Origin (Robert Langdon #5)

Title: Origin (Robert Langdon #5)

Author: Dan Brown

Published in: 2017

Date read: 20th January 2025

Score: 4/5

Genre: Fiction, Thriller

Plot: (Warning, may contain spoilers):
"Origin," published in 2017, is the fifth novel in Dan Brown's series featuring the Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon. The book is a high-tech thriller that combines art history, cryptography, and cutting-edge science, exploring one of the most fundamental questions of human existence: where do we come from, and where are we going?

The story begins at the futuristic Guggenheim Museum Bilbao in Spain, where Robert Langdon is attending a major event hosted by his former student, Edmond Kirsch. Kirsch is a brilliant futurist and billionaire whose work in computer science, artificial intelligence, and genomics has made him a controversial figure. He is about to announce a ground-breaking scientific discovery that he claims will shatter the foundations of all the world's religions by answering the two central questions of human existence: "Where do we come from?" and "Where are we going?"

However, just moments before his highly anticipated announcement, Kirsch is brutally assassinated by a former admiral with deep ties to a dangerous religious organization. His death leaves his revolutionary discovery unrevealed, but a video of his presentation remains encrypted.

Langdon, with the help of the museum's director, Ambra Vidal, finds himself in a desperate race against time to retrieve the password to Kirsch’s secret presentation before the conspiracy can silence it forever. Their journey takes them through some of Spain's most iconic and beautiful historical sites, including the Royal Palace of Madrid, the Sagrada Família in Barcelona, and the ancient streets of Seville.

They are relentlessly pursued by a shadowy and powerful organization that uses both technology and a network of fanatics to stop them. Langdon must use his encyclopaedic knowledge of ancient symbols, art, and codes to decipher the clues left behind by Kirsch. The mystery is not just a simple whodunit; it's a complex puzzle that involves religious symbolism, a super-intelligent AI named Winston, and a dangerous secret that threatens to destabilize the world.

The climax reveals a stunning truth about the murder and the conspiracy behind it. The killer's identity is a shocking revelation, and Kirsch's discovery is unveiled to the world in a dramatic and explosive fashion. "Origin" is a fast-paced, intellectually stimulating thriller that pits science against religion and asks profound questions about humanity's past and future.

Comments:
I am not going to lie, I did enjoy this book. I hated all of the negativity towards Dan Brown's books as they were all excellent. This one was very good and I couldn't put it down, however, (an this pains me to say it) this one was a little "samey". I apologise, I always feel awful saying these things as I would not even know where to start. The story would have been so much better if I had not already read Digital Fortress, Angels & Demons, Deception Point, The Da Vinci Code, The Lost Symbol or Inferno. These are excellent stories but they do follow a rather similar structure. This structure is excellent, however, I would love to read something different by this brilliant author.

Books that we've read by Dan Brown (7):
Digital Fortress (1998), Angels & Demons (Robert Langdon, #1) (2000), Deception Point (2001), The Da Vinci Code (Robert Langdon, #2) (2003), The Lost Symbol (Robert Langdon, #3) (2009), Inferno (Robert Langdon, #4) (2013), Origin (Robert Langdon #5) (2017)