Book Review: Origin
To many Exonians, Dan Brown is a familiar face. Every year, preps are introduced to the author, who is arguably one of the Academy’s most famous alumni. Eager preps, myself included, line up to get his autograph and speak to him. Eventually, though, his presence at assembly becomes routine, or even chore-like. This is an apt way to describe how I felt reading Brown’s newest novel, Origin.
The story opens like many a Brown novel. It features protagonist Robert Langdon, a tweed-wearing professor. As always, there is an unremarkable, replaceable female character who follows Langdon around, and never ceases to be amazed by his erudition, even if that woman has a Ph.D, and is an art history specialist herself. There is a shadowy Catholic organization that runs the world. Langdon arrives in Spain for a star-studded event at the Guggenheim Museum of Bilbao, where a former student, now a tech billionaire, is set to present a stunning discovery that will “change everything.” Of course, after Langdon arrives, there is a chase sequence which delays the Big Reveal. Finally, we get to hear the tech billionaire’s “shocking” announcement.
While it is admirable that he seeks to educate his readers, Brown’s latest novel falls far short of the mark, and is only repetitive and nowhere near as pioneering as he thinks.
As crowds huddle together, glued to their phones, eagerly waiting for the new update, a video is released in which the billionaire presents what he has learned. Apparently, he has discovered where mankind comes from, and where mankind is going. Long story short, the billionaire’s “discovery” is that there was nothing supernatural about our creation. Then, he demonstrates the truth of his “discovery” by performing an experiment...which has already been performed in real life by a group of scientists who reproduced the conditions of early Earth in test tubes. I’m not sure why the billionaire would need to “discover” something that is already being taught in most schools in the developed world. But maybe Brown thought that if a secular tech billionaire demonstrated evolution, he might convince a few recalcitrant Creationists. Still, this announcement is just a prelude to the more exciting second half of the tech tycoon’s presentation. Apparently, he has discovered where humanity is headed. Aided by a graph, the tycoon informs the reader that a new species is slowly taking over. “Technium,” or all smart devices, have started to replace humanity as master of the known world. How, Brown asks, will religion and spirituality cope with the new reality of science and technology?
Here, Brown deals with a legitimately interesting question that is being explored by theologians and scientists all over the world. To answer it, the ever-faithful Robert Langdon heads to the modernist Basilica of the Holy Family in Barcelona to speak with a liberal priest, who might answer his questions. However, their theological discussion is limited to a few pages, in which they come to the conclusion that humans will return to nature worship, and that “dark religions” will be replaced by a new religion glorifying nature instead of secularism.
Perhaps the lack of theological insight that both the priest and Langdon show explains both the decline of the Catholic Church in the West, and American higher education. To be frank, this novel lacks the entertaining quality of his past books, Inferno and The Lost Symbol. As a matter of fact, the novel reads as if Brown has spent too much time in Silicon Valley, imbibing their obsessive discussions about the singularity and artificial intelligence. It does not do the work of a strong thriller—that is, engaging the reader with rich characters, and an innovative, suspenseful plot. While it is admirable that he seeks to educate his readers, Brown’s latest novel falls far short of the mark, and is only repetitive and nowhere near as pioneering as he thinks.