three of them have to happen because the game has to be played out to the end, so it is not until the frantic end game that your attention really perks up and it is at that point that Brown starts unloading a whole lot of really big surprises on his characters and his readers. In the final analysis the point here is neither history nor theology, but to tell an exciting adventure yarn where the hero gets by mainly on his intelligence rather than good looks and/or weaponry. This is a hero I can actually identify with for once and that is fine with me too.

To my chagrin, I bought this book in CD format...OUCH! That'll teach me to try a new author in anything but paperback. I made a valiant attempt to suspend belief as Our Hero, who has more lives than the proverbial cat, races around Rome narrowly excaping from all manner of deadly situations...all in less than 24 hours. The poor man apparently had no opportunity to eat, drink, or use the toilet. And just how many guns does he lose before the bitter end? The rope suspending belief, never robust, dwindled to a thread and finally broke after the helicopter scene on Disk 13. Judging from the Amazon.com reviews, this scene seems to have finished off a number of people, but, miraculously, not Our Hero. After taking a few days to locate and soothe my bruised and battered belief, I will find a stronger suspension material (maybe one of the steel cables holding up the Golden Gate Bridge) and see if I can make it through the last 2 CDs. Upon successful completion thereof, my book CD will be zipping on its way to a friend who likes "Angels and Demons" and I will be avoiding Dan Brown's work like the plague.

Preposterous: look up the synonyms in Roget's--they all apply, plus a good many other negatives.

If a magician pulls a rabbit out of a hat, we are mildly if briefly entertained. If the same magician pulls TWO rabbits out in a row, we smile. But what happens if he does TEN? FIFTY? A HUNDRED? That's what the author did here: too many damn rabbits and only one hat.

The plot, which is supposed to be in the thriller genre, I surmise, gets laughable after about the 50th silly turn of events. The characters are nothing memorable--pretty much stock, cardboard cutouts, central casting has-beens. The atmosphere skips around so much that the reader can never quite discover the ambience. The scholarship is often suspect or just plain wrong.

Early on the author must have decided to set this in a 24-hour time frame. That certainly serves to compact the action. But it also creates patent absurdities, such as a plane that flies at Mach 15. Such as a superfluous romance that is something out of Ayn Rand. Such as doing a year's research at the Vatican in about 10 minutes. You get the point.

Perhaps the basic theme (religion vs. the challenges of science) could have been explored better at a far slower more provacative pace, without about 90% of the heroics and O. Henry surprises.

Sorry. Too many rabbits here, Way, way, way too many.

I felt this book to be insulting. As several reviewers have pointed out, the Italian language is so mangled that you wonder what Brown used for translating (Italian is my mother tongue, and I suffered considerably throughout the book. Once, I had no idea what Victoria had said -in Italian).

There are several factual errors, and your credulity is stretched to a point where Harry Potter (which I like a lot) feels like a history book. I cannot believe that an editor ever set eyes on this text before publishing it...

At the same time, I am not too surprised that the book received so many good reviews, because it is packed with action and twists and turns. But I hope that not too many readers take Mr Brown at his word, because if he can get away with Italian that bad, I shudder to think how he must have done his researh...

Why does Dan Brown keep doing this? For such a talented storyteller to so thoroughly drop the ball when it comes to character, dialogue, and simple realism is only slightly forgivable. Why is it forgivable? Because aside from all the irritation you feel (if you speak Italian or understand Latin) at the language absurdity and the historical and timing inaccuracies, it is still a fun read.
Angels and Demons deals with an ancient group known as the Illuminati and some rather farfetched plots involving religious symbols and anti-matter. While the notion is very intriguing, the details are irritating.
The characters have terrible dialogue. Nobody speaks like this.
The amount of distance these people cover in the short span of time went far beyond suspension of disbelief. Usually I can quell my disbelieving tendencies in the interest of finishing a good, well-paced story, but I found myself thinking, "How could they possibly make it over two miles in such a short amount of time?"
The science is iffy.
The way Langdon makes these intuitive leaps to solve ages-old mysteries is far beyond possible.
However, the story is fun and the action is nicely paced. There are some nicely done twists.
I just wish Dan Brown would learn to stop trying to fabricate textbooks while writing his stories. He needs to just stick to storytelling.