Cult of Dan Brown: Plot Of The Solomon Key

In overall structure and formula, probably. But when it comes to the subject matter, he's got to stir up some sort of controversy, otherwise he'll never get another multi-million-dollar advance and his agent will stop answering the phone

It's the curse of the bestseller--Brown's books prior to The DaVinci Code were passable thrillers suitable for made-for-TV movies of the week, but none of them got any serious attention until The DaVinci Code left people looking for other books he'd written. The DaVinci Code has been his one and only real success (in spite of the fact that Angels & Demons is a much better book). Given that all of his books come out of the same cookie-cutter, what distinguished The DaVinci Code and made it a breakout success? The subject matter.

Brown struck a cultural nerve with The DaVinci Code, tapping into widespread skepticism about the Catholic Church and its relevance to the modern world. But in so doing, he scored a double-play by outraging those who hold strong religious beliefs, thus creating the controversy that got everyone talking about the book. Whether you were for or against Brown's thesis, you knew about the book, and you likely had an opinion. Reading the book gave you an opportunity to either affirm your skeptical position or feel victimized at a profound level.

Now, having gotten extremely lucky with The DaVinci Code, Brown has got to be understandably nervous about The Solomon Key. It's really the one and only shot he's got at establishing himself and demonstrating that The DaVinci Code was not the fluke that it seems when reviewed alongside his past works. While his formula won't likely change much, he's got to choose his subject matter to be at least as controversial as what he chose for The DaVinci Code, otherwise the book will be a great disappointment for everyone (but our resident curmudgeon Dazzle, of course, who naturally expects the worst

).

To be controversial, Brown has to find some large group of people to offend. It's not enough to write something "interesting" and "fascinating" based on some historical tidbits, he has to find subject matter that people care about, either pro or con. Religion was an easy target for The DaVinci Code--nothing gets people stirred up more than having their faith challenged, or conversely getting the opportunity to tell your holier-than-thou friends and relatives that they've based their beliefs on a pack of lies. It's hard to imagine that anything regarding the Freemasons, the Illuminati, or secret societies within the U.S. government could capture the same amount of emotional investment. Where's the controversy? Where's the mass offense? At best I can picture a mass protest by a bunch of fez-wearing Shriners on tricycles circling the Washington Monument, protesting the "wild inaccuracies" of Brown's latest book. Masons will doubtless publish a dozen books debunking The Solomon Code's thesis (whatever it is). But how and where does the subject matter touch the lives of the average reader? Unless you're a Mason or an Illuminatus, this is unlikely to be as "personal" an emotional investment as The DaVinci Code was.

If he's smart, then, Brown will stick to the thing he did right with The DaVinci Code--he'll continue pissing on matters of faith, in order to ensure that his core audience stays with him (no matter which side they were on before). The level of outrage needs to be at least as high for the sequel, so unless Jesus turns out to have been a rapist, or Mohammed turns out to have been Jesus' direct descendant, or some other key article of faith gets overturned, it ain't gonna work. Now, he may choose to capitalize on Middle East turmoil to say something controversial, though he may (or may not) stop short of having himself branded an anti-Semite by picking on Jews. The danger is that in that part of the world, a "controversial" book can and does get people killed, and can start wars--they take their religion seriously in places where there's no separation of religion and state. Hell, Salman Rushdie had a fatwah put upon him for writing a mildly satirical book about Islam; it's not hard to imagine the death squads Brown would have after him if he stirred that pot too vigorously.

What EVDebs brought up about this whole business of a "Third Temple" does have the potential to generate outrage and controversy, and it should offend a sufficiently large audience to ensure very nice book sales. That's probably a very reasonable choice for the heart of his subject matter for The Solomon Key, as it stands to interest Christians, Muslims, and Jews, with enough offense and gall to get all three--and of course that all-important atheist "you believers are so stupid" market--snapping up copies.

Or maybe I'm just a cynic

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