Review: Origin

Origin by Dan Brown
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Really 3.5 stars - you don't read Dan Brown for great literature, but a quick read with conspiracy theories, obscure religious sects, art, and symbols. There are many internet rabbit holes a person could go down if she wanted to.

This time around, the setting is Spain, with a discovery made by an Elon Musk type tech master. The discovery is supposed to change everything for the world's religions, so he meets with three religious leaders before making the announcement, as a courtesy. This puts him in danger, and of course Robert Langdon ends up at the center of all the action, forced by events outside his control to go on a big adventure/escape/pursuit with the closest intelligent and beautiful woman, this time the director of the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao. She also happens to be engaged to the prince of Spain, and is it possible all of this is connected to the royal family and the church?

As far as character development goes, it is minimal. Back story of some characters is only used to make the reader question if they are good or evil, and there are only two camps. The plot actually wasn't of much interest to me, but I liked reading about the art and the various places of intrigue around Barcelona and other regions of Spain. Sometimes that's enough in a book like this.

Thanks to the publisher for providing access to the audiobook, although I got to it kind of late. The narrator did a great job.

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