Origin, by Dan Brown

Origin by Dan Brown
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I generally like Dan Brown's writing, even when I profoundly disagree with the views espoused in his work. I have found his books to be page-turners that I race through to the end.

Origin was not up to that standard. After reading the blurb for it, I was concerned that I wouldn't like this particular outing, so I checked it out of my library. It took me up til the time came to return it to finish - for the most part, I lacked the urgency to get to the end that I had with his other novels.

I do like Robert Langdon and he's back in this one, which explores our beginnings as humans. One of Langdon's former students is brutally murdered just before he gives what he claims is the answer to the question of how life began. Langdon gets caught up in trying to find out what his student discovered and reveal it to the world before he himself is the killer's next victim.

As a Christian, I feared I would once again be dealing with bad theology. The book has a strong anti-religious thread through it - Langdon's murdered student is an atheist - and if you're looking for a last minute conversion from him, you will be disappointed.

One big disappointment I found with the book was the big reveal of what Langdon's student discovered. It was built up to be something world-altering, exciting, profound - and it was BORING. Nor was it anything that I felt would destroy people's religious faith. The whole thing was anticlimactic for me - I found certain subplots that were threaded through the novel far more interesting.

The book is okay. But unlike Brown's other novels, I'm probably not buying this one.

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