2004 Year in Review

Angels and Demons by Dan Brown

Some of you readers may recognize the name, Dan Brown, author of the yearlong best seller, The DaVinci Code. Angels and Demons was actually Mr. Brown’s first book, and it also features the world-renowned Harvard symbologist, Robert Langdon.

Again, Dan Brown mixes fact and fiction in an exciting manner, which not only entertain the reader, but also makes the reader think. There are several important facts upon which this book is based. One, the brotherhood of the Illuminati, which Brown uses, exists. Secondly, all references to the art and architecture of Rome are factual. Most importantly, the world’s largest scientific research facility, Switzerland’s Conseil Europeen pour la Recherche Nucleaire (CERN) has succeeded in producing the first particles of anti-matter, which is the most powerful energy known to man. Anti-matter is highly unstable and combustible. Brown asks the reader, before reading the book, “Will this highly volatile substance save the world, or create the most deadly weapon ever made?

As the book begins, Robert Langdon is called to the Swiss research facility, CERN, to analyze a cryptic symbol branded onto the chest of a prominent murdered physicist. The symbol is one he recognizes: “Illuminati”, a secret brotherhood of scientists dating back to the 1500 hundreds. These scientists met to share their concerns and fears that the Catholic Church’s monopoly on ‘truth’ threatened academic enlightenment. The church hunted the Illuminati ruthlessly. However, the Illuminati over hundreds of years became something darker, more sinister, and deeply anti-Christian. The Catholic Church pronounced them most dangerous adversary on earth.

What Robert discovers with the help of the murdered physicist’s daughter, Vittoria Vetra, is that a drop of the anti-matter has been stolen. The anti-matter is hidden by the church’s enemies within the Vatican itself with a set timer for explosion. Thus, the ultimate revenge for the Illuminati against the Catholic Church! In a race against time, Langdon and Vittoria join forces and frantically hunt through the Vatican and Rome, following the ancient clues of the Illuminati, for the destructive anti-matter.

I enjoyed this book because of Dan Brown’s ability to base his book upon fact and add the fictional details. And, again, the reader is left with questions and thoughts.

by Anne Frame, Guest Columnist
March 12, 2004