Angels And Demons. Book Review

TITLE: Angels And Demons


AUTHOR: Dan Brown

RELEASED: 2000

RATING: Great Book

PLOT: Pitting scientific terrorists against the cardinals of Vatican City, this well-plotted if over-the-top thriller is crammed with Vatican intrigue and high-tech drama. Robert Langdon, a Harvard specialist on religious symbolism, is called in by a Swiss research lab when Dr. Vetra, the scientist who discovered antimatter, is found murdered with the cryptic word "Illuminati" branded on his chest. These Iluminati were a group of Renaissance scientists, including Galileo, who met secretly in Rome to discuss new ideas in safety from papal threat; what the long-defunct association has to do with Dr. Vetra's death is far from clear. Vetra's daughter, Vittoria, makes a frightening discovery: a lethal amount of antimatter, sealed in a vacuum flask that will explode in six hours unless its batteries are recharged, is missing. Almost immediately, the Swiss Guard discover that the flask is hidden beneath Vatican City, where the conclave to elect a new pope has just begun. Vittoria and Langdon rush to recover the canister, but they aren't allowed into the Vatican until it is discovered that the four principal papal candidates are missing. The terrorists who are holding the cardinals call in regarding their pending murders, offering clues tied to ancient Illuminati meeting sites and runes. Meanwhile, it becomes clear that a sinister Vatican entity with messianic delusions is in league with the terrorists.



REVIEW: Quoting author Clive Barker, "This is one hell of a book", is absolutly right. The job of an author is to craft a story that makes you think question what you know, and never leave you. This is exactly what this book does. If you read it, you must understand that there are three ways to read it. The first way is that you can read it as a thriller. THe second way is a way to explain the religion side of creation. ANd the last way is simular to the latter, but instead of religion, you got science. When I read it, I used all three at once and trust me, you will get a lot out of this long book that way.

But the thing that makes the book even more better is that 95% of the book is based on fact. That five percent being the actual events that happens and the return of the Illuminati. With all that being said, those that are of the Catholic faith might be turned away from this tale because it does go into the dark side of religion, showing how power hungary religion in gerneral was during the Renaissance. I was shocked when I learned that most of the crimes that did happen were fact, and you start to feel for the villians in this story. They are just men of science getting revenge for their ancestors that were tortured during this time period. ANd it is explained by one character (I will not reviel the name) the reason, or at least his/ her version, behind these crimes. With all that said, you must also realise that the Catholics were also doing what they were taught to do, so they were following orders of God. So, in all, you start feeling for both sides of the argument.

Now, I want to get down towards the characters. The main one is Robert Langdon. He is an interesting character because of his occupation (Religion Symbologist) and the fact that he works with religion, and yet has no faith at all. I find this interesting because most of the time, R. Symbologists usualy are of a faith. Besides that, he is a fun, intellegent character that anyone who ever dreamed of being a scholar of anything should look up to.

But the real person who steals the show is Maximilian Kohler. He is an old man that for most of his life has held a vendetta against religion for it was the influence that caused him to be crippled early in life. And with that in mind, you start to get a bit of an image about him, but towards the end of the book, it is shattered when you find out the truth about him.

Now, before I wrap this up, I will say that this is, with out a doubt, one of my personal favorite novels of all time and I hope that who ever reads this that you get a chance to for it is a rewarding experiance.