The #1 New York Times Bestseller (October 2017) from the author of The Da Vinci Code. Robert Langdon, Harvard professor of symbology, arrives at the ultramodern Guggenheim Museum Bilbao to attend the unveiling of a discovery that “will change the face of science forever.” The evening’s host is Edmond Kirsch, a forty-year-old billionaire and futurist, and one of Langdon’s first students. But the … Langdon’s first students.
But the meticulously orchestrated evening suddenly erupts into chaos, and Kirsch’s precious discovery teeters on the brink of being lost forever. Facing an imminent threat, Langdon is forced to flee. With him is Ambra Vidal, the elegant museum director who worked with Kirsch. They travel to Barcelona on a perilous quest to locate a cryptic password that will unlock Kirsch’s secret.
Navigating the dark corridors of hidden history and extreme religion, Langdon and Vidal must evade an enemy whose all-knowing power seems to emanate from Spain’s Royal Palace. They uncover clues that ultimately bring them face-to-face with Kirsch’s shocking discovery…and the breathtaking truth that has long eluded us.
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I admit that I am a Dan Brown junkie. I love the twists and turns in his stories. Origin is set in Spain, mostly in Barcelona. We visited Barcelona few years ago and fell in love with the city. Dan Brown’s description of it and of Gaudi’s Cathedral brought back fond memories. If you’ve never seen the cathedral, Brown’s description will have you booking your flight.
Another aspect of his books is what I learn about other places, organizations, conspiracy theories, and history. There is one point in this book where the action has been heart-stopping, and he delves into a long description of a super computer. That slowed the story down for me. But it picked up again, and I was delighted with the plot twists and character development at the end. A book I kept wanting to get back to whenever I had to put it down.
His discussion of science vs. religion is intriguing, and his thinly veiled commentary on contemporary issues, compelling.
Another entertaining novel by Dan Brown. As usual you are sucked in to Robert Langdon’s latest detrimental situation with interesting antagonists and protagonists where the view gets blended as to who is on what side of the stakes. Although Brown has the usual pattern for every book, the fact that he does so much art/history/symbology research in order for the mystery to unravel is always impressive and compelling (to me at least).
This might be my favorite Dan Brown book as of late. The plot was engaging and I absolutely loved the concepts he presented in the book. Fascinating read.
When Origin, the fifth in the Robert Langdon series by Dan Brown, was published last Fall, I couldn’t wait to read it. Unfortunately, I had several ARCS, giveaways, and commitments that forced me to hold off until just this week to read it – nearly 5 months of misery. I cried when my fellow readers published reviews and I couldn’t look at them. I kicked things when the book mocked me on the shelf. Yet I survived and made it my priority this week… in the end, it was a good read and I will always enjoy Brown’s style, plots and characters. I’m giving this one 3.5 out of 5 stars and will rate either a 3 or 4 on each of the book sites depending on their ratings meanings.
The story is quite intriguing, as always. A man holds a press conference / big reveal event to account that he has found the answers we’ve all been searching for: (1) Where did we come from, and (2) Where are we going? It kicks off a series of events including his murder, the ire of many established world religions and the envy of historians and cultural icons. Langdon pairs up with the future Queen of Spain who runs the museum where the murder occurs, then they travel the country to discover all the answers.
The scenery, setting, and backgrounds are marvelous. Brown is highly adept at giving readers exactly as much as they need to picture the story without coloring it in too much… a few blurry edges for personal imagination. The sheer intensity of the research he must have done in the worlds of science, religious, museums, Spain and art is admirable. The volume of characters, the who is good versus who is evil balance, the red herrings, the small and large steps during the chases… all of these facts and the enveloped tone completely make this a 5 star read from those perspectives.
But then I started comparing it to his previous novels, to other works in this sub-genre and to his overall approach in telling the story. It fell short for me. There weren’t enough side stories. The characters were flatter than usual. I would love to have seen a bigger story about the Spanish royalty’s influence and history (other than Franco) in regard to science, evolution and romance. There were no scenes except a memory between the prince and his future consort, so I didn’t root for them. Langdon almost felt like a secondary character in the book. And the various sects of religious and military groups involved in the story seemed too fluid and/or disorganized in terms of the bigger picture. It made the story less interesting as I couldn’t really latch onto any specific character. Even Langdon had a minimal connection to the man who was murdered… despite being professor and student, we saw very little memories of a bond between them. Throw in a few conversations at a pub bonding over a theory, or an argument over the church, something to connect them for us in the present.
That said, I do enjoy these types of novels and there was enough to keep my interest. It just wasn’t a consistent page-turner throughout the whole book. I’ll still read the next one. And I’ll always be in awe of the author’s intelligence, world knowledge and style.
I found this book to be very entertaining; i learned a lot about Spanish culture and ended up google-ing a few of the places that are mentioned in this book. I also like his final paragraphs; I won’t give it away but Dan Brown brings it all info focus at the end
I wait for Dan Browns new books to come out I was in Istanbul when Inferno came out and read it as we explored the city for a week, I have been to Barcelona and so when Browns new book Origin came out and I started to read it I could barely put it down I made myself step away from it so I wouldn’t finish it so fast. So now I’ve read everything Dan Brown has read and I am waiting for the next book No pressure, I loved this book, loved all the characters, Good Job Dan Brown Keep up the great work, keep those books coming!
Origin is an incredible novel, although parts of its execution, especially in the beginning, don’t quite live up to Dan Brown’s usual standards. In some parts, it feels as though Brown dropped his entire research notes into the story rather than seamlessly weaving them into the narrative. But once the action gets underway, the novel is a fascinating read about an incredibly fascinating debate.
The reveal itself isn’t earth-shattering, but the logic the atheist scientist uses to arrive at his conclusions is quite interesting. It all starts with Langdon’s assertion that gods were created to fill gaps in our knowledge and understanding of our world. Toward the end, Langdon’s distinction between codes and patterns provides a fantastic and insightful counterpoint to his atheist student’s worldview.
In many ways, this is more than a thriller. It’s a commentary on our times and our reliance–over-reliance, perhaps–on technology. I felt that point might have been better made had the reveal about the true nature of Winston, the atheist scientist’s AI personal assistant, made toward the end of the story rather than at the beginning. A mystery/thriller is in many ways a vast deception–illusion, if you will– created by the author, and the deception would have been all the greater if the reader had been deceived into continuing to believe that Winston is a human being. If you can’t distinguish between an AI and a human being, then what makes us different–or indeed superior?
Still, an amazing novel and, I think, an amazing achievement. It does start off slow, but the action picks right up once our atheist scientist is murdered. And the final twist is excellent. Like the da Vinci Code, this is a book that people will be talking about for a long time to come.
Very cerebral. Really makes you think about where we’re headed! Dan Brown’s research is second to none. It’s something I strive for in my writing.
ORIGIN is the fifth installment in his Robert Langdon thriller series and IMHO the second best after THE DA VINCI CODE.
Langdon, Harvard professor of symbology, once again is plunged into a mankind-sized mystery with religious connotations that can only be solved by someone with his unique knowledge of art, religion, and global symbols. The action in ORIGIN takes place within a 24 hour period, so get ready for a swift page-turning pace.
A friend and former student, Edmund Kirsch, invites Langdon to Spain’s modern Guggenheim Museum Bilbao for an announcement of historic proportions. Kirsch is an Elon Musk/Sergey Brin/Mark Zuckerberg amalgam whose technical advances and inventions have made him immeasurably wealthy and globally famous.
There are only three people who know what Kirsch’s announcement will be. Believing that his discovery will destroy organized religion, Kirsch secretly tipped off three notable religious leaders–a Hungarian rabbi, a Spanish archbishop, and an Islamic scholar. As the museum event approaches, the rabbi and the scholar are murdered, setting up the archbishop as a killer desperate to prevent Kirsch’s message from getting out.
But that’s too easy.
With the museum transformed into a technology center compete with artificial intelligence guides and a live stream reaching millions around the world, Kirsch sets the stage with two questions. Where did life come from? and Where is mankind going?
He claims to have discovered the definitive answers.
But Kirsch is shot—on screen–just as he is about to share his earth-shaking discovery. Mayhem ensues. The museum director, a woman engaged to the crown prince of Spain, reaches out to Langdon. The two realize that the only way to stay safe is to release Kirsch’s presentation. They flee to the late genius’s home in Barcelona to find the needed password.
In the next hours, there are doubts about the crown prince’s involvement, doubts about the archbishop, a cat-and-mouse game with Kirsch’s murderer, a helicopter escape, and a galloping tour through Spain’s architectural treasures, especially Gaudi’s Barcelona. Brown balances Spain’s history, art, and architecture with eye-popping technology. Kirsch’s artificial intelligence, Winston, is Siri on steroids and a character in “his” own right.
The descriptions in ORIGIN made me visualize wonderful places I’ve never seen and check the cost of air travel to Spain. Illustrations of symbols mentioned in the book were a nice touch. Brown has a sense of humor, too—in one notable passage, Langdon is puzzling out a symbol seen on a car, only to realize it’s a mashup of two stickers. No spoilers but it was a genuinely funny bit.
The ending was satisfying, as much for the interpersonal relationships as Kirsch’s posthumous announcement. No doubt when Brown first conceived Kirsch’s discovery, he thought it would be a big bang similar to the fervor over THE DA VINCI CODE. Recent tech revelations, however, have diluted Brown’s big payoff. It didn’t matter, the book was still gripping.
I devoured ORIGIN, a fairly hefty tome, in three days. Highly recommended.
Just don’t assume it’s gospel truth.
The age-old questions posed in Dan Brown’s opus Origin are “Where do we come from?” and “Where are we going?” And so begins a thriller where the diametrically opposed beliefs of science and creationism are pitted against one another.
Billionaire futurist Edmond Kirsch has solved the riddle of whether DNA was hatched in the steamy cauldron of the sea or by God’s hand, and he’s poised to announce it to the world. But before he can reveal his magnum opus at the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, he’s assassinated. Professor Robert Langdon watches his student and friend’s murder in horror. In the aftermath, he’s swept up and compelled to find the password that will unlock the truth of Kirsch’s discovery and finish what his acolyte failed to do, tell the world when and how life began, and where is it going. With the help of Kirsch’s friend and the fiancée of the prince of Spain, Ambra Vidal, the two embark on a search for the cryptic password that will unlock Kirsch’s discovery and televise it to the world. Naturally, the most Catholic monarchy and the Palmarians, an offshoot of the church that disavows the Vatican, are hunting them. Cast as the villains, both are seemingly determined to see Kirsch’s discovery never reaches the light of day.
This is a long-winded thriller, and Brown expends most of his effort in this novel preaching against God’s existence and the concept of religion. I found the book interesting if for no other reason than I was never convinced. Brown is a master of weaving truth with untruth, but never quite masters a successful argument in this novel. Science and religion have learned to co-exist, and atheism has proven itself to be less than satisfying. Most religions accept the scientific principle of Darwinism, which does not diminish the belief that life still would not exist without the Divine initial spark.
All in all, I still enjoyed the book.
I truly enjoy Dan Brown and the Robert Langdon series. Origin was no exception. Browns ability to write from multiple points of view is as profound as his prose. In Origin, Brown takes on the old philosophical questions: Where did we come from? and Where are we going?, weaving together plot twists, mysteries and suspense in classic Robert Langdon fashion. If you’re a fan of the series or haven’t indulged in the series this is definitely worth a read.
Dan Brown’s ORIGIN is a rollicking thriller that accelerates in pace and anticipation with each chapter. By the end, the reader is anxiously turning each page to discover how the story will unfold.
The first act emphasizes the action’s unusual locations. This is interesting but, to me, slowed the pace of the first third of the book. This isn’t so much a critique as an expression of my personal preference. The second and third acts, however, picked up the pace considerably and delivered the high-octane thrills we’ve come to expect from Dan Brown.
The scientific reveal at the end is interesting but didn’t quite live up to the hype established in the preceding chapters.
Despite these minor points, ORIGIN provided a wonderful diversion for a portion of my recent beach vacation.
4.5 stars
Slow start strong finish
I didn’t think Dan Brown could possibly top his previous work with all the intelligent research and amazing plot twists that are impossible to see coming …. BUT he did! This book is phenomenal! He out did him, as usual!
Dan Brown does it again with this page turning thriller. Robert Langdon is at it again in a story that takes place in Spain. “Where do we come from?” “Where are we going?” Two questions that are answered in a hair raising way. This book really makes you take a long look at our society and where it is heading. A new way to think about life and creation.
On the whole, I’m a fan of Dan Brown, I appreciate his work, This is an inventive story and clearly, a lot of research has gone into writing it in terms of computers, artificial intelligence, art, history, physics, and chemistry, although I can’t vouch for the accuracy of any of it, but it all added to the story.
Brown is so good at switching between characters and for me at least he is a master of creating suspense. I liked his choice of locations in the story and up to a point, the comments on landmarks, history, architecture, artworks, etc, but like other reviewers have noted they were not required for the advancement of the plot and became overly convoluted and an annoying distraction after sixty or more chapters. I found myself thinking ‘Get on with it.’
When it finally came to the big revelation, like with his previous books I felt slightly let down. It was inventive and had a lot of logic, but after 500 pages I felt I needed and had earned more. As for the bad guy, or ringleader, well that wasn’t a surprise, but it was still a clever idea, which I thought was well executed. I enjoyed the book, but I felt it could have been edited down to give it more pace. I really didn’t think the story justified the 538 pages.
Read most of Dan Browns books. One of the few authors I follow. His style, knowledge of locations and events and characters building is great!!
Entertaining concept … could be the future of the human race….
Dan Brown manages to up everything yet again
When I picked this up – my first instinct was that I know what I am going to get. Robert Langdon goes to some museum, there is some incredible mystery, a lot of symbols, a lot of modern day monks from bizarre religious orders, and that will be it.
This was what it was – but it was more.
Dan Brown takes his familiar tropes, and just brings more on all fronts.
Bigger ideas, more important ideas.
Yes, one could call Dan Brown Umberto Eco for a plane trip, but still – like Michael Crichton, beneath Brown’s broad appeal lies some really important ideas.
But he is still Dan Brown
Langdon gets an Artificial Intelligence partner in Winston, a fun new character. Robert Langdon and Winston expostulates on the concepts of AI, but Winston is fun. There is little danger of Winston acting as a terrorizing android here.
Dan Brown is first and foremost, fun.
And wow – is the mystery at the center of this big
It’s big, bigger than big – where do we come from, and where are we going?
No spoilers, but let’s just say that Robert Langdon can answer this – in Dan Brown style – as long as he looks at a few paintings, reads a few poems, deciphers a few symbols, runs away from a few European policemen, hides from a few two-toned European sirens and – the usual Robert Langdon fare.
But though this hits all the standard Dan Brown points – it hits it with an intensity and an impact I have not yet seen in Dan Brown’s tales before.
So I’d get Origin if you are looking for something from Dan Brown, but just want a little more.
And even if not – give it a shot. It is a lot of fun!
Best of the Robert Langdon series