“With our thoughts, we create the world.”
“’The human mind hates change…and the mind despises abandoning existing beliefs.’”
“’The right book at the right time can save your life.’”
The Secret of Secrets reunites us with Robert Langdon. This time he has a love interest with potential and the main topic deals with the mind. The story takes place mainly in Prague with a little bit in London and New York. It all starts with a brilliant scientist, her studies, and her manuscript. There are powerful forces involved, who will stop at nothing to prevent people from discovering a secret and letting the world in on this powerful knowledge. Robert Langdon finds himself opening his mind and willing to look at things with a new perspective. He is racing against a shadowy organization to prevent more deaths and save himself in the process. Will he be able to save the one he loves or will the clandestine forces succeed in silencing everyone, permanently?
I was so excited when I heard that a new Robert Langdon was being released. I loved the earlier books and I flew through those. I was so engrossed in them that I could not put them down. This time around I felt somewhat similarly but not close to the extent as before. I did want to keep reading and find out what was going on though. Dan Brown does have a way with creating suspense and enticing the reader to keep turning the page. He is a very entertaining author. However, this time around I felt a little let down. I didn’t like the Golem character as it was too “out there” for me. I am all about fantasy and sci-fi and mythology but not in this realistic context. It just didn’t fit for me. One thing I have always liked about Robert Langdon books was the puzzles, history, and secrets but I found that severely lacking in this book. I enjoy topics like when Langdon was thinking to himself about the usage and difference between the Rod of Asclepius and the caduceus. I also felt that this book didn’t have as much thought put into it. It felt rushed and lazy. I didn’t think of it before but there were several reused tropes like the protagonists being chased by a bad cop, a separate character (turns out to be connected) doing a lot of the dirty work, and a female that is right there alongside to help. It is also a little hard to believe after everything that Robert has been through that he wouldn’t be more skeptical and cautious. He just runs off without even thinking things through. It seems uncharacteristic. Some things I could see coming from a mile away too. A few things I predicted including the deciphering of a clue. I also felt that there were unrealistic scenes like pausing to just talk in an alcove while being chased by a madman. There was some interesting real-life information like experiments and theories that were referenced. I found these fascinating topics like retrocasuality, fractals, TMT, and habituation filtering throughout. I am just more interested in history, buildings, groups, and myths than the science, even though it can be very fascinating. There were some scary things brought up in this book too like In-Q-Tel. Who watches the watchers? Fun that the ambassador drives the same car as me! The word play on a specific page was so enjoyable! “Abomination of indolence…not only adroit, it brings propitious consolation.” I did find the name of this book a little pompous but describing the internet as a kind of nonlocal consciousness and the last page describing the Statue of Liberty was pretty cool. This is exactly the type of book that I would read just to complete the series.
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