In Origin, Edmond Kirsch is about to announce a discovery that will change the face of science and religion forever. Before he can do so, crazy things happen, and it's up to our professor Langdon to step in and make sure this discovery isn't lost forever. The premise is outstanding, though it immediately made me weary that the book can't possibly deliver on such high promises. And it doesn't really, though parts of it were entertaining enough.
For me, the part of the book that was most interesting and actually paid off was the mystery surrounding who is working against Kirsch to prevent his announcement of his discovery. Towards the end, I could guess what was going on, but it was still satisfying to read the full explanation.
Otherwise, the book was quite boring and slow. The problem is that Brown includes every little detail of everyone and everything, so that often we are treated to multi-page-long explanations of irrelevant art, buildings, religion, science, and history. Kirsch's discovery is a video, and it is described in its entirety in the book. Broken over two sections, it felt like 100 pages of the book went into covering it. I wish Brown had just summarized it, along with the rest of the irrelevant info he included. It easily could have cut the book down by half.
It also has short chapters which cut in and out between different characters. So just as you are getting into what is going on with one person, it immediately switches to a different person. It feels like I'm constantly trying to get into the book, with my attention pulled many different, sometimes pointless directions.
And as for Kirsch's discovery itself, just keep your expectations low. To be honest, I'm not sure why anyone would be upset by it, whether they are atheists or religious people. Or why anyone would want to hurt Kirsch or prevent him from making it public. After all the buildup, it's an understatement to say the discovery was completely lacking in epicness.
Maybe Dan Brown and I no longer mesh. His books are so well-received, yet whenever I read them in recent years, they feel so tedious to me. While there are parts of this book that are interesting, I can't help but compare how this book actually turned out to the promise of how amazing this story could have been, and it just fell short.
Readaroo Rating: 2 stars
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