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284 of 351 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A true barnburner!, June 2, 2003
By A Customer
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.
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65 of 78 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
A genuine page-turner, June 13, 2000
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.
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99 of 122 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
An absolutely STUNNING Thriller!, April 17, 2003
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.
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