And finally here comes Dan Brown Origin! I waited long for this book. I regularly followed updates on Dan Brown’s website and Facebook page. I already knew about what Dan Brown was going to cover this time: two of humanity’s eternal questions, “where do we come from?” And, “ where are we going?” Who hasn’t thought about these two questions already! I was so anxious to read it. I wanted to see what secrets Dan Brown was going to be revealing this time. I was thirsty for the codes, labyrinths, and arts. So, I read it, and as I read, I published my favorite quotations from the book on my website. I felt relieved as I read those anti-religious words by Edmond Kirsch _I always loved to scream “ffuucckk religion!” But other than that, I have to confess that I think this novel is a failure!

Why Dan Brown Origin is a failure?

I say it is a failure because although the format of the novel is the same as all the previous ones, in which the story that happens so fast in about 24 hours is chopped up in several short chapters, nothing of value was revealed except in the parts that Edmond Kirsch talked. Almost everything else was like commercials in between Kirsch’s presentation. I think the reason for this is as you read the first few chapters of the book up until the assassination, you already know what the secret is about and where it is hidden, and you only have to wait for Langdon to find a way to reveal it to you. And it happens in the simplest way possible: Langdon finds the password that plays the video presentation. No more labyrinth, no more guessing, no more secret passageways. The way that Mr. Brown had started it there was no other way that his hero, Langdon, could have had a more effective and active role. Mr. Brown should have picked other characters, and another plot to make this story work. I wonder why he couldn’t write it like Inferno. Inferno was also about a discovery by a scientist, but Langdon could still play an active role as a code breaker and researcher. Honestly, there are just a few chapters that add something to the story, others just fill the gaps, and takes the reader’s time in the most boring way. There were so many boring talks, infinite dialogues, and unimportant details.

The scientific claims of Dan Brown Origin

Besides the plot being a failure, I think the scientific claims were also failures. I wasn’t satisfied much after I leaned Kirsch’s discovery. The answer Kirsch gave to the question “where do we come from?” has some sense into it; although it is not yet a scientific fact in the real world. But the answer to the second question “where are we going?” was more like a fiction. It’s a fact that we are in the midway of evolution, but getting mixed with technology, and dealing with technology as a living creature is too legendary! It makes me think that perhaps choosing this topic for a novel was a failure even before the start because after all, it’s a novel, when did you see before a new scientific discovery is revealed in a novel for the first time?! Only sci-fi reveals in a novel. But sci-fi was not like Dan Brown’s style; so far he had just revealed bottom rock facts covered in codes and secrets. Why he tried sci-fi this time, or better to ask, if he meant it to be sci-fi, is a puzzle to me.

Commercials in Dan Brown Origin

Finally, what was all that advertisement?! Sometimes I felt as if I was reading a cheap teenage magazine. Why naming specifically all those brand names and websites?! Really why? Is Dan Brown paid for those advertisements? Again why would an internationally acclaimed and respected writer turn his book into a luxury fashion magazine? Sigh…

Conclusion

To conclude, Dan Brown has been my favorite novelist. I respect him for his fabulous past works, notably Inferno and The Da Vinci Code, but his latest work, Origin, is an unfortunate failure. Despite this, I keep following his next activities. Those winding secret passageways can’t just stop here.