Origin by Dan Brown

Origin starts off with Edmond Kirsch arriving in Montserrat to discuss his scientific discovery with 3 of the world's top leading religious leaders. We break away to weeks later when Robert Langdon arrives at the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain where readers discovery that Edmond is one of Langdon's former students and friend. Kirsch tells Edmond separately from the group that he feels his life might be in danger but explains that it is all because his breakthrough has answered the 2 primary questions of life:

Where did we come from?

Where are we going?

Just as Kirsch later begins his dramatic (overly dramatic for me) presentation, chaos ensues. Robert Langdon, with the help of Ambra Vidal, Guggenheim's curator and future queen consort of Spain, must race across Spain to discover a password that will unlock either a major blow to religion or just another controversial scientific discovery. Along the way is a shadowy group trying to stop them, a mysterious benefactor assisting them, and what is going on in the Royal Palace of Spain? 

No one starts a Dan Brown novel with Robert Langdon without knowing that there is going to be so much mention of religion and artwork. However, Brown seemed to combine his stand alone (Digital Fortress) and his Robert Langdon series (religion, artwork) to deliver Origin. I felt that there was so much going on but Brown does such a great job of explaining it all. Sometimes, though, I feel like he feels in spaces with repetitive information. For example a tragic story for one of the characters was repeated each time he came into his own chapter. I have always enjoyed how Brown wrote his chapters, giving everyone their own perspective and inviting readers into a 360 degree world, but sometimes the repetition to reminder readers of the character begins to make me weary.

Another thing I like about the Robert Langdon series is Robert Langdon. He has such a dry humor and sometimes he remembers of some bad dad jokes. However, I love the fact that he wears his Mickey Mouse watch (which is such an iconic Robert Langdon accessory at this point), even though some of the things that have happened to him might have made another person cry. Here's one thing about the series that I cannot stand. Brown doesn't seem to connect each book to one another. Langdon has had adventure after adventure and we, as readers, know his name has been mentioned in the press in every novel. So why are people, especially Royal Palace and PR individuals, still unsure of who he is? You would think after the fourth time, people would see his name and think, "It's not Langdon. He's the good guy. Always is." But it seems like the adventures are more stand alone then they are chronological. It really makes me very confused about how the Robert Langdon world is conveyed.

Dan Brown is also one of my favorites because he delivers such well written, strong female leads. However, I again have the same "Is this meant to be a stand alone" issue. Ambra Vidal is (another) beautiful woman who is the Guggenheim's curator. She also is the future queen consort of Spain. She automatically has to be strong because her life is in the press. However, where are the 4 other female leads? Each one seems to disappear with the ending of each book, never to be mentioned again. However, each female does their own amazing amount of detective work that the interaction seems to work out for Langdon.

Basically I rate Origin 5 out 5 stars. It had all of the typical Robert Langdon elements, with all the explanations. However, if you are getting tired of Robert doing the explaining then you will pleasantly surprised to hear that the science gets explained TO HIM. It's a wonderful turnabout, and I think, makes the book flow smoothly. Again I must reiterate that it is the typical Langdon elements and so expect the unexpected. Things are never fully what they appear in Dan Brown's books.