Angels and Demons

78

While still an engaging book with similar elements to The Da Vinci Code, Angels and Demons failed to enthrall me as that book had and I have a couple of guesses why that may have been the case.

First off, I read the two books back-to-back, with Angels being the second. So there may have been a bit of Dan Brown fatigue setting in as I found myself tired of the same techniques that were effective in The Da Vinci Code but now seemed like cheap tricks. I am writing mostly about the way the characters in his books typically express only part of an idea that is being discussed, leaving room for either complete mystery for the reader to figure out, or further "teaching moments" for the less knowledgeable characters. A second recurring annoyance in Angels was that Brown “allowed” the characters to solve the riddles and puzzles too quickly, too opaquely, or both. This took away a rather enjoyable element of the other book, namely that I could think I was smart by staying one step ahead of the characters in the book, and actively try to figure things out. In this book, I was not able to do this as much, and it wasn’t due to the mystery being more difficult, just revealed differently. Lastly, and this is not really Dan Brown’s fault but I am tired of the whole science vs. religion theme. I think that the majority of people on earth have an understanding that one does not preclude the other, with only vocal, fringe elements thinking otherwise. Regardless of which of these factors played the largest part I feel that The Da Vinci Code bested Angles and Demons for me.