The Lost Symbol - Dan Brown

My blog has become a place to write literary reviews of the abundant amount of novels that I read. Continuing with that theme, the most recent novel that I read will come as no surprise - The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown (hence the title of this entry).

I always find Dan Brown's novels to be page-turning thrillers that leave you on edge. If you don't finish them in one sitting you will yearn to read on until the novel is complete. Your dreams will be flooded by the characters' next moves, and attempts to solve the mystery will all seem trivial until you learn of what really happened in the end. The Lost Symbol was no exception. The main characters were all intriguing in their own right:

Robert Langdon - As learned in the previous novels, Angels & Demons, and the Da Vinci Code, is a lovable, lanky brainiac with all of the answers. The villain focuses most interest on Robert and thus, he is naturally the epicentre of the book.

Katherine Solomon - A scientist and the brainy beauty of the book, is a philanthropic genius attempting to help the world with Noetic Science. Of course her work threatens the villain's livelihood, and so she is dragged along for the ride.

Peter Solomon - A former and trusted colleague of Robert is what initially lures Robert to the villain. His capture is the start of the novel and it is Robert's reason for agreeing to the mission of the villain.

Mal'Ekh - The villain, is well-casted. You feel that you know him from the descriptors. However, his character tends to disappoint at the end of the book.

Overall, I felt the plot was well done. The start and middle were it's strongest. I found the end to be cliche and lost my interest. I thought that Dan Brown could have finished the novel a bit sooner with much more mystery and enticement for what could have easily turned into another sequel. That said, it's Dan Brown, and I don't believe Robert Langdon's insight into theology and anthropology is over... I'm sure there will be another novel to follow-up.

As per my next book, Katherine Solomon enticed me to read a Physics piece. It's called a Briefer History of Time by Stephen Hawking. I look forward to posting about it next entry.

Until then happy reading,
Ciar xo