Book Thoughts: Inferno by Dan Brown

Inferno by Dan Brown
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

A book that lives up to its billing as being entertaining and fast paced, but falls short in development of some it characters.

Brown's hero from past books, Robert Langdon, is back and working to unravel a mystery that invokes the Dante's most famous work, The Divine Comedy (particularly the part dealing with the journey through hell), along with modern concerns off genetic/biological terrorism and overpopulation. Brown, as his books oft do, interweaves these seemingly disparate themes into a compelling narrative that makes the book hard to put down.

However, and while I know one does not read these types of books for the characters as opposed to the plot and action, I was disappointed in Brown's development, or lack thereof, of the two primary female character in the novels. Without giving away any spoilers, Sienna Brooks, Langdon's traveling companion throughout much of the work, is supposedly a shy genius (IQ 208), but never delves into a mysterious personal history that is hinted at several times. As a reader, my appetite was piqued, so to speak, but never got any detail. More frustrating is the development of Elizabeth Sinskey, the head of the World Health Organization. Sinskey, despite being the head of such an immense and important organization, seems particularly weak as a character, serving almost more as a prop to the story than an engaged actor.

In any event, those are mere quibbles, and again, one doesn't choose this book to read because of the characters. In attempting to bring fast-paced narrative with interesting tidbits of history (and even some moral philosophy), the book delivers. Ultimately, a fun and entertaining read.

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