Origin
by Dan Brown
★ Top 25 book of 2017 · #20 on Best Books of 2017
Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon attends a tech magnate's promised scientific revelation in Bilbao, only to see the event shattered. Hunted, he and the museum director race to Barcelona, chasing symbols and a password that may expose a buried truth.
Best for: Readers who enjoy fast-paced puzzle chases through art, symbols, and hidden history
Origin is #20 on BookWard's Best Books of 2017, out of 73 2017 books that cleared our data bar.
What Origin is about
Robert Langdon, the symbologist from Dan Brown's earlier novels, is invited to a spectacular event in Bilbao by Edmond Kirsch, a former student who has grown into a billionaire futurist and outspoken atheist. Kirsch has told religious leaders that he has found something that could shake belief itself, and he plans to share it with a crowd at the Guggenheim Museum. Guests wear headsets connected to Winston, an artificial intelligence Kirsch built, and the evening is meant to answer two old questions: where we come from, and where we are going.
The night does not go to plan. Kirsch is shot before he can show his discovery, and Langdon teams up with Ambra Vidal, the museum's curator and the fiancée of Spain's future king. Their search leads to a 47-digit password hidden in a favorite line of poetry. The fifth Langdon story, following Inferno, it turns science against faith and asks who gets to control what we know.
Origin on the Best Books of 2017
Origin came out in 2017. Of the 73 books first published in 2017 that met BookWard's data bar, it ranks #20 on our Best Books of 2017 list.
Why it made the list: 650 readers have shelved it on Open Library; readers rate it 3.7 out of 5 (46 ratings); 45 are reading it right now. The list ranks each year’s books on how many readers have picked them up, how highly readers rate them, and how many are reading them right now.
It earns Being read right now.
Nearby on the 2017 list
- Pachinko Min Jin Lee, #18
- Behave Robert M. Sapolsky, #19
- Unfuck Your Brain Faith G. Harper, #21
- Tower of Dawn Sarah J. Maas, #22
See all Best Books of 2017 Best books by year
More years: Best Books of 2016 Best Books of 2018.
The numbers behind it
- Readers: 530 want to read it, 45 are reading it now and 74 have read it, according to Open Library.
- Ratings: 3.7 out of 5 from 46 Open Library ratings.
| Signal | This book (0 to 100) | Weight |
|---|---|---|
| Reach | 85 | 55% |
| Reader love | 12 | 25% |
| Being read right now | 93 | 20% |
Questions about Origin
When was Origin published?
Origin by Dan Brown was first published in 2017.
Was Origin one of the best books of 2017?
Origin is #20 on BookWard's Best Books of 2017, out of 73 2017 books that cleared our data bar. 650 readers have shelved it on Open Library; readers rate it 3.7 out of 5 (46 ratings); 45 are reading it right now.
Why is Origin on the Best Books of 2017 list?
650 readers have shelved it on Open Library; readers rate it 3.7 out of 5 (46 ratings); 45 are reading it right now.
More of the best books of 2017
- The Hate U Give Angie Thomas, #1
- The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo Taylor Jenkins Reid, #2
- A Court of Wings and Ruin Sarah J. Maas, #3
- One of Us Is Lying Karen M. McManus, #4
- The Dark Prophecy Rick Riordan, #5
- Why We Sleep Matthew P. Walker, #6
See the full Best Books of 2017, the Top 100, or new books on Rising.
How we know
This page uses public data: Open Library reader counts and ratings, and Wikipedia page views for recent years. The description is paraphrased from real source text. Rankings reflect reading interest, not quality or sales, and can be affected by data gaps. Lists update monthly.
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