The Lost Symbol book review

I loved The Da Vinci Code and Angels and Demons, and I enjoyed Deception Point and Digital Fortress. But the Lost Symbol just didn't really click for me. I dunno what it was, but something was just lacking.

In this book, Robert Langdon just didn't really feel like Langdon to me. He was always dismissing possibilities and refusing to speculate stuff, and he just didn't seem to be the same Langdon from DVC and A&D. Admittedly, it has been several years since I read those 2 books, but in the Lost Symbol I was constantly getting annoyed by him and his attitude.

I also felt that the mystery and plot this time around wasn't quite up to scratch. I guessed a fair bit of the major plot a long way ahead of time, and the mini plot twists were all quite easy to guess how they would be resolved (at least in my opinion). And while I understood some of why what the main bad guy (Mal'akh) was up to was bad, I felt it was greatly over-exaggerated to be a bigger deal. The main baddie was introduced within about the first 5 chapters or something, which I felt detracted a bit from the overall mystery and plot as I liked the feeling in DVC and A&D that there was a greater mastermind manipulating the events behind the villian/thug who Langdon kept running into, and I just hoped from the moment Mal'akh was introduced that this would be the case too.

Also, I just didn't feel that the plot was overly intriguing or gripping, and I don't know whether I just wasn't particularly fascinated by the Mason-plot or whether it was because I felt the book was not as good as the previous 2 Langdon ones, or maybe it was because it was set in America as opposed to Rome and Paris, cities of greater intrigue and love for me.

Overall, for a Langdon book by Dan Brown, I was fairly disappointed. It was a decent book, but it just did not live up to my expectations as a fan of the Da Vinci Code and Angels and Demons. It might have been a bit better if Robert Langdon hadn't been the protagonist but obviously would have required a lot more in terms of character set up and development. It may have been better if it wasn't a Dan Brown book. Basically, it was a good book, but not great.

Queen of the Damned book review

 

The Queen of the Damned is the 3rd in Anne Rice's Vampire Chronicles series. Having read both 'Interview with the Vampire' and 'The Vampire Lestat', i was looking forward to reading this book. Overall, I enjoyed the Queen of the Damned, and anyone who has read the previous two books probably will as well, but found it was a little disappointing and underwhelming. It was still very enjoyable however, but think I preferred listening to the stories of Louis and Lestat in 'Interview' and 'Lestat' more personally.

Mild Spoiler warning! - I'll talk vaguely about what happens in the book from here until the last paragraph, but not reveal directly what happens, so please skip to the last paragraph if you don't want to know anything.

This book follows immediately on from 'Lestat', where Lestat has awakened the 6,000 year old mother of all vampires, Akasha (the titular Queen of the Damned), with his rock music and she is coming to destroy them all. The book actually starts with 7 separate narratives told by different characters, revealing their experiences in the nights leading up to where 'Lestat' left off, which was initially annoying as I wanted to read about what happened to Lestat, but was actually quite interesting as it set the scene and introduced me to the various mysteries surrounding the vampire community and other important characters. Then the narrative rejoins Lestat and other important characters (both from previous books and the first part of this book) to show what happens after Akasha has been reawakened.

Overall, the book was really good and interesting, and although it lacks the centuries spanning tales that I think made 'Interview' and 'Lestat' so gripping as it is all set in the modern day, it does contain a long sojourn where a character reveals what happened 6,000 years ago which was interesting.

From the blurb on this book and the impression I had after 'Lestat', I was expecting there to be a lot more action and drama in this book, particularly at its conclusion. While there were action scenes spread throughout the book, it was not as action-orientated as I was expecting, and the final confrontation with Akasha largely began with the main characters all sat around table talking and debating. Maybe this is just Anne Rice's style however, as to be fair I don't remember huge action scenes (although there are some) in the previous two books.

Mild spoiler warning over!

Overall, I enjoyed the Queen of the Damned, and it was an enjoyable book in this series. However, I personally enjoyed 'Interview' and 'Lestat' more, as I think I preferred following the tales of Louis and Lestat from their beginnings over the centuries, as I think I found that more intriguing. It's still a good book though, and anyone who has read the previous two books will enjoy this as well.