Angels and Demons . It is a mystery novel, written by Dan Brown and first published in 2000 .
Summary
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- 1 General Information
- 2 Plot
- 3 Places mentioned
- 4 Taken to the movies
- 5 Related Links
- 6 Sources
General information
The professor of religious symbology Robert Langdon (who would later star in The Da Vinci Code and The Lost Symbol) is soon mired in the search for secrets of an ancient sect called Illuminati and in the search for the deadliest weapon of humanity (antimatter) that these have put in the Vatican.
With just a few hours to avoid disaster, mysterious ambigrams, and an assassin always in the lead, Langdon and an Italian scientist set out in a race against time. The novel was brought to the big screen in May 2009.
Argument
Angels and Demons follows Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon as he tries to stop the legendary secret society of the Illuminati from destroying Vatican City thanks to the recently discovered power of antimatter. CERN director Maximilian Kohler discovers in one of the building’s facilities the body of one of its most respected physicists, Leonardo Vetra, murdered in his own office. The word Illuminati was engraved on the chest branded with a red-hot iron. Instead of calling the police, Kohler looks up the word on the internet and eventually contacts Professor Robert Langdon, an expert on the Illuminati. Kohler asks for your help in discovering the killer.
What Langdon discovers at the crime scene terrifies him; the symbol is authentic and the supposed disappeared society seems to resurface. Kohler calls Vetra’s adopted daughter, Vittoria.
Once there they realize that the container with a quarter of a gram of antimatter has been stolen by society. As long as the container remained connected at CERN, the antimatter would remain floating in a total vacuum created by magnetic arcs, providing security; But when it is disconnected from the electricity supply, the container activates its emergency battery which lasts only 24 hours. The truth is that the Illuminati hid the container somewhere in Vatican City, with a security camera focusing on him as his watch continues a countdown to the moment of the explosion. That night the conclave for the election of a new pope takes place, making this a perfect time for the Illuminati to hide antimatter in the Vatican and destroy the most important people in the Catholic Church .
Cardinal Mortati (who is presiding over the election) discovers that the four favorite cardinals have disappeared. They have actually been kidnapped by the Hassassin, who also killed Leonardo Vetra. Langdon and Vittoria go to the Vatican hoping to find the murderer and recover the antimatter, Kohler cannot go with them as he suffers a respiratory crisis for not receiving his daily injection. Upon arrival, the search was joined by Camerlengo Carlo Ventresca and the Swiss Guard, which includes Commander Olivetti, Captain Rocher and Lieutenant Chartrand. Clues Langdon and Vittoria find in the Vatican Archives lead them to inspect the so-called Altars of Science. Each altar refers to the classic elements (Earth, Air, Fire and Water) that were formerly considered the constituent parts of all matter.
At each altar, one of the cardinals caught by the Hassassin is killed by a method relative to the item the altar refers to.
All of them branded with the name of the element in the form of an ambigram. The media are alerted to the killings and later reveal that the deceased pope died due to a heparin overdose. This makes Vittoria inspect the pope’s body and discover the black body tongue, a clear sign of heparin poisoning (it could be said that when she checked the mouth of the late pope, she performed the first autopsy on a Supreme Pontiff).
Later the Hassassin kills Olivetti and kidnaps Vittoria, but Langdon comes to rescue her. During the fight with the Hassassin, Langdon discovers that Jano, the leader of the society, will disguise himself and mark the Camerlengo with a fifth mark. When Langdon is about to be defeated, Vittoria manages to break free and attacks the Hassassin. With the help of Langdon they throw him from the balcony of Castel Sant’Angelo, killing him.
Upon discovering that Maximilian Kohler is the eleventh hour Samaritan, Langdon then assumes that Kohler is Janus, embarked on a suicide mission to kill the Camerlengo. Langdon and Vittoria arrive in time to save the Camerlengo, who has already been marked with the Illuminati Diamond, an ambigram showing the names of the four elements written together. When the door is forced open during the date, they see that Kohler points a pistol at the chamberlain and that the Diamond is near his feet. The Swiss Guards open fire on Kohler and Lieutenant Chartrand repeatedly kills Captain Rocher after the chamberlain yells that the captain is an Illuminatus. Kohler gives Langdon a camcorder and tells him to hand it over to the media.
While the Camerlengo is taken from there to take him by helicopter to a hospital, suddenly he seems to receive a message from God, revealing where the antimatter is. He runs back to the basilica followed by Langdon, Vittoria, the Swiss Guards and two BBC journalists. They consider that the priest has gone mad from emotional shock. They follow him to the tomb of Saint Peter, where they find the container with the antimatter. The camerlengo leaves the crypt with the container and goes to the plaza, with the intention of getting on the helicopter and does so after asking the pilot to get off. Once in command of the helicopter, he discovers that Langdon has also boarded, telling him that he will help him drop the antimatter once they are high enough not to harm anyone. Urged by Langdon, Since the container has only a few minutes left before draining its battery, the Camerlengo does not insist that Langdon get off (although he had already asked him to) and raise the vehicle. Once at high altitude, the Camerlengo tells Langdon that he is sorry he got on the helicopter, as he cannot throw the antimatter towards the ground. Then Langdon realizes that it was a mission of no return. The Camerlengo puts on the only parachute and jumps. Seconds later time runs out and the antimatter is released causing a huge explosion. since it cannot throw antimatter towards the ground. Then Langdon realizes that it was a mission of no return. The Camerlengo puts on the only parachute and jumps. Seconds later time runs out and the antimatter is released causing a huge explosion. since it cannot throw antimatter towards the ground. Then Langdon realizes that it was a mission of no return. The Camerlengo puts on the only parachute and jumps. Seconds later time runs out and the antimatter is released causing a huge explosion.
A few moments later the chamberlain appears on the basilica and people believe that a “miracle” has occurred. This causes everyone present, including the remaining cardinals, to shout the name of the camarlengo.
Meanwhile, Robert Langdon has also escaped the blast, using the helicopter’s windshield vinyl covering as a rudimentary parachute. It falls hard into the Tiber River near Tiberina Island which is said to possess miraculous healing powers. He wakes up a few minutes later in the hospital, there a nurse tells him that some of his personal effects have been saved including Kohler’s video camera, which repeated his recording over and over again. Langdon hears it (for the visor is broken) and realizes that it is not a sermon on science and religion. Langdon, angered, manages to be taken in a helicopter-ambulance to the Vatican. Once there, he shows the cardinals the recording on a television. It is then finally revealed that the chamberlain is Janus and that he deceived Hassassin into believing that the Illuminati were still active and the marks had been confiscated and hidden in the Vatican centuries ago.
Kohler had spoken to Rocher and he had revealed the truth about the Camerlengo. Rocher had allowed Kohler in to speak to the chamberlain alone, carrying a concealed pistol in the wheelchair. Kohler had also read Leonardo Vetra’s diary where he said that he had interviewed the Pope, the only person who knew of Vetra’s discovery before he was assassinated. Using psychology, Kohler gets Ventresca to admit that she hired the Hassassin to kill Leonardo. Kohler tells the Camerlengo that he no longer has a way out, now that he has confessed his sin, but Ventresca tells him that “confessing sins is the escape.” The chest is then marked with the Illuminati diamond. By yelling he alerts the guards, who kill Kohler. After showing this, everyone in the Sistine Chapel they are astonished and Cardinal Mortati realizes that this means that the Camerlengo killed the Pope.
The Camerlengo replies that the Pope was a “vile liar” and tells everyone that the Pope had a son, and that therefore he had broken his vow of chastity. Mortati replies that although the Pope had fallen in love with a woman, he did not break any vows since the child was born thanks to artificial insemination. Then Mortati reveals to him that the son of the Pope is none other than Camerlengo Carlo Ventresca. Shocked by the dire implications of this, the Camerlengo escapes and is later cremated on the main balcony. Then his ashes are gathered by Mortati and placed next to the Pope’s sarcophagus.
Cardinal Mortati is considered eligible and is voted Pope. Astonishingly British reporters reveal that two Popes have been elected that night; according to the old laws if the cardinals and other servants of the Church shouted the name of the person at the same time and spontaneously, the person is eligible. When the cardinals shouted the name of the chamberlain, they were inadvertently choosing him as Supreme Pontiff (there is debate as to whether the end of the story is ethical or not, since the chamberlain got what he wanted). Langdon and Vittoria stay at the Hotel Bernini . Lieutenant Chartrand hands Langdon a letter and package from the new Pope. The package is the Illuminati Diamond brand which is loaned indefinitely to Langdon.
Places that are mentioned
The book fables about the Altars of Science in Rome. Composed of four places that represent the four classical elements and that form the Path of Enlightenment that lead to the Illuminati hideout. According to the book, the altars were hidden as religious art to go unnoticed by the Church. The pieces that made up the altars were sculpted by Gianlorenzo Bernini . Although the book is not very clear about the meeting place, it follows that it is the famous Castel Sant’Angelo . The list of works is:
- Land: Habbakuk and the Angel in the Chigi Chapel of Santa María del Popolo
- Air: West Ponente in St. Peter’s Square .
- Fire: The Ecstasy of Santa Teresa in the Cornaro Chapel of the church of Santa María della Vittoria .
- Water: The Fountain of the Four Rivers in Piazza Navona .
Taken to the movies
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Angels and demons , 2009 film.
Angels and demons is a film that premiered in the United States and Spain in 2009, based on the novel of the same name from 2000, whose author is Dan Brown .
Director Ron Howard , who directed The Da Vinci Code , also adapted from a Brown book, released the long-awaited film version in May 2009 to great success. It starred Tom Hanks , who was the protagonist of the film version of The Da Vinci Code , which is the second book in the saga (2003), written after Angels and Demons (2000
