Analysis: Origin: By Dan Brown, After Reconnecting with One of His First Students, Who Is Now a Billionaire Futurist, Symbology Professor Robert Langdon Must

Origin is a 2017 science fiction mystery thriller novel by American author Dan Brown.[1] and the fifth installment in his Robert Langdon series, following Angels & Demons, The Da Vinci Code, The Lost Symbol, and Inferno.[2] The book was released on October 3, 2017 by Doubleday. Characters Robert Langdon: An American professor of symbology at Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts. Edmond Kirsch: A forty-year old billionaire and futurist and an old student of Robert Langdon in Harvard. Ambra Vidal: The director of the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, fiance of Prince Julian and an associate of Edmond Kirsch. Winston: Edmond Kirsch's quantum-computer AI assistant. Julian: The prince and future king of Spain Bishop Valdespino: The loyal bishop to the Spanish royal family Rabbi Yehuda Koves: A prominent Jewish philosopher Syed al-Fadl: A prominent Islamic scholar Admiral Avila: Ex-officer of Spanish Navy who has lost his wife and son to religious extremism Fonseca: Guardia Real Agent Rafa Diaz: Guardia Real Agent Father Bena of Sagrada Familia Monica Martin: Public Relation Coordinator, Spanish Palace Agent Suresh Bhalla: Surveillance specialist, Spanish Palace Comments Origin is the fifth of Dan Brown's many selling books starring Robert Langdon. In the Da Vinci Code, Langdon is an educator of religious symbology at Harvard. But, similar to the renowned academic archaeologist Indiana Jones, you rarely see him marking term papers or preparing lectures. Preferably, in this case, dressed in a tailcoat everywhere, he spends his time careering between famous buildings (Barcelona's Sagrada Familia, the Bilbao Guggenheim, and so on) doing Crystal Maze-style puzzles, being chased by baddies and uncovering world-changing secrets. It's all very reassuring. As customary, our hero has a "vivacious, strong-minded beauty" despite being the future Queen of Spain, Ambra gets designated by her first name; our hero is invariable "Langdon." And the four features of his personality are all present and correct: the eidetic memory, the claustrophobia, the tendency to think in italics ("What secret had Edmond unveiled?"). And of course the Mickey Mouse watch. The novel takes place in Spain. Langdon's friend, is an Elon Muskish playboy tech wizard called Edmond Kirsch, is giving a talk at the Guggenheim where he promises to unveil the secret to life, the universe, and everything else, and he will make all the world's religions redundant at a stroke. But just as he's giving his presentation, a killer shoots him, and within the hour Langdon is on the run with Ambra (future Queen of Spain) in "a deadly hunt." Langdon is essentially behind Edmond's password so that they can get the presentation up and running again and change the world. But, as expected, he doesn't know whom to trust (other than Winston, Edmond's quantum-computer AI assistant and Ambra) and the whole place is full of sinister conservative archbishops, secret puppetmasters, and Franco-fetishising heretical sects. There's even short mention of an eyeless Anti-Pope, which lifts the spirits. After the freaks in the previous stories (one of whom boasted a "massive double-headed phoenix on his chest that glared through nipple eyes like some voracious vulture"), the troubled retired admiral who serves as the muscle in this the reader seems a bit beige. All is "famous," "renowned," "famed," "well known," or "celebrated," such as "the well-known American professor Robert Langdon," "the renowned 19th-century German philosopher," the "celebrated masterpiece ... by French Postimpressionist Paul Gauguin," Nietzsche, or "the museum's most famous work - El [sic] Guernica." The book is fun in its noisy manner. And the more extended the writer keeps earnestly plugging away, the more the reader warms to him. There's a charming innocence to Brown's work, primarily as rather than just produce a haunting thriller with the added puzzle, he is determined to take on the most fundamental issues of human exist