Origin by Dan Brown
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I keep reading Dan Brown despite a love/hate relationship with his bad guys. It's a close thing. All that mortification of the flesh and unreasoning religious (or whatever) fevers are good one or two times, but then it keeps happening and then the novels just feel like they were cookie-cutters with one or two new ideas evolving.

This one is *almost* the same as the others. But not quite. Sure, it has the whole requisite chase scene and religious nutters (apparently), and the BIG REVEAL is super sensational.

What makes this stand out for me is the fact it is pure Science Fiction.

What? No! This is a mainstream thriller! It doesn't belong to those pulp fictions!

*gives you an ironic sidelong stare*

Okay. Let's get real here. (view spoiler)[Super-powerful AI assistant for propelling the plot, quantum computing, massive technological wizardry, the advent of the technological singularity, talk of entropy as the source and spark of life, an insistence that rationality and the slinking away of religion is the prime game of the day... (hide spoiler)] Oh, sure, this is no Science Fiction.

Hell, I've read a hundred novels that WERE billed as Science Fiction that had a tenth of the SFnal themes and gadgets.

Don't kid a kidder. Dan Brown is tackling Vernor Vinge and Charles Stross at their most fundamental hardcore (view spoiler)[Technological Singularity (hide spoiler)] technomagical Clarkian predictions.

And that's pretty much where I enjoyed this novel the most. :)

The thriller was pretty standard fare with a bit more inclusiveness and less-predictable twists than the previous ones, but overall, I read for the final reveal. In that way, it IS a standard mystery. :)

Fun. Oddly enough, I had a great deal of fun with this.


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