The Da Vinci Code, by Dan Brown (2003)

After thouroughly enjoying the first book in this series I was delighted to pick up the sequel, The Da Vinci Code, for just $7 at K-Mart. Dan Brown once again employs similar narrative devices in this book. Again, we follow Robert Langdon on a frantic treasure hunt following a murder. However, this time Brown takes us from the eternal city and instead has us crossing the English Channel in search of the Holy Grail across Paris and London.

This sequel was fun. It had cooky characters, multiple independently acting characters each with seemingly plausible motives and it all roughly tied together quite well. Brown does a good job introducing new characters and entities with existing relationships to the main cast or at the very least an interesting backstory. However, compared to Angels and Demons, I felt The Da Vinci Code didn’t do as good of a job creating a world of historical fiction. Whereas Angels and Demons seamlessly tied real places and entities with conspiratorial mythology, The Da Vinci Code often crosses the line separating fun and ridiculous. It was still a fun read, but I enjoyed Angels and Demons more.