Angels & Deamons

Carl Marx quoted,

                            "Religion is a tablet of Opium"

How true it is..

      Religion makes man do greatest of sacrifices for mankind but man also does most hideous deeds , ever known to mankind, in the name of God. Dan Brown talks about these two sides of mankind in his novel Angels & Deamons.

      The book revolves around around quest of Robert Langdon, a symbolist at Harvard University, to reveal mysteries of an ancient scientific brotherhood, the Illuminati, and their revenge against their 400 years old enemy, the Vatican city. Dan Brown makes use of historic conflict between church and science.

      The plot of book is based in Vatican city and Rome, in a time frame of 24 hours. The book starts in one of the labs at CERN, when scientist Leonardo Vetra is brutally murdered and a secret and highly dangerous substance is stolen from CERN lab, the Antimatter. The dead scientist is branded by an ambigram "Illuminati". This is when Robert Langdon, a symbolist is called in for help by CERN director Kohler. Kohler calls in Vetra's daughter Vittoria. Meanwhile a canister containing the antimatter, the substance Vetra created, is stolen from CERN lab. The cannister has a battery that runs for 24 hours after which antimatter will come in contact with matter and annihilating everything. Later it is revealed that the cannister is counting down somewhere in Vatican City.

      In Vatican the Pope is dead and in order to choose new leader, Cardinals from around the world are gathered.To unfold the mystery and save Church from annihilation Robert and Vittoria arrive in Vatican only to find that four preferred candidates are missing. Convinced that Illuminati is responsible for kidnapping the four Preferiti, Langdon traces the Path of Illumination in hope to save the Preferiti and locate the antimatter.

      On the Path of Illumination, Langdon comes across four major locations within Rome city, each dedicated to Earth, Air, Fire and Water, the four prominent elements that Illuminati believed. At each of these locations Langdon finds one of the preferitis is murdered in a fashion appropriate to the element of the location also he is branded by that element on the chest. On the path of Illumination Langdon finds out about the secret Illuminati sculptor and the Church of Illumination.

      Meanwhile inside Vatican the camerlango is attacked by the Illuminati.The camerlengo, in agony, has a revelation and claims locates the antimatter. Camerlango and Langdon take antimatter to sky where it harmlessly annihilates. Camerlango manages a safe parachute landing leaving crowd in awe. Because of this "miracle" escape, camerlango becomes a favorite for seat of the Pope. The book ends with a spine chilling twist, revealing the true identity of the master mind behind the entire plot, which is worth reading and not revealing..!!!

      Throughout the course of the book, Dan Brown refers to Ancient history, architectures and symbols heavily. He not only refers them but also explains each of them with great details, still manages to maintain the thrill, pace and flow of the story. All the places, structures and their places used in the book are all factual, making the book more impressive.