I’m a diehard Dan Brown fan. His fictional Adonis by the name Prof. Robert Langdon is a wet dream of every sapiosexual reader. And in this third book in the Robert Langdon series, Dan Brown has given us more reasons to stay addicted to his works!
I admit, I picked up this book at the wrong time. I have exams coming up this month, and I’m supposed to be studying for them as sincerely as I have been insincere throughout the semester. Yet, I took a decision to read Origin, and it totally pulled me into the wonderful narrative in Spain, and far far away from my study table.
The basic plot of this book is: Edmond Kirsch, a forty year old billionaire, futurist and a scientist discovers a theory that could potentially shake the foundations of all the religions in the world, and prove that science is the reason why human beings were born, and have evolved to this stage. Further, his theory aims to answer the two universally-wondered-upon questions: Where have we come from? Where are we going? All religions try to answer these two questions with their own interpretations, but Edmond Kirsch can prove that all these interpretations are baseless in the face of science.
What’s the twist? Edmond Kirsch, a former student of Prof. Langdon, invites him to the event at the ultramodern Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain wherein Kirsch would reveal to the world his revolutionary findings. And in this event, a few minutes before Kirsch actually began to divulge his theory, he is assassinated. Kirsch’s precious discovery now teeters on the brink of being lost forever.
Prof. Langdon feels that it is his moral responsibility to convey Edmond’s theory to the world, and sets upon an adventure to get his hands on an alternate way of releasing the theory: a pre-recorded, password protected video file created by Edmond himself. A vision from beyond the grave, indeed. But to do this, Prof. Langdon and Ambra Vidal, the Director of the Guggenheim Museum and future queen consort of Spain, must navigate the dark corridors of hidden history and extreme religion, and come out unscathed from people with veiled intentions and personal vendetta.
In addition to the stellar symbologist, we have noteworthy characters in this book. The few main ones being Prince Julian, the prince of Spain; Bishop Valdespino, a major suspect, and last but certainly not the least, Winston, a supercomputer with a human touch.
What I liked about this book is that there are many references to the latest developments in technology, unlike Dan Brown’s previous books which were rich in content from history and symbology. And that’s not necessarily bad. Because Winston, even though not human, is a character that will make you feel that all your mortal friends are useless. His wit, amazing abilities to get information at his fingertips, and make more rational decisions than human beings was amazingly portrayed.
(SPOILER ALERT) Also, there’s a scene in which an assassin flees from the crime scene by booking an Uber. Ain’t that uber cool? (SPOILER ALERT END)
What I didn’t like about this book is, Ambra Vidal is not a very well-developed character. Her emotions felt forced by the author’s view point, and I couldn’t naturally sympathise or relate with her. Also, a few of the plot twists seemed a bit weird, and felt like a last-minute attempt to patch up a mediocre plot.
I give this book a 4/5 stars rating. I would recommend this book to all Dan Brown lovers. It’s a perfect blend of mystery, history, science and fodder for thought, if you’re willing to close your eyes to the slightly-below-expectation execution of this book.
~Amateur-Book-Reviewer
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