(Woot - my first review! Note: I actually finished this a few weeks ago and am just getting around to writing/giving my review.)
Title: The Lost Symbol (
click here to visit site...which is pretty cool)
Author: Dan Brown
# of Pages: 509
Published: September 2009
Short Synopsis: As the story opens, Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon is summoned unexpectedly to deliver an evening lecture in the U.S. Capitol Building. Within minutes of his arrival, however, the night takes a bizarre turn. A disturbing object--artfully encoded with five symbols--is discovered in the Capitol Building. Langdon recognizes the object as an ancient invitation... one meant to usher its recipient into a long-lost world of esoteric wisdom.
When Langdon's beloved mentor, Peter Solomon--a prominent Mason and philanthropist--is brutally kidnapped, Langdon realizes his only hope of saving Peter is to accept this mystical invitation and follow wherever it leads him. Langdon is instantly plunged into a clandestine world of Masonic secrets, hidden history, and never-before-seen locations--all of which seem to be dragging him toward a single, inconceivable truth.
My Review:
I'll preface this by saying that the following review is, obviously, MY opinion. Now that that's out of the way. Dan Brown's novels are, for the most part I believe, ones that you either love or you hate. People seem to have such strong opinions on his books and they seem to create such controversy (
The DaVinci Code anyone?) which I guess is a good thing (because it can create some interesting discussion) but I think they forget that at the end of the day - though based on research - they are books of fiction. Anyways, I won't get off topic because these reviews I'd like to keep relatively short. So here goes:
This is the 5th Dan Brown novel I've read (the others being:
The DaVinci Code,
Angels & Demons,
Deception Point, and
Digital Fortress) so needless to say I enjoy his work. However, this was the one that took the longest for me to get into. I don't know - it just seemed to have a slow start. Really slow. The end (maybe the last 30 pages or so) was slow too. But the rest was a fast-paced, interesting, adventurous read - true to Dan Brown form - with the story happening in a span of 12 short hours. I was really interested in all of the Masonic symbols and history in the book as well as all learning about some of the symbols that are said to be hidden in Washington. I think it's cool to know that - if you're an American - you don't necessarily have to travel across the world to find ancient monuments with hidden meanings. There is also a form of science featured heavily throughout the story line,
Noetic Science, that I found particularly interesting. I don't know if the experiments done in the book have been attempted in real life but there was one in particular (dealing with the human spirit/soul) that I thought was
really fascinating (regardless of whether it's real or fake). Mal'akh, the villain in this story, is one of the creepiest Dan Brown villains to date. He seems to fear nothing and have nothing to lose - a man possessed. And usually, people like that are the ones with the potential to be the most dangerous...as he well proves. I will also say that this is the first Brown novel I've read that I've guessed what the "twist" was. If you've read any of his other novels you'll know that there is always some unexpected,
"oh my gosh I can't believe it" twist. I don't know if it's because this is my 5th Brown novel and I knew to expect one - but I guessed what that twist was fairly early on. However, when it was revealed I was still shocked and read the page twice.
Despite it's slow start and some slow parts, I'll say if you're a Dan Brown fan then it's a good read that you'll enjoy. However, if this will be your first Brown book I'd start with something different. Perhaps one of his earlier books like
Digital Fortress or
Deception Point or my favourite
Angels & Demons (which is MUCH MUCH better than the movie).
Keeping in mind how much I enjoyed his other books, which I enjoyed more, I give
The Lost Symbol: 2.5 outta 5 stars.
Have you read the book? What did you think?
