Title: Origin (Robert Langdon, #5)
Author: Dan Brown
Published by: Anchor Books
Published on: 2017
Pages: 695 pages
Sometimes, all you have to do is shift your perspective to see someone else’s truth.
Chapter 102
Right, another Robert Langdon book...
Origin, at least for me, came and went like the wind. It was published near the end of 2017, but I only braced myself to read it almost two years later. And it wasn't even my classic case of "Oh I bought the book I just haven't found the time to read it yet" no. I actually considered not reading it at all, until one afternoon as I was browsing through a bookstore, this one came in at discounted price. So I thought, oh why not.
Turns out, I should have just asked "WHY?".
If you're wondering whether the story is using the same formula as other Robert Langdon books, with all my heart the answer is yes. Let me recap for a bit.
Robert Langdon was invited by E̶l̶o̶n̶ ̶M̶u̶s̶k̶ Edmond Kirsch, his ex-student, who was now a world famous computer scientist, philanthropist, and atheist, to attend his breakthrough discovery on the origin of the world that would shatter the foundation of all organised religions. This event would be held in Guggenheim Museum, Bilbao. Beforehand, though, Edmond approached the leaders of the three biggest religions in the world: Bishop Valdespino, Rabbi Köves, and Imam Syed al-Fadl to let them know about his presentation, out of respect. It wasn't like he was going to listen to their objection, though. Just FYI, k.
The event itself sounds spectacular and, if anything, made me want to visit Guggenheim meself. We got introduced to a very polite, well-mannered, and witty AI named Winston who guided all the guests before the main event.
When it was finally time for Edmond's presentation, an assassin appeared out of nowhere and shot him point blank in the head, killing him instantly. All guests made their way out in hysteria, while Langdon teamed up with the beautiful museum curator, Ambra Vidal, who happened to be engaged to the crown prince of Spain, to finish what Edmond had started, i.e. to release the full presentation to the world. They had to dodge the assasin who chased them throughout Spain, while someone who called himself The Regent claimed to be the mastermind behind the murder of Edmond and two others: Rabbi Köves and Imam Syed al-Fadl.
It was up to Langdon and Ambra to reveal the truth. Who was The Regent, and why was he so intent on destroying Edmond's revelation? What had Edmond discovered that was worth the cost of his own life? And how was the Spanish Royal family, including the crown prince, involved in any of this?
EGGLYSIS
My coworker hyped this book up by saying that it's loads better than Inferno, and actually reminded him of Angels & Demons. To whom now I would like to say,
I think I have reiterated this point so many times in my previous Robert Langdon review, but Dan Brown's writing is too formulaic that every plot point seems recycled, even the supposed twist is predictable. Person A invited Langdon to something, Person A is murdered or badly wounded, throw in an assassin, throw in a smart, intelligent woman as Langdon's sidekick, then a plot twist before the big reveal of who the main villain is. Same old, same old.
In Origin's case, though, I bet most Dan Brown readers could tell who the big bad is not long into the book. I didn't even go past the 20% mark before being able to conclude how the story was going to wrap up.
Brown's writing style is the same as usual: short cliffhanger chapters, fast-paced narration, and of course he takes his readers through beautiful tourism spots that works better at promoting said sites instead of other promotional efforts. Characters are generic and there was nothing mindblowing about the so-called game changer discovery than Edmond Kirsch made. Plus, Edmond gave me strong Elon Musk vibe hence, as someone who thinks him overrated, I found it difficult to take him seriously.
Overall, Origin...
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