Origin by Dan Brown

Origin by Dan Brown

 

Review of the novel Origin by Dan Brown.

Published by Penguin on 3rd October 2017

Cost: £20.00 (UK)

ISBN: 978-0-5930-7875-4 (Hardback Edition - 461 pages - starts on page 5)

Dedication: In Memory of my Mother

This is a continuation in the Robert Langdon series by Dan Brown. If you recall, Langdon is a Harvard professor of symbology and religious iconology. So, for many readers of the previous novels, we have an idea of what to expect, however, this story is slightly different. There is less decoding and searching for symbols than in previous books.

Robert Langdon has received a last-minute invitation to attend ‘An Evening with Edmond Kirsch’ held by one of his former pupils at The Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain.

The Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain, looked like something out of an alien hallucination – swirling collage of warped metallic forms that appeared to have been propped up against one another in an almost random way.

At the check-in table, Langdon is presented with a headset customised to him personally.

The transducer pads don’t go inside your ears, but rather rest on your face. …. Bone conduction technology. The transducers drive sound directly into the bones of your jaw, allowing sound to reach your cochlea directly – like having a voice inside your head. It leaves your ears free to have outside conversations.

At this point the reader is introduced to the underlying character in the story, Winston, the personal guide created for Langdon by Edmond Kirsch. The whole story has a theme of technology running through it and suggests the importance of it in the future. In the Acknowledgements section, Dan Brown gives credit to ‘a brilliant team of scientists’ at the Barcelona Supercomputing Centre for their advice of how future computers might communicate with individuals. The result in this story is, for me, extremely enjoyable.

As the reader might expect, there are codes for Langdon to crack and just after meeting Kirch, Langdon is given his first one. ‘After the presentation, hail a cab and give this card to the driver.’ On the business card are the letters and numerals: BIO-EC346.

The reader would also expect Langdon to be joined on his journey by an attractive female:

A narrow door opened in the wall behind the podium, and the crowd immediately hushed, all looking expectantly for the great Edmond Kirsch.

But no Edmond materialised.

The door stood open for nearly ten seconds.

Then an elegant woman emerged and moved towards the podium She was strikingly beautiful – tall and willowy with long black hair – wearing a formfitting white dress with a diagonal black stripe. She seemed to drift effortlessly across the floor.

Miss Ambra Vidal is the director of The Guggenheim Museum, and, the fiancée of Crown Prince Julián, the only son of the King of Spain.

This story has a similar tone to previous Robert Langdon stories, where religion and science have a conflict to resolve. However, in this story, it is Edmond Kirsch who explains his theory and it is the reactions to it that begins a race against time for Langdon and Miss Vidal to resolve. There are long sections of dialogue which form the background to the narrative, and in a few instances flashbacks to explain why some of the characters behave in the way they do. But on the whole, this is a fast-paced story. Centred around Bilbao and Barcelona, where there are car chases and daring helicopter rides, all which lead Robert Langdon to a church to solve a difficult code, that has a time impact to the narrative. The enemies of Langdon appear to be just one step behind him at all times and it is only his brilliant mind that appears to jump to the solution of the cryptic codes in the nick of time that save the day. There are hints and suggestions as to who is directing the leading characters on the journey to prevent Langdon solve the codes, but the reader is left in the dark until the very end of the book who it might be.

When I was listening to the radio yesterday, I listened to Dan Brown being interviewed as part of the promotion for this book, and the question of a twist at the end of the story was discussed. I’m not sure it’s a twist in the plot as I was close to finishing reading the novel and was expecting just such a revelation. I loved this book, with its discussion on technology and its possible future developments and interactions with humans. I found I could not put the book down, such that I finished reading it in a day and a half. It’s a must read for all Dan Brown fans, and should increase his followers. Rating: 5 stars.

Dr Sheppard

11 October 2017