Monday, 25 February 2019

Review: The Lost Symbol, Dan Brown

Robert Langdon, (a character made increasingly more likeable by being portrayed by Tom Hanks), is back for another explosive historical adventure, this time at the heart of America - Washington D.C. His old mentor, Peter Solomon, asks a favour of him - to put on a last minute lecture at the Capitol - but when Robert arrives, circumstances change to chaos and confusion very quickly.

The involvement of the CIA; a quest through the most important historical buildings of the US capital; revelations that many prominent Americans were actually Masons; serve as the basis of the plot of the novel. The adversary, a man called Mal'akh, is on a quest for the ultimate knowledge that will, as he believes, give him ultimate power.

Langdon teams up with Peter's sister, Katherine, who has been conducting experiments based in Noetics, the idea that the mind is much more powerful than thought - that it's even able to transform physical matter. They race against time in a bid to save Peter, with both finding out much more than they bargained for along the way.

Overall, it's a good, fast-paced and enjoyable read. For me, there seemed to be a lot of exposition dumps and padding - I think the book could have been a hundred pages shorter and still been as enjoyable. But if you're a fan of Langdon, history (with some poetic license), and Masonic conspiracy theories, this book is definitely worth reading.

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