The New York Times - Janet Maslin
…a brisk new book that pits creationism against science, and is liable to stir up as much controversy as The Da Vinci Code did…Brown loves winking at Langdon, the literally dashing version of himself, and inviting readers to share the joke. And for all their high-minded philosophizing, these books' geeky humor remains a big part of their appeal. Not for nothing does Kirsch's Tesla have a license plate frame reading: "THE GEEKS SHALL INHERIT THE EARTH." Brown continues to do everything in his playful power to ensure that will happen.
From the Publisher
"Fans of The Da Vinci Code rejoice! Professor Robert Langdon is again solving the mysteries of the universe."
—People Magazine
"A brisk new book that pits creationism against science, and is liable to stir up as much controversy as The Da Vinci Code did. In Origin, the brash futurist Edmond Kirsch comes up with a theory so bold, so daring that, as he modestly thinks to himself in Brown’s beloved italics, “It will not shake your foundations. It will shatter them.” Kirsch is of course addressing The World, because that’s the scale on which Brown writes. Brown and serious ideas: they do fit together, never more than they have in Origin."
—Janet Maslin, The New York Times
"Origin asks the questions Where do we come from? Where are we going? They are questions about humanity—but they could just as easily be questions about Robert Langdon. The Mickey Mouse watch-wearing, claustrophobic, always-near-trouble symbology professor is back in Dan Brown’s latest book. And just like he was in his original exploits (Angels & Demons and The Da Vinci Code), Dr. Langdon is once again wrapped up in a global-scale event that could have massive ramifications on the world’s religions. As he does in all his novels, Brown[‘s] extensive research on art, architecture, and history informs every page."
—Entertainment Weekly
"Entertaining . . . Loyal fans of his globetrotting symbologist Robert Langdon will no doubt be thrilled with the fifth book in the series."
—USA Today
"Dan Brown is once again taking on the big questions: God and science and the future of the world. Origin is a familiar blend of travelogue, history, conspiracies and whodunit, with asides on everything from the poetry of William Blake to the rise and fall of fascism in Spain."
—Associated Press
"The bestselling author of The Da Vinci Code is back with a new book that looks to the future. Origin features many of Brown’s signature themes. An evil, Catholic-adjacent cult, in this case the Palmarian Church, is behind some murders. Gems from art history are the key to solving the mystery. [And] if the reader is in it for the thrill and the twist, the faithful will be glad to hear that there’s a Da Vinci Code-esque background to Robert Langdon’s mission."
—The New Republic
Kirkus Reviews
2017-10-01
Another Brown (Inferno, 2013, etc.) blockbuster, blending arcana, religion, and skulduggery—sound familiar?—with the latest headlines.You just have to know that when the first character you meet in a Brown novel is a debonair tech mogul and the second a bony-fingered old bishop, you'll end up with a clash of ideologies and worldviews. So it is. Edmond Kirsch, once a student of longtime Brown hero Robert Langdon, the Harvard symbologist-turned-action hero, has assembled a massive crowd, virtual and real, in Bilbao to announce he's discovered something that's destined to kill off religion and replace it with science. It would be ungallant to reveal just what the discovery is, but suffice it to say that the religious leaders of the world are in a tizzy about it, whereupon one shadowy Knights of Malta type takes it upon himself to put a bloody end to Kirsch's nascent heresy. Ah, but what if Kirsch had concocted an AI agent so powerful that his own death was just an inconvenience? What if it was time for not just schism, but singularity? Digging into the mystery, Langdon finds a couple of new pals, one of them that computer avatar, and a whole pack of new enemies, who, not content just to keep Kirsch's discovery under wraps, also frown on the thought that a great many people in the modern world, including some extremely prominent Spaniards, find fascism and Falangism passé and think the reigning liberal pope is a pretty good guy. Yes, Franco is still dead, as are Christopher Hitchens, Julian Jaynes, Jacques Derrida, William Blake, and other cultural figures Brown enlists along the way—and that's just the beginning of the body count. The old ham-fisted Brown is here in full glory ("In that instant, Langdon realized that perhaps there was a macabre silver lining to Edmond's horrific murder"; "The vivacious, strong-minded beauty had turned Julián's world upside down")—but, for all his defects as a stylist, it can't be denied that he knows how to spin a yarn, and most satisfyingly.The plot is absurd, of course, but the book is a definitive pleasure. Prepare to be absorbed—and in more ways than one.
