dan brown is an author who for most of us needs no introduction. Dan Brown’s books for his Robert Langdon series have sold millions of dollars over the years, making the author one of the highest-paid authors in history. In fact, in 2018 he was the fifth highest paid author after James Patterson, J.K. rowling, stephen king and john grisham. The Da Vinci Code is known even to people who haven’t touched a book in decades because of the movie starring Tom Hanks.
for anyone who hasn’t read the entire robert langdon series, this is the order of dan brown’s books.
You are reading: Robert langdon books in order
robert langdon series
- angels and demons (robert langdon #1), 2000
- the da vinci code (robert langdon #2), 2003
- the lost symbol (robert langdon #3), 2009
- hell (robert langdon #4), 2013
- origin (robert langdon #5), 2015
other books by dan brown
- digital fortress, 1998
- deception point, 2002
book summaries by dan brown
You don’t need to read Dan Brown’s books for your Robert Langdon series, as each story is independent of the other. however, as many of us thriller readers enjoy reading our series in order, I recommend choosing them starting with angels & hell if you read the da vinci code you can always go back and read the first robert langdon book now.
angels and demons
robert langdon is a world-renowned symbologist who is asked to go to a swiss research center to analyze a cryptic symbol that was burned into the chest of a physicist who was recently murdered. his investigation uncovers a conspiracy against the catholic church by an ancient organization, the notorious illuminati. To save the church, Robert has to work together with Vittoria Vetra, an Italian scientist who helps him find his way to the Illuminati’s secret vault.
the da vinci code
Dan Brown’s most famous book to date, The Da Vinci Code features Robert Langdon once again, this time in Paris. Another body has been found, once again carved with ancient symbols, and Robert is the only one who can figure out what they mean. This time, he works with French cryptologist Sophie Neveu, and together they follow a strange trail of clues that lead to the works of Leonardo da Vinci. And once again, we find another secret society, this time the Priory of Zion, which had as a member not only the dead curator, but also famous people such as Sir Isaac Newton, Victor Hugo, and Da Vinci himself.
the lost symbol
now robert langdon is back in the united states, giving an evening lecture at the capitol building. During the presentation, he discovers a strange artifact in the building, one that has five strange symbols on it. robert langdon, a symbologist by trade, is asked to help translate. Soon after, however, Langdon’s mentor, Peter Solomon, so Robert now has to really spend his time with the symbols inscribed on the artifact to find his way to Peter to save him. the entire story covers only 24 hours, but what action-packed hours!
hell
in hell, robert langdon finds himself back in italy. this time, however, he wakes up in a hospital with no recollection of the last 36 hours of it. Inside his articles, however, he discovers a strange object and, connected to it, finds that a ruthless killer is after him. Now he has Dr. Sienna Brooks as an ally, and together they try to not only run from the killer but also put the pieces of the puzzle together before it’s too late. As usual in Dan Brown’s books, the story takes place in one day, so the action doesn’t stop.
origin
origin, dan brown’s latest proposal, meets robert langdon, our favorite symbologist at the ultramodern guggenheim museum in bilbao. he is attending a major announcement of a discovery that is supposed to change the future forever. The presentation by Edmond Kirsch, a billionaire and Langdon alumnus, reveals two things so strange and momentous that they could, in fact, change the course of human history. When chaos breaks out during the presentation, the discovery is in grave danger of being lost forever. now robert langdon, accompanied by the director of the museum ambra vidal, who used to work with kirsch, not only flee from the danger of bilbao, but try to stop all those who want to silence the voice and legacy of edmund kirsch forever.
digital strength
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the book that started dan brown’s writing career. susan fletcher is a cryptographer for the nsa. they ask him for help when they find a code they can’t crack. He soon discovers that the unbreakable code is holding the entire NSA hostage in a way that could cripple the US. uu. intelligence forever if not stopped in time before it launches.
deception point
deception point takes us to the arctic ice where nasa satellites have discovered a strange rare object buried deep within the ice. The discovery, if revealed, could have major implications for the next US government. uu. presidential election, however, the white house must first ensure that the discovery is not a failure. So they send intelligence analyst Rachel Sexton to the scene along with a team of experts to investigate. however, what awaits them there is something completely different. Not only are assassins hunting them down now, but the discovery itself could throw the entire world into chaos if revealed.
biography of dan brown
The author Dan Brown was born in Exeter, New Hampshire, in 1964. He was the eldest of three children. He attended Phillips Exeter Academy, and as his father was a mathematics professor, and writer of textbooks at that very school, Dan spent quite a lot of time at the school campus where he was singing in the church choir and attended church camp. His mother served as leader of a church choir In an interview he mentioned that he felt he grew up at that very campus, being so much there.
after graduating from high school in 1982, he attended amherst college, massachusetts, graduating in 1986 with a bachelor’s degree in english and spanish. After college, he wanted to pursue a career in music, so he moved to California to become a composer and pianist. During this time, he also taught Spanish at Beverly Hills High School to pay the bills. This is where he met his wife, Blythe Newton, who was 12 years older than him.
Her music career never really took off, so she decided to get into writing. she wrote her first book in 1987, which she titled 187 Men to Avoid. The book, co-authored with his wife Blythe Newton, was a women’s dating survival guide for those who want to find Mr. at right, and was published in 1995 under the pseudonym danielle brown.
In 1993, when he abandoned the idea of a career in music altogether, Dan Brown returned to Exeter College to teach English and creative writing. This is the same school that provided the inspiration for Dan Brown’s first book, Digital Fortress. It happened after the US secret service paid a visit to the school to talk to a student who, in an email, made a joke about killing the president.
This incident impacted the author as he became interested in covert intelligence agencies, clandestine organizations and code breakers. Two years later, Angels and Demons was published, becoming Robert Langdon’s first book. each of the next dan brown books had some secrets, clandestine organizations and politics involved in one way or another.
also, the book that struck dan was sidney sheldon’s doomsday conspiracy. after reading this book, she thought he could write like that too, and the rest is history.
Dan Brown became a full-time author in 1996. He married Blythe the following year, in 1997, and in 1998 Dan Brown’s first book, Digital Fortress, was published.
The book that really made Dan Brown famous was The Da Vinci Code. it sold 6,000 copies on the first day of its release. Within the first week of publication, it rose to the top of the New York Times bestseller list. the book soon became the best-selling adult novel in history with around 40 million copies sold.
In 2004, Dan Brown and his brothers, Valerie and Gregory, founded Richard G. brown technology endowment, donating $2.2 million to phillips exeter academy. this was a way to honor her father, who taught at the academy for 25 years. the money would provide computers and other high-tech equipment to needy students. The author’s father, Richard Brown, taught there until 1997 when he retired. Over the years he wrote an Advanced Mathematics textbook: Precalculus with Discrete Mathematics and Data Analysis, which is still used to teach advanced mathematics. In 1989, Richard Brown was awarded by President George H.W. Bush the Presidential Award for Excellence in Science and Mathematics Teaching
In early 2006, Dan Brown’s best-selling novel, The Da Vinci Code, earned the author close to $200,000. The same year, Random House, the author’s publisher, was fighting a copyright infringement case brought by authors Michael Baigent and Richard Leigh, who sued Random House. They said Dan Brown stole his ideas for the Da Vinci Code from his book Holy Blood Holy Grail, which was published in 1982 and took the authors five years to write. random house won that case when a superior court judge rejected the claim.
by the way, it was also in 2006 that the da vinci code, a best-selling movie starring tom hanks, directed by ron howard, was released in theaters. dan brown was credited as executive producer and writer.
Especially after the movie was released, it garnered a lot of attention, most of it good, but also some bad. Many religious institutes, especially the Catholic Church, called him “anti-Christian.”
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is the da vinci code a true story? dan brown mentioned that 99% is true in terms of historical information included, even though the real story involving dan brown is fiction. At the beginning of the book, the author added a section titled Facts, where he describes what is real within the pages.
dan brown himself wrote the following about what is true in his book:
99 percent is true. all the architecture, the art, the secret rituals, the history, all that is true, the Gnostic gospels. all that is… all that’s fiction, of course, is that there’s a harvard symbologist named robert langdon, and all of his action is fictional. but the background is all true.
the lost symbol, the third book by robert langdon, was released three years later, in 2009. while angels and demons (2009), the da vinci code (2006) and hell (2016) were made into movies, the lost book symbol will be turned into a television series with the working title langdon. it will air in 2020.
what is the name of dan brown’s new book? the last book written by dan brown is called origin, published in 2015. since there are usually 3-5 years between book releases by dan brown, you should expect a new novel from the author anytime soon now.
In addition to writing books, Dan Brown also teaches thriller writing. she has a master class on this very topic, which is used by many new and upcoming writers who want to learn how to write books better.
praise for dan brown’s books
an unholy mix of cheese and corn, with all the twists and turns of a 12-inch ruler. however, it is wonderfully addictive. (da vinci code daily telegraph)
dan brown has to be one of the best, smartest and most accomplished writers in the country. the da vinci code is many steps above the intelligent thriller; this is pure genius. (nelson demille)
dan brown is my new must read. The Da Vinci Code is fascinating and absorbing, perfect for history buffs, conspiracy fans, puzzle lovers, or anyone who appreciates a great riveting story. I loved this book. (harlan coben)
da vinci code sets the hook of all hooks and takes off down a path that is as revealing as a page turn. you just can’t put this book down. Thriller readers everywhere will soon realize that Dan Brown is a master. (vince flynn)
I would never have thought this was my kind of thriller, but I’ll tell you something: the more I read, the more I had to read. In The Da Vinci Code, Dan Brown has built a world that is rich in fascinating detail, and he couldn’t get enough of it. Mr. brown, I’m your fan. (robert crais)
Angels & Demons is an amazing book – it took me so long to put it down and I didn’t finish anything until I finished it. Kudos to Dan Brown for creating an intriguing, imaginative, and suspenseful read. (give it brown)
an energetic new book pitting creationism against science, and likely to stir up as much controversy as the da vinci code did. In Origin , brash futurist Edmond Kirsch presents a theory so bold, so bold that, as he modestly thinks to himself in Brown’s beloved italics, “ it won’t shake your foundations. it will tear them apart.” Kirsch, of course, is addressing the world, because that is the scale on which Brown writes. brown and serious ideas: they fit together, never more than they have in origin. (janet maslin)
references
- dan brown author’s official website
- dan brown gives a masterclass in thriller writing
- the guardian’s article on the dan brown lawsuit in 2006
books reading order » authors » dan brown
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