Review: Origin

Origin by Dan Brown
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I've always been a fan of Dan Brown's books, even though by now I know full well they're actually pretty poorly researched in addition to just plain poorly written sometimes. But therein lies the fun, because as inaccurate as a lot of Brown's stories are (even though he'll insist otherwise), it's still as engrossing as ever because he makes you believe it, even for a moment. This fifth Robert Langdon book is no exception, and is certainly something of a return to form for Brown, as well as a retrospective look at elements of several of his earliest stories. Returning to Spain for the first time since Digital Fortress - and portraying the country in a far more positive light, even if he implies that it being the last of the great Catholic monarchies makes it a very backwards place - and giving us some ultraconservative Catholic villains to rival those of Angels & Demons and The Da Vinci Code, Origin feels like a more worthy follow-up to The Lost Symbol as well, certainly more in line with the scientific wonders of that book than the dark, deadly Inferno (the infamous twist ending of which is hardly alluded to at all in here - maybe Brown regrets that, and I'm certainly glad the 2016 movie version removed it.)

It's a little amusing for me too with the aforementioned demonization of the religious right - from not only Christianity either, but especially a disturbing sedevacantist sect that literally canonizes Hitler and Franco - but also very timely considering the disturbing rise of the far right these days. The reference to a "forgetting pact" in Spain, trying to whitewash its own history like Franco never happened, makes me think of how the same is so often done in America, trying to sweep our sins under the rug (like they won't just fester and attract flies.) As for the science of this book, well, I won't pretend to understand it all, but it still makes a fair amount of sense - especially with the biggest twist of all, the only one I couldn't entirely see coming. And hey, I'm going to have a few thoughts in my head about humanity pretty much for the rest of my life thanks to this novel, so naturally, Brown's done his job and then some, as always.

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