Friday, November 17, 2017

Origin

Title: Origin
Author: Dan Brown
Published: October 3rd 2017 by Doubleday Books
Format: Hardcover, 461 pages
Genre: Thriller
Series: Robert Langdon #5

Love him or hate him, Dan Brown sure likes controversy and to stir the pot, but in doing so, he also causes his readers to think. Maybe I am one of those moronic readers that others bash, but I always enjoy his books. Granted, every book tends to have Robert Langdon running through some glamorous city with a beautiful woman, but that does not negate the narrative.

This is a story of conflicts. Ideologies, worldviews, and science are at the forefront. Tech wunderkind Edmond Kirsch (think Steve Jobs and Elon Musk) has brought together the world to watch his touted release. Centered in Bilbao, Barcelona, at the Guggenheim museum, Kirsch sets about to answer the top two questions that haunts humankind. Where did we come from and where are we going? He has claimed to discover the answers to both of these questions and in doing so has angered the religious elite and a small group of mercenaries. As an Atheist, he does not look at religion is the same light as others and with his singular focus on science he has set about to prove once and for all that religion is man’s invention and science is the only path to the future.

Robert Langdon is both mesmerized and confounded by his invitation to this event. Kirsch was once a student of his at Harvard and months prior, the two had a visit where interesting questions has been posed. As Langdon enters the museum, he is handed an earpiece that will help guide his way through the museum and its displays. Only that is not the sole purpose of this devise. Winston, his audio tour guide is nothing like what Langdon was expecting and with this interesting twist. Kirsch’s discovery is held in the balance when a mercenary steps forward and abruptly ends this performance. Langdon and Ambra Vidal, the beautiful woman who is destined to be the queen consort (I know, that was an interesting twist), launch into a race across Barcelona to release Kirsch’s discovery to a desperately waiting world.

The reader has to get past the parts where Robert Langdon is more superhero than Harvard professor. That a woman in a formal dress and heals has no problem traversing streets, paths, and chain link fences. This book is designed to get the conversation started. What if Kirsch’s discoveries are our past and our future. What if tomorrow the entire world were to stop fighting over ideologies and grasp onto one singular destiny. With the speed of which science is moving, and the conversations that have been started, this is a fascinating tale brought to life in a way that will have the reader wondering out loud and bringing up the what-ifs when discussing both religion and science.

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