Inferno by Dan Brown-Book Review

No. No. No, no, no. That's not how you make a best-seller book. That's not how you maintain your reputation. That's not what I waited for, that's not why I paid a ton of money, and that's simply not what I expected (from the novel, in general. The story, an avid reader can expect/predict easily). As quoted in his official website about the novel, "Abandon hope, All ye who enter here".

For the fourth novel in the Robert Langdon series, after the thrilling success of 'Angels & Demons' and 'The Da Vinci Code', and the lukewarm response to 'The Lost Symbols', the stakes were high. And though it may be a fault of the reader itself to expect a master-piece every time Brown writes a novel, I certainly expected more out of it. 

The story has the exact same writing style as all his novels.  A guy dies a horrific death, while thinking about something much bigger than himself; Robert Langdon being called in for help as a symbologist and suddenly running away from a deadly attack on his life; a relentless chase across cities while trying to save the world by figuring out codes left by a single lunatic; visiting historically important exquisite locales finding clues; a secret organization with amazing powers and contacts trying to control the world around it; and as always- a dedicated, relentless and highly trained killer. Even the other characters are getting too predictable- A super villain who thinks he is doing noble work, and a foxy super-intelligent female companion. Though again the story is as fast paced and rich in architectural details as ever, the reader keeps wishing for something new. 

Original Map of Hell, by Botticell--inspired by 'The Divine Comedy'

Description of the map above

The novel is highly inspired from Dante Alighieri (a 14th Century poet) and his works (more specifically, 'The Divine Comedy'). The story talks about the natural way of nature to cure itself of over-indulgence by mass-deaths. It talks in small details about how the black plague was good for the long term survival of the human species, and how it allowed for renaissance and other changes in Europe. A super-genius Genetic Engineer designs an air-borne and extremely contagious virus which he claims will solve the problem of over-population on Earth. He, after succumbing to the worst of the 7 sins-pride, wishes to show the world that it was him who created the virus, and makes an ominous video showing the exact date and  time when the virus will be released to the world, thus helping the world to purge itself. He leaves some clues about the 'ground zero', and commits suicide a week before the date of his choosing, giving the task of uploading the video to a secret and powerful company. Robert Langdon, meanwhile, wakes up with no memories of the past 2 days and finds himself in Florence instead of Harvard, with a trained task force as well as an assassin out trying to find and kill him.      

The best part about the novel is that it touches a very real issue, and gives a possible solution to a problem which has no easy answers. Over-population is going to be the biggest threat to human race; and when it hits, it'll hit hard and it'll hit fast. Indeed, on the face of it, Dante's hell looks more like a prediction than a fictitious story, and denial is only going to exacerbate the problem in the future. The rate of human growth is increasing at an alarming pace, and indeed there can be no enemy worse than a mathematical equation predicting doom-it is unchanging, non-relenting, and non-negotiable.

Dan Brown  has maybe written his worse novel yet in Inferno, but that is because he is Dan Brown. For any other writer, chances are, this would still be the best work of his life. Though maybe not worth the wait and the expectations, it is still definitely worth a thorough read. The facts given are still as surprising as ever, the ideas presented are still extremely well researched, the knowledge gained is still exceptional, and it still beats lying in front of the TV. Though not drenching it completely, Dan Brown still keeps my tongue wet enough to drool over the prospect of  the next novel he presents, and hence yet again-quoting Inferno-our dance begins!