Dan Brown's Inferno : A Book Review

This book starts off with a bang. No morning swims for Robert Langdon to start off this book. Following a mysterious suicide to start everything off with a bang, we find Langdon in a hospital room, in pain and without the benefit of his usual memory or clarity of mind.

When a trained and professional assassin bursts into the hospital with the clear intent to kill him, he has to move. Not surprisingly, he has a beautiful and incredibly intelligent woman who had been attending to him, thrust quite accidentally at his side. Hey, it happens to all of us, sooner or later, doesn't it?

The haze of uncertainty and lack of memory begins to clear. Langdon is in Florence, but at first, he is still not entirely certain what he is doing there. Also, he is carrying with him a secret item, highly coveted. So much so, that the American Embassy is interested - perhaps a little too interested. So is the Italian police, before too long, and we find Langdon once again the object off another chase. Along the way, he stops and has the presence of mind to begin to unmuddy the waters, and the put the pieces of the puzzle together.

The object looks like a miniature missile, and is marked as toxic. The contents are mysterious, as is how it came to be in Langdon's possession. When they explore a little further, they find something quite unexpected: a modern day hologram projecting device inside of an ancient bone cylinder. The image that is projected is a replica of Botticelli's Map of Hell, only altered a bit. There are letters - another code for Langdon to figure out.

Like all of Dan Brown's books so far, this book can inspire the imagination. It is part action and adventure, part mystery, and there are educational parts, as well. The reader will learn a lot more about Dante Allegheirri, either get familiar with, or get reacquainted with Dante's Inferno (it had been nearly two decades since I last read it for a college class, so it was nice to revisit it a bit here), learn a lot about Florence and it's history, learn about death masks and how they are made, learn about the impending crisis with the exploding population growth of human beings, as well as all of the stresses that this places on our world. You will learn quite a bit about the black death and things associated with it. You will learn quite a bit about three different major cities that are very different in their own way, yet all connected on some level (at least in this novel).

Of course, you can expect twists and turns, and quite a few surprises. If you read any of his books before, this should be a no-brainer.

Dan Brown, at his best, is an author that not only produces books that are page turners and a pleasure to read on that level, but books that can be enjoyable because they provide an education of sorts. In his three previous works with the ever popular Robert Langdon character, there is some secret historical truth that has remained hidden from public view for a ling time, that is revealed. Such is not so much the case this time, as the focus is on Dante's classic, The Divine Comedy. It is not so much a mystery, as much as it is a revelation, from a very capable author and historian, about this hugely important work, and offers not only insights on it, but relates how the book can relate to us, to our present age and world. This is done in a way that only Dan Brown can deliver.

One of the main themes, which recurs often throughout the book, is that of the overpopulation crisis. This is not done in the mindless, action flick way, just for effect, such as in movie like 2012, or The Day After TO. It is not some thin pretext here to get to violence, or the really awesome stunts.  This is addressed in an intelligent and informed manner. It expands on the works where overpopulation is also a serious and strong theme, such as with Jonathan Franzen's "Freedom", or like almost all of the written works of Daniel Quinn, in some way or another.

The overpopulation issue is not some side issue here. It is the main issue that the novel continually keeps turning back to. There is no secret history of the Holy Grail or the Vatican or the Masons here. There is a code that Langdon has to decipher, and there are plenty of clues for him to try and piece together and find out the greater meaning of, and of course, no one is better than the fictional Landgon at getting these dots to connect. But the puzzle is created here by the author. He reveals many illuminating facts about Dante and his most famous work, and about history in general, and raises some interesting points in the overpopulation and Transhumanist debate (which I was unfamiliar with prior to reading this book). But don't expect a staggering alternative to history in this one. And as for the overpopulation debate, he is one of quite a few voices that are now chiming in on the elephant in the room. This is not new material, but it was interesting to read Dan Brown's unique and intriguing take on it.

All in all, I must say that this is an excellent book! I think it stands proudly as a crowning achievement for Dan Brown, and ranks right up there as probably his best book since at least the DaVinci Code, if not his best novel, period. This book offers just about everything that a fan of his can expect, and then some! The twists and turns on this one really keep you on your toes, wanting to turn the page. Expect to stay up later than is reasonable, since you won't be able to put the book down easily at night! This one is a must read!