h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

The latest Dan Brown book came out on Wednesday, so I bought a copy. It's tipped to be the next best-seller. It's called The Lost Symbol.

I've only read 50 pages so far, but I find it very enjoyable. It's set in Washington and follows very much the same format as The Da Vinci Code. I won't be spoiling anybody's enjoyment by revealing the following plot details, as it is as predictable as Coronation Street.

Famous symbology lecturer Robert Langdon is summoned to the Capitol in Washington to give a talk on the Freemasons and their influence on the buildings of the America's First City. And in a secret laboratory within the Smithsonian, a young female scientist works on a new and startling branch of science. Meanwhile, a mysterious tattooed man sets in motion a plan which will uncover a portal to something unknown.

There'll be blood. There'll be dubious interpretation of obvious symbols. There'll be a pretty girl. And the world's least likely hero will once again save the day.

I've discovered an author called Mike Herron - who has quite a different narrative style, but gripping and believable at the same time. I am lucky though that we have the best local library I have ever had the pleasure of belonging too, loads of new books each week. The joy of reading

I read the Da Vinci code recently (I'd been trying to avoid it). It left me feeling deeply disappointed. This guy has obviously done his research and come up with a plot - even if you can drive a coach and horses through it every five minutes - but his written language is just so unsatisfying. It felt like I was reading something a 15-year old would have written. It was just so one-dimensional. No character development, no justification for anyone's actions. Just a series of ridiculous and well-telegraphed plot-twists.

I shudder to think how much money he's made.

It makes me want to do the same.

I wish that too Icy - perhaps we can join forces? I could think of an unbelievable plot or three, I just never can get down to the actual writing, and anyway I expect my attempts would be worse than something Enid Blyton might have written.

If I don't find a job, I might have a go at NaNoWriMo

A28387551

50,000 words in a month sounds reasonably hard work. I write my "Post" article in about an hour, and aim it at 1,000 words. So the book is 50 hours of work, or about 2 hours a day for a month.

Yes, but it's 50,000 of 'Dan Brown' words, not yours, Gnomon. Anything over two syllables is out.

I'm not familiar with Mr. Brown's work, never bothered with the daVinci Code. Too much hype about it having a resemblence to reality when it was pretty obvious it would not.

I was surprised to run across a still active series that I have enjoyed, by American author Dean Koontz. It's the Odd Thomas series, about a young short order cook with a disturbing gift.

I enjoy the odd assortment of friends and companions with which he surrounds himself in a little town in the American Southwest. And the plots are reasonably convoluted.

Odd (his real name) is, of course, the hero; and the hero always wins. But he often pays a heavy cost for his victories.

Being an intellectual dnob, I was very surprised that Gnomon would be reading Dan Brown, a thing I am never likely to do. On the other hand I devour each Maeve Binchy as it appears who is currently (like jwf)reading through Terry Pratchett

Well, I finished Dan Brown. I found bits of it were enjoyable, but overall there were just too many stupid mistakes. All the symbology stuff was convincing enough although not very difficult. What was wrong was the way all the characters behaved. The CIA chief took the word of two civilians that the police had already arrived at a particular crime scene, instead of checking with the police by phone. The evil genius who was the main enemy in the book gave our hero until midnight to decipher a particular puzzle, but then went off and had a shower instead of keeping tabs on him. And so on.

I was also disappointed by the "much more important matter" which the CIA chief kept saying was of world importance and therefore more important than saving the life of our hero's friend, or even of humble CIA agents. It turned out to be of no interest whatsoever.

So while I'm glad I bought the book and enjoyed reading it, I wouldn't recommend it to anyone and I'm not ever going to read it again. It'll be going to the charity shop fairly shortly.

Sounds about right for Dan Brown... Fairly good mindless reading as long as you can ignore the ruddy great holes in the plot.

Sounds bad enough! You won't find those kind of holes in the Odd Thomas books.

Not much worse than those plots that revolve around somebody keeping some bit of information secret until the end and then say 'gee, I didn't think it was important!'

I won't be reading any more Dan Brown, I read the first one long after the fuss died down and regret it yet .... I just kept thinking I'd read the same book some 20 years ago, still can't figure out why.

I like Dean Koontz though and loved the first book of his I ever read, it was called Watchers, I let someone borrow it and never got it back - I'll buy it again someday.

I'm currently reading the Skulduggery Pleasant books (just about to start the 3rd one) and while they're kids books they're great fun. Written by Derek Landy they're set in and around Dublin and they're much, much better than that H**** P****** stuff - I'd love to see them make the big screen.

http://www.skulduggerypleasant.com/

>>I just kept thinking I'd read the same book some 20 years ago

Thinking of 'The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail' by Michael Baigent, Richard Leigh, and Henry Lincoln, published in 1982?

Same premiss -- Jesus had children who became ancestors of the kings of France.

Same objection -- Jesus totally dismissed the value of ancestry: 'God can raise up from these stones sons of Abraham'.

Possibly, but I don't recall reading that book although in those days I spent a lot of time at Belfast Central Lending Library due to a rather obnoxious lecturer at the College of Biz so I borrowed 3 books a week and suppose I could have read it then and filed it somewhere in the back of my mind.

Still, put me right off Dan Brown.

I haven't read any Dan Brown, so it's probabaly unfair to comment. I've deliberately avoided it due to what others have said, though.

Now, NaNoWriMo, sounds like fun, although I think I'm more attracted to the requirement (Ok, suggestion) that I track my porogress with multi-coloured spreadsheets

Personally, I prefer Chris Child; although he is quite predictable too!

I read The Temple and the Lodge by the same folks that wrote The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail. I enjoyed that, but like others, after hearing about how poorly and derivative The Da Vinci Code was I've had little desire to read any of Dan Brown's books.

I did just see this brief review of The Masonic Myth, by Jay Kinney and it looked like it might be a good read.
http://www.boingboing.net/2009/09/14/the-masonic-myth-by.html

Currently I'm still in the depths of this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Baroque_Cycle

It's a very good read. Pirates, kings, vagabonds, samurais, Newton and Liebniz, a mysterious and possibly immortal alchemist, cryptography, attempts to build computers in the 17th and early 18th centuries, an around the world voyage, Oh, and right in the middle of it, The Spanish Inquisition. (I wasn't expecting that.)

I've been on these books forever it seems. I had a bit of a mix up. I bought the paper back version of the first book, finished that, then read the second VOLUME (books 4 and 5), found a copy of the entire first VOLUME and re-read the first book and continued on and reread books 4 & 5 and just last week finally got to the third volume. The battle between Newton and Liebniz over the calculus is about to heat up but Newton is also on the trail of Solomon's gold (heavier than 24 karat weight).

I think a hootoo equivalent of the write a book in a month challenge would be fun - anyone else interested? I know I'll never write a Booker prize winning book, but would be terribly happy with a load of dosh from some best selling -lit ( too old and past it to write chick lit)

>>The Spanish Inquisition. (I wasn't expecting that.)

Thank you for reminding me, Count Zero (How *do* you count zero? With one hand clapping?)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nHGOl-jfUK0