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I read Angels and Demons after reading The Da Vinci Code. It was a better book than Da Vinci, but I have an inkling this will not translate to the movie version simply because the is trying to build on Da Vinci whereas A&D the book was at the time it was written its own story.
Some have suggested the reason A&D is better (and that does seem to be the consensus among many critics, which is odd since I so often disagree with critic consensus) is that Brown wasn't trying so ever-loving hard to create that "best selling page turner" motif that is so evident in Da Vinci. The Da Vinci Code is pure marketing from the very first words claiming the entire thing is based on historical fact. I don't think it's bad; it's mind candy, which is fine, and I enjoy mind candy from time to time. But, A&D had a bit more thoughtfulness in it.
Others have quipped that Brown was a better writer in the beginning. I can attest that this is false. I read another of his earlier books (something about code breaking, the NSA, etc., but I can't remember the name of it), and it was a heaping pile. Just awful. It had gaping plot holes by page 2.
I though the Da Vinci Code movie was fun, not great art, but a way to waste an afternoon without much regret. A&D will probably be more of the same.
Where it will fail is among those who want to take it too seriously, either because they like the conspiracy angle or because they want to tear it down. It's fiction. The only reason Brown suggested otherwise with the Da Vinci book is, imo, because it was a controversial statement that by itself sold a lot of books.
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