Angels & Demons

For a long while I was curious about the international attention that Dan Brown garnered over his acclaimed bestseller – Da Vinci Code. When I read the book (courtesy of Ah Peng), I understood why. There are very few fiction writers who have made me gone through so much thinking while following the plot. Dan Brown is clearly one of them. The others are
1) Jostein Gaarder – author of Sophie’s World and A Solitaire Mystery,
2) Mitch Albom – author of Tuesdays with Morrie and The Five People You Meet In Heaven, and
3) Paulo Coelho – author of The Alchemist and Eleven Minutes.

Angels and Demons is themed similarly to Da Vinci Code. When you enter the prologue, it is almost as if one has started on the sequel of Da Vinci Code.

The opening was a death scene which was gruesome and merciless. Shortly after the murder, the hero of the story was once again stirred from his deep slumber. The protagonist – Robert Langdon was a lecturer on religious symbols. There was again a heroine who would assist or in some situations led the hero in solving the murder and the more sinister plot associated with the murder. Vittoria Ventra was an up-and-coming physicist whose father – a famous physicist, was brutally murdered.

By now, I am sure for the readers who are familiar with Da Vinci Code will be wondering if I have been getting confused. From the similarities, you may be lured into thinking that I am describing Da Vinci Code here instead of Angels and Demons.

Instead of being in the grandeur of the Lourve Museum in Paris, the venue is the the St Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City. The Pope has just passed on and the cardinals from all over the world gathered at Sistine Chapel to elect the next Pope.

A day before this, a famous physicist who was also a devout Christian – Leonardo Ventra was brutually murdered in CERN – one of the most renowned scientific institutes in Europe. At the same time, one of the greatest break-through in science who could be used to explain the Big Bang, was also stolen. This new discovery, known as the antimatter (opposite to matter), could be the world’s newest source of safe energy as it could produce more cheap energy than nuclear energy and with no side effects of radiation. Similarly, it could also be the world’s deadliest weapon.

Antimatter was stored in a magnetized canister to prevent it from interacting with matter to produce an explosion. However, the canister has to be constantly charged to retain its magnetic field. With it being stolen, the back-up battery in the canister could only kept it magnetized for 24 hours before explosion would occur. As Leonardo was branded with “Illuminati” before he died, Maximilian Kohler recruited Robert Langdon to help solve the mystery. Together Robert and Vittoria went through the toughest 24 hours of their lives.

“Illuminati” referred to a group of scientists who had gathered illegally during the times when Religion ruled the world and the scientists were viewed as threats to the reign of Religion. The head of “Illuminati” was Galileo Galilei. The secret hiding place was within the Vatican City and could only be found by certain marks. These marks were all sculptures created by Bernini – the famous sculptor who was touted to be second only to Michelangelo.

There was an assassin being hired to murder the 4 cardinals who were the chosen ones and one of them was likely to be chosen as the next Pope. Unfortunately, before Robert could stop the assassin, all 4 cardinals were brutally and publicly murdered at the altars of science. These altars of science were believed to contain the directional guide to the Church of Illuminati – their secret lair.

It was again a captivating book with the unexpected developments. A reader would certainly need to hold your breath until the last page as every time when Robert and Vittoria seemed to close in, the assassin was able to escape and lengthen the gap between them again.

The book I was reading was a collector’s edition (this time courtesy of the National Library Board) with pictures and illustrations. They certainly helped especially when famous sculptures, buildings and churches were referred extensively in the book and were crucial for the plot development. It would certainly be hard for a reader who was unfamiliar with the Greek history and sculptures to fully appreciate the intricacies of the mystery. When one looked at the pictures of the insides of famous landmarks, such as St Peter’s Basilica, Sistine Chapel, the Pantheon and sculptures of Bernini, such as Habakkuk and the Angel, West Ponente and the Ecstasy of Saint Teresa. Without the pictures, one can really get lost in the words. The significance of these ‘signposts’ to the mystery will not be as impactful.

Being simplistically reading the book as pure fiction and for leisure, I have thoroughly enjoyed the mystery and the plot.