Angels & Demons by Dan Brown Review

Hello everyone,it is time once again for a review from Birdman/James.This review is on the highly acclaimed #1 Bestseller Angels & Demons by Dan Brown.He is also the author of The Da Vinci Code which was made into a movie a few years ago, and now the same is being done for the "prequel' to The Da Vinci Code, Angels & Demons.

I will start off by saying that I am not a really religious person.I have read many books on various belief systems and religions and learned to be more of a 'free-spirit'.Some people may view free-spirits as weirdos, tree-huggers and hippies.I am none of those, and view those terms as derogatory.I view "free-spirits" as people who are not tied down by society, by religion, by other people's opinions.I view myself as such.I view myself as a person who doesn't believe in Heaven or Hell, but believe those two metaphors are used to describe the good and bad in life.I believe in doing the right thing not for any religion or belief system, but for myself.I dubbed myself "My Own Personal Messiah" because the way I see things, I control my actions...not God, not Buddha, not my mom...I do.If I make a mistake, it is My fault.I believe in Myself and therefore live by my own code of morals and values.

I began with that little excert because this book is impacted greatly by religion, and many people did not enjoy it because it talks about corruption in the Catholic Church.That way, everybody will know my stance on the religious system.I am not knocking anybody(here anyway)or their personal beliefs, but I am trying to remain as objective as possible while describing a subject that makes people very defensive.

I first became interested in the book around 2005ish.A friend of mine had read, or was reading The Da Vinci Code and was telling me about it.She let my mom borrow the book Angels & Demons, and I was interested in it because it sounded intriguing.I never got around to reading it, but just bought a copy last week(along with about 4 or 5 other books)and after I finished my previous book Legends(an anthology of short stories by many of science-fiction and fantasies most popular authors and their famous series)I started reading it.I began my reading on Sunday April 26th and finished the 710 page behemoth last night April 29th.The book features many very short chapters throughout the book, but many of them are in the beginning which helps by not intimidating the reader and giving them breaks in between the longer chapters.That is especially good in the beginning of the book because it doesn't force you to read 20+ pages of something you may not fully understand.The book shifts from different characters for different chapters, which in my opinion is good because it makes you understand all the characters and not just what is observed.

The main character in this book, and Da Vinci Code is Harvard professor and symbologist Robert Langdon.He is just a regular Joe-Smo and he lives a quiet life as a professor and history buff.In his spare time, he spends time at Harvards swimming pool and of course studying about history and symbology.He gets a phone call very early in the morning from a complete stranger demanding he needs his help.At first Robert thinks it is a prank, and is skeptical how this person got all his personal information.He thinks it is from his website, but he remembers that he didn't put his home phone number on it.Then he recieves a fax with a picture of the ancient Illuminati symbol on it.Still unsure, he rotates the picture and realizes that this person is telling the truth and agrees to meet with him.

This is just the bare beginning as Robert meets Maximillion Kohler, the leader at a huge scientific research lab CERN and the mysterious caller.Vittoria Vette, a beautiful scientist whose adoptive father was just murdered and branded, and everybody at the Vatican in Rome.Vittoria and her father were working on a highly secretive project in their lab at CERN, with nobody allowed inside, or knowing about the research being done...until it is stolen, meaning somebody now has it and knew what it could do.The project also has a timer attached for 24 hours until the batteries wear out and could cause a monsterous explosion.

With all the tragic events and the time frame in which to recover the time-bomb before it explodes, this book is very fast paced.They(the Swiss Guard, Robert and Vittoria)now believe the Illuminati is back and planning on making a HUGE bang in their 400+ year old war against the Catholic Church.Robert and Vittoria are racing against time to find the ancient Illuminati lair that many of the world's greatest scientists couldn't find.It is a great book to read, it has many historical facts about the Catholic Church and the artists and scientists that we have all heard about such as Galileo(sp?)and the art/sculptures created.It reminded me of the tv show 24 in that everything happens in that time period, the movie series National Treasure with all the clues being hidden inside different historical documents and artifacts visible for most to see, but few ever know about the hidden secrets behind.The book may not attract the Catholics because of the story, but that is really too bad because it is a wonderful experience that opens up your mind and helps you wonder what is really happening in the world that we are not being told.I highly recommend it, but am warning everybody that is a religious fanatical that it may upset some of you who cannot seperate religion from life and entertainment.I will give it a 9.5 because of the complex nature of religion because not everybody will understand the signifigance of science vs religion and the beliefs of Catholics.That is the only thing that prevents it from being a perfect 10.I highly suggest reading the book, especially if you plan on seeing the movie in the future...which I think looks good,but you never know how it will turn out with Dan Brown's other masterpiece being considered a major let down.