Dan Brown - Great Author - His Books

[Dingo_Dog]

Hello users.

I'd like to talk about Dan Brown. I think he is an amazing writer and I read his books with eagerness and awe.

All his books are in someway based on American Politics and and/or Religion (either the Main-Stream or Secret Societies), and of course bringing the two together.

His books in chronological order are as follows:

• Digital Fortress, 1998
  
• Angels & Demons, 2000 (Made into film in 2009)
  
• Deception Point, 2001
  
• The Da Vinci Code, 2003 (Made into film in 2006)
  
• The Lost Symbol, 2009
  

I first heard of Dan Brown on a hot day. Nothing to do in the holidays, and our maid had a Deception Point. I wasn't a person that liked to read long, think books. So I just skimmed over, flipping to and fro, not thinking too much about it. Then of course I just thought "Maybe I'll just read and pass time." I read through the whole book and absolutely loved it. After reading through the whole book, I decided to see if this guy had made any more books. Going to the local library I see that he made a few more other books. And so I read them all. All his books are real page-turners.

These are the books and plots in summary and my thoughts of them, I won't bother typing up a complete review for them all because I read them all back in 2006...and so my mind doesn't remember all of it. Just a few thoughts...

Digital Fortress

When the NSA's invincible code-breaking machine encounters a mysterious code it cannot break, the agency calls in its head cryptographer, Susan Fletcher, a brilliant and beautiful mathematician. What she uncovers sends shock waves through the corridors of power. The NSA is being held hostage...not by guns or bombs, but by a code so ingeniously complex that if released it will cripple U.S. intelligence.

My thoughts:
The second book that I read of his after reading Deception Point. IMHO It has the best ending of all the books.

Angels & Demons

The plot follows Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon, as he tries to stop what seems to be the Illuminati, a legendary secret society, from destroying Vatican City with the newly-discovered power of antimatter.

My thoughts:
This book is the prequel to The Da Vinci Code It really is one of my favourites and is the ultimate page-turner. I haven't seen the movie yet.

Deception Point

Intelligence Analyst Rachel Sexton is in her mid-thirties, is single, and works for the NRO (National Reconnaissance Office). Her father, Senator Sedgewick Sexton, is a popular presidential candidate beating the incumbent President of the United States Zachary Herney in the opinion polls. The President sends her to the Arctic as part of a team of experts to confirm and authenticate findings made by NASA deep within the Milne Ice Shelf. NASA's new Earth Observation System (EOS), a collection of satellites constantly monitoring the globe for signs of large-scale change, has found an extremely dense spot in the Milne Ice Shelf. NASA discovers a very dense meteorite. In it are fossils of bugs very similar to--but not the same as--species on earth. NASA claims this as proof of extraterrestrial life. This find is something NASA needs desperately, as the agency’s success rate on other fronts has put it in a bad light. Senator Sexton uses this as an example of government overspending and failure to further his campaign. In order to ensure that the discovery is not tarnished with the bad reputation that NASA has developed, the President has sent four leading civilian scientists (Michael Tolland, an oceanographer and TV personality; Corky Marlinson, a brilliant but eccentric astrophysicist; Norah Mangor, a prickly glaciologist and Wailee Ming, a palaeontologist) to the Arctic to verify the meteorite's authenticity. Meanwhile, a Delta Force team is observing the discovery, monitoring the NASA staff with the latest military technology for an unknown commander. When Ming observes an irregularity within the pit the meteorite was found in and reaches into the water to obtain a sample, the Delta Force team 'takes him out' using their miniature spy bot, leaving his body in the water where it sinks deep into the water where he will not be discovered. When Tolland sees the irregularity, he shares it with Corky Marlinson and Rachel Sexton. They report it to Mangor, who confirms that there is sea water in what should be a closed area with only freshwater. The four go outside to scan the ice from a distance. The scan shows Ming's body in the water and a column of frozen sea ice beneath the meteorite where it was drilled up into the glacier. Upon discovering this, the four are attacked by the Delta Force team leaving Norah Mangor dead. Sexton, Tolland and Marlinson escape and are picked up by the Navy submarine USS Charlotte. The Delta Force team believes them to be dead, leaving them a chance to tell the President's advisor and Rachel's boss at the NRO about their discovery, Ming and Mangor's deaths and about the attempt on their lives. Rachel's boss, William Pickering, has them airlifted from the sub to a chopper which escorts them away from the meteorite discovery site.

A group of four civilian scientists have already been studying the find and have confirmed NASA's claims. It is only hours before the President and NASA plan to go public with the discovery.

My thoughts: The first book of Dan Brown that I ever read, I read the whole book in 3 days and it got me used to reading long books. Highly enjoyable and a great read for a quiet day.

The Da Vinci Code

This book describes the attempts of Robert Langdon, Professor of Religious Symbology at Harvard University, to solve the murder of renowned curator Jacques Saunière of the Louvre Museum in Paris. A baffling cipher is found near his body. Saunière's granddaughter, Sophie Neveu and Langdon attempt to sort out the bizarre riddles and are stunned to discover a trail of clues hidden in the works of Leonardo Da Vinci.

The unraveling of the mystery requires solutions to a series of brain-teasers, including anagrams and number puzzles. The ultimate solution is found to be intimately connected with the possible location of the Holy Grail and to a mysterious society called the Priory of Sion, as well as to the Knights Templar. The story also involves the Roman Catholic organization Opus Dei.

My thoughts: Ahhhh, The book that is loved by most and hated by most. Controversial for a lot of people, which is understandable. I read this book before the whole controversy, and making news and becoming uber popular. I thought it was a great book, a perfect insight into secret societies. Definitely raised my interest into secret societies, countless Google searches, and taught me a lot about freemasonry. Whether the contents of the book is fact or fiction, I leave for you to decide.

Also, the movie was not as good as I would've liked it to be. Fell beyond expectation.

The Lost Symbol

The story takes place over a period of 12 hours in Washington, D.C., with a focus on Freemasonry.[8] Robert Langdon is invited by his friend and mentor Peter Solomon, a 33rd degree Mason and head of the Smithsonian Institution to give a lecture in National Statuary Hall at the United States Capitol. Solomon asks him to bring a package he left with him for safekeeping, which we ultimately find out contains the capstone to a small Masonic pyramid hidden by Solomon in a sub-basement room of the Capitol. When Langdon arrives at the Capitol, instead of an audience he finds Solomon's severed right hand tattooed into a symbolic 'Hand of the Mysteries' seemingly pointing to the fresco The Apotheosis of Washington on the inside of the Capitol dome.

Solomon has been kidnapped by Mal'akh, his only son who he thought was dead, a brilliant, tattooed villain who is searching for an ancient source of power from what he believes is a single magical 'word' [9]. Mal'akh demands Langdon unlock the Ancient Mysteries in return for Peter's life. In a fiery nighttime explosion, Mal'akh also destroys the Smithonsonian-sponsored laboratory of Dr. Katherine Solomon, Peter's younger sister, where she conducted successful experiments in the ability of the human mind to affect subatomic particles. In addition, the CIA is pursuing Mal'akh in the interests of National Security.

In a fast-paced series of chases, finding and decipering clues, and misdirection, Langdon is befriended by the Capitol Architect, who is also a 33rd Degree Mason, escapes the CIA chase with Katherine Solomon through the book-shuttle system of the National Archives, further outwits the CIA, is captured and seemingly drowned by Mal'akh, is rescued, and finally finds Solomon just after his son, Mal'akh, has been killed in front of him by falling glass. Solomon then takes Langdon, blindfolded, to the place and object which Mal'akh had attempted to obtain, the top of the Washington Monument and an education about what lies within its cornerstone. The 'word' sought turns out to be the hidden-in-plain-sight teachings of the Bible, as well as almost all other principal religious texts and secret societies, that all men and women are Gods, and that combined we form the mind of God, an interconnecting creative force which guides life and the universe.

[My thoughts: I haven't read the book as of yet, but look forward to it when I visit the library.

Well that's it for this thread. Thank you for reading. Fact of fiction, you decide.
I'll add more if there's any new things to add or edit.

Sources:

• http://wiki.answers.com/Q/List_of_Dan_Brown_books
  
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dan_Brown
  
• http://www.amazon.com/Browns-books-Compl...9YTI8EBVWV
  
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_Fortress
  
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angels_%26_Demons
  
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deception_Point
  
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Da_Vinci_Code
  
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lost_Symbol
  
• My Brain + Glasses
  

[Omniscient]

Davinci code was fine. I read it. The movie didn't capture it very well.

I plan to read another of his books one day. I just haven't decided which.

[Skawke]

I read the Da vinci Code, and just finished the Lost Symbol.

I'd rate them 9/10. Lot's of historical stuff in there, don't know whether they're true or not. I assume most of it is true.

[Soldier of Fortune]

I only read Da Vinci code, but it was a nice one...A man really has a point. The only problem is, there are different interpretations among those who read the book...People argue. But it's all a matter of what you believe in, lol...but to be honest, you don't have to be smart or intelligent to understand the book or Dan's opinions put into it; you have to open-minded. That's just my opinion.

I'm not trying to act too smart, my only point is that I've really found stubborn and stupid people which make me think: books aren't for everyone, so don't read something just because you heard it's popular. Books are for people who like reading and are open for different situations and interpretations of the world around us.

[Zammyslave]

I read Angels and Demons, Da Vinci Code and Deception Point.

They're awesome. I'll read the other two soon.

[RPicard]

Davinci code was fine. I read it. The movie didn't capture it very well.

I plan to read another of his books one day. I just haven't decided which.

I've read the Davinci Code and I agree. I would recommend Digital Fortress. It's a really good one. Of course the Lost Symbol just came up so you might want to check that out. I'll hopefully be getting it from my local B&N soon.

[S0rath 0f the Black Sun]

Digital Fortress and Angels & Demons I found most appealing, I never liked the movies of A&D and DaVinci code since there were a lot of missing "things" and the movies never quite gave justice to the books. I do a lot of heavy reading (Stephen King, Robert Ludlum, Anne Rice, Frank Herbert, etc) tbh, Dan Brown's work isn't that heavy (if your into occult research like me).

[Dingo_Dog]

@ Omniscient, like The Defender said, You might be interested in reading Digital Fortress, it's a fairly neat book, and the whole computer scene and the virus that almost kills ********** may interest you.

@ Soldier of Fortune: I agree 100%, I too have found a lot of stubborn people that think Dan Brown is the anti-Christ for making such books. Everyone just has to take different approaches when reading books. Not to be dead serious.

@ S0rath 0f the Black Sun: lol, I understand what you mean about Dan Brown, I think Stephen King is a champ about the occult, I've just always been too scared to read any of his books Seeing movies converted from his books, he's a great writer, I guess when I have the guts, I'll start reading more books by other writers in the scarier genres.

------------------------------------------

Right now I'm reading a few books by someone, forgot her name She writes romance novels and such, but really great reads. Haven't picked the book up in ages, I jump around a lot with different books.

[chinaman7x7]

i never even knew he wrote the da vinci code, matter fact i never even read/watch da vinci code yet, am probably the only person in the world. thx now am bout to go watch and read it!!