dan brown

Inferno by Dan Brown

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Inferno by Dan Brown

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Summary

“Harvard professor of symbology Robert Langdon awakens in an Italian hospital, disoriented and with no recollection of the past thirty-six hours, including the origin of the macabre object hidden in his belongings. With a relentless female assassin trailing them through Florence, he and his resourceful doctor, Sienna Brooks, are forced to flee. Embarking on a harrowing journey, they must unravel a series of codes, which are the work of a brilliant scientist whose obsession with the end of the world is matched only by his passion for one of the most influential masterpieces ever written, Dante Alighieri’s The Inferno.

Dan Brown has raised the bar yet again, combining classical Italian art, history, and literature with cutting-edge science in this sumptuously entertaining thriller.”

-From Amazon.com

Review

This book was amazingly well done and SO scary. Not terror scary but because all the facts and scientific pieces of information are true, so that makes it way scarier to think about.

I just wanted to start off with the quote from the beginning of the book.

“The darkest places in hell are reserved for those who maintain their neutrality in times of moral crisis.”

Now, I am not 100% sure who said this comment but it seems like it was Dante Alighieri, but don’t quote me on that because it seems like there is a lot of discrepancies about who said it. But I really like this quote but I agree with it. Now there are many sides to every issue and to state that those who don’t pick a side or don’t have a say, essentially not caring, have a special place in hell.

Now, this book obviously has a lot of backlash online when you google it because it is a historic book, taking real things, places, and people, and using them in a novel so people like to rip these books apart and say how horrible it was and inaccurate it was. First off, this is a novel! You can’t quote it in a thesis or a research paper as even though it has facts, it is still a fictional piece and can’t be counted as a credible source. People seem to like to ignore this fact and say how inaccurate it was, and it partially annoys me, but you will always have those trolls whose main purpose is to rip others apart.

But with that aside, I honestly loved this book. It did take me much longer to read than a regular Dan Brown, just because I found the topic at hand quite stressful and also because I’ve been very busy so didn’t get to sit down and read as much. But I finally finished it in a 7 hour-long car drive, and am so glad that I read it. It was exciting, presented interesting ideas, and scared the living crap out of me because of some of the ideas presented.

For characters, each character changed throughout the novel. Some you thought were good and turned out to be bad but then were good-ish, then there were bad guys who were actually good….I mean serious confusion going on but it all was straightened out in the end, per usual.

The main character, Robert Langdon has been in some of his other novels so seeing him work on this type of case is nice because you get to see character development over longer periods of time which is a nice change.

Overall I do recommend this book. It’s a classical Dan Brown and if you like his other novels, then you are sure to like this one as well.

Happy reading and let me know what you think!

The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown 1

 in Adventure / Book Reviews / Books / Fiction / History / Interesting / Older Readers / Young Adult by

Summary

Wow! Dan Brown has created yet another enthralling novel. This is the second one in the series with Robert Langdon (Angel’s and Demons being the first.) In this thrilling book Robert Langdon is called in to decipher a code written on a dead mans body(!). The weird thing is the killer didn’t write what was on him there. He originally thought that because in his last experience, the symbols were put there from the killer. But this time they weren’t. The dead man had written the symbols on himself just before he died. Robert was called in and so was Sophie Neveu, a noted cryptographer. So the adventure begins of finding the clues left by this man. But they have to find out what the clues are for. Robert believes that the man who died was part of a secret group. Priory of Sion. A 1,000 year old group that held the secrets of the Holy Grail and Robert believes that these symbols are passing on the information. But why? To find out they have to follow trails left by the dead man who is actually Sophie Nevu’s grandfather, run away from the police and keep themselves from not being killed. But can they get to the secret before Opus Dei a secret  organization who wants the information too? Both groups want to own the Grail but only one wants to use it for good. The other wants to get it and destroy it. Destroy something that is from the time of Jesus. But who will get there first? The clock has started ticking.

Review

I know that the last two books that I read by Dan Brown were excellent and I said they were must reads. Well this one is not one that I would say that about. The beginning was really good but once it got to the end it was all riddles and they were solving something until the VERY end. It was not confusing to read or anything but the riddles got kind of boring. There are some things that you should watch out for. There is some sexual content in the book. Nothing too graphic but commonsensemedia.org rates this book iffy for 15 year olds. I only read it because it is the second one of three in the Robert Langdon Series (The Lost Symbol being the last.) There is also one thing that I would say. I might read Digital Fortress again, I possibly would read the Angels and Demons again because it was interesting but I would not read the Da Vinchi Code again but it was a little boring. This book a definite one time read book. I would say that you should read it because it was good but not one of the best.

What do you think?

I am sure I am not the only one who read it so what are your opinions. Tell me what you thought about it and if you though this was the best. Everyone’s opinions matter.

What I Think….
by M.O.M.

Unlike MLCWO I did not read any other books by Dan Brown before I read The Da Vinci Code. I loved it and couldn’t put it down. In fact I was shocked to discover that at one point I had to stop everything and sit and read and read, to find out what happens next. I found it gripping, and an exciting read. But then again, I don’t usually read books like this so it was quite a new experience for me. I think Dan Brown researches his subjects well and sets out an interesting story. He keeps his readers engaged. However, I am not sure how long he can create books based on symbols, mysticism and history.

Angels and Demons by Dan Brown

 in Book Reviews / Books / Young Adult by

Summary

Robert Langdon is a symbologist and he has been sent some information that the secret society known as the Illuminati – a group devoted to science since the time of Galileo and condemning Catholicism since then too – is actually still in existence. When Max Kohler, director of CERN, calls him in because of a mysterious death, every single piece of evidence is pointing towards the Illuminati but Robert won’t believe it. The man murdered was Leonardo Vetra and he was a great scientist and a priest. The last discovery he made was of antimatter – the most powerful and most dangerous thing known to man – and after he was killed, the biggest amount ever of antimatter was stolen. It was a small amount but enough to completely vaporize Vatican city and that is just what it has been put in the center of the Vatican city to do. Langdon and Vittoria – Leonardo Vetra’s daughter – are now on a mission to save 4 cardinals who’s lives are in danger and retrieve the antimatter before it explodes – only 24 hours. And counting.

Review

This actually might have been better that Digital Fortress. This book was full of action, romance, mystery, and suspense. I just could not put this book down. I actually read it in 3 days and the book is over 600 pages. There are just some things that you should watch out for though. This book is actually really violent because there is a “Hassassin” (Hassassin was the old word for assassin the book). This man does some gruesome things and some of it is kind of cringeworthy. This book is kind of easy to follow. But only in some parts. There is scientific talk and that is sometimes confusing. There is also a small amount of sexuality which is kind of descriptive. Dan Brown made this book gripping and a page turner. I could not put it down as I said and I think that you will too.

This book should be read before you read the Da Vinci Code because the first chapter of that book refers to it (briefly). I might read this book again but I think that it just might be a one time read book. I recommend that no one should read this unless they are under the age of 14-15 years old. But otherwise enjoy this really good book.

What do you think?

This book is quite popular so I cannot be the only one who read it. If you have read this book, tell my what you think of it. Tell me what you think the age should be to read it.

Digital Fortress: A Thriller by Dan Brown

 in Adventure / Book Reviews / Books / Fiction / Older Readers / Young Adult by

“A disturbing, cutting-edge techno-thriller that should galvanize everyone who send or receives e-mail or even dreams of navigating the web.” -John L. Nance, Author of Pandora’s Clock, Blackout

“Digital Fortress is the best and most realistic techno-thriller to reach the market in years. Dan Brown’s ability to paint in living color the gray area between personal freedom vs. national security … is awesome… Readers will feel a chilling thrill a minute. – The Midwest Book Review

Summary

National Security Agency. NSA. Never Say Anything. That is what David Becker thinks when he just comes off the phone with his boss who told him to collect this dead mans possessions, every single bit of it mind you, and get home. Do not forget one thing. But when he notices one thing is missing, the adventure starts for him. But back at HQ,  Susan Fletcher, the NSA’s head cryptographer who is brilliant, beautiful and an excellent mathematician is called in to work on a Saturday afternoon she knows something is wrong. David Becker, her fiancé, is not at home but is somewhere where she does not know. Her boss, Strathmore has some bone chilling news for her. That TRANSLTR, the #1 email decoding device might be flawed. It has been trying to decode and email for over 15 hours and it never takes more than 3 to do the hardest one they have given it. They then realize something about the email. It is not email. It is a program. And TRANSLTR cannot decode it. The NSA is held hostage. Not with bombs or guns, but with a program that it cannot decode. And with the world’s security on the line, they have to work fast. But will it be fast enough?

Review

This is an adult book. But oh my goodness his was the BEST book in the world. I know that I say that about a lot of books, but no book that I have  read has matched this books standard. This book was exciting, full of action, kind of confusing, but great. The characters are realistic and so is the plot. But before anyone reads this book there are some major things that I have to point out. There are portions of this book that are only suitable for mature teenagers. There is also a lot of cursing in the book. This is an adult book. Keep this in mind. An ADULT book. I read it because it was in the YA section of my library. I read it and I loved it but this is definitely not suitable for younger teen (under 15). Hope that if there are some older readers out there, that you enjoy it.

A Little Bit about Dan Brown

Dan Brown is an American author of thriller fiction. He is best known for his 2003 bestselling novel, The Da Vinci  Code. All of his book have the recurring theme of cryptography, keys, symbols, codes, and conspiracy theories. His books have been translated into 40 languages and has sold over 80 million copies.