The Lost Symbol
 | This article possibly contains unsourced predictions, speculative material, or accounts of events that might not occur. Information must be verifiable and based on reliable published sources. |
| Author | Dan Brown |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Genre | Thriller, Crime, Mystery novel |
Publication date | 2008[1] (USA) |
| Publication place | United States |
| Pages | 309 [2] |
| ISBN | [[Special:BookSources/978-0593054277+%7F%27%22%60UNIQ--ref-00000004-QINU%60%22%27%7F |978-0593054277 [3]]] Parameter error in {{ISBNT}}: invalid character |
| Preceded by | The Da Vinci Code |
The Solomon Key is the working title of an unreleased novel currently being worked on by Dan Brown, the accomplished author of several conspiracy novels, most prominently Angels & Demons and the Da Vinci Code. [4] According to current information, The Solomon Key will be the third book involving Robert Langdon, the fictional Harvard University professor. The novel is expected to be released on December 30, 2008. [citation needed]
Likely content
There have been a number of educated guesses regarding the content of The Solomon Key.
Dan Brown's official website states that Solomon Key is the sequel of The Da Vinci Code. We can know by reading chapter 37 of The Da Vinci Code, The Solomon's Key is all about hidden documents buried beneath the ruins of Herod's Temple, which had been built atop the earlier ruins ofSolomon's Temple. These documents are very powerful, and were so explosive in nature that the church would stop at nothing to get them. The Priory of Sion was charged with recovering the hidden documents and protecting them forever. To retrieve them, the Priory created a military arm, a group of nine knights called The Order of Poor Knights of Christ and the Temple of Solomon. They are commonly known as The Knights Templar. The Solomon key is purportedly all about hidden documents and The Knights Templar.
While Dan Brown has offered some hints in interviews, most ideas of the likely content of the book come from a marketing strategy used by Brown and his publishers. On the original jacket cover of The DaVinci Code were a number of ciphers and symbols. Their meaning was made clear when a web quest was posted on Dan Brown's website that referenced these clues. This competition made clear that the ciphers referenced the content of the next book from Dan Brown:
- "Disguised on the jacket of The Da Vinci Code, numerous encrypted messages hint at the subject matter of Dan Brown's next book"
From these clues, it seems that the following will play a part in the novel:
- The fraternity that is known as Freemasonry[5]
- The Masonic membership of 20 of the 56 Founding Fathers
- The semi-esoteric architecture of Washington, D.C.
- Solomon Kullback, a famous NSA cryptographer
- Robert Langdon as the protagonist
It is reported that the book will reference controversial subjects such as the deist viewpoints of some of the Founding Fathers and the Skull and Bones secret society.[6] KSL-TV in Salt Lake City ran a story that in 2004, Dan Brown visited Salt Lake's Temple Square and seemed very interested in the Masonic nature of the symbols carved on the outside of the Latter Day Saints (LDS) Temple. While claimed to be linked, this unofficial relationship, among others, between Freemasonry and Mormonism may play a role in The Solomon Key.
Further research into the ciphers left on the dust jacket of The Da Vinci Code and into Brown's previous sources of information suggest that the following are also possible plot devices in The Solomon Key:
- The Kryptos sculpture in the complex of the Central Intelligence Agency in Langley, Virginia (the web quest mentions it by name)[7]
- The Mona Lisa's "right eye" (oeil droit in the web quest), possibly mixed with esoteric connections to the Eye of Horus (udjat) and the portrayal of George Washington on the U.S. dollar bill.[8]
- The Great Seal of the United States, which some claim contains the Illuminati symbol of an eye above an unfinished pyramid.
- The Information Awareness Office, which has as part of its logo the eye and pyramid mentioned above.[9]
- The House of the Temple, a masonic temple in Washington, D.C.[10]
- The Society of the Cincinnati, a group formed by officers of the American Revolution who idolized Cincinnatus which (to the alarm of Thomas Jefferson) mutated into a hereditary support system for families of the society. At the time, it was widely criticized as a way of setting up a hereditary nobility in America.
- It is rumored that both Vittoria Vetra and Sophie Neveu will appear in this third novel.[citation needed]
See also
- Key of Solomon, a "white magic" grimoire attributed to King Solomon's wive's pagan religious traditions (see 1 Kings, chapter 11).
- Haym Solomon, close friend of George Washington, member of the Sons of Liberty, and major financier of the American Revolutionary War, may have been involved in the design of The Great Seal of the United States, which contains the Eye of Providence and other symbols mentioned in Brown's books.
- Freemasonry and the Latter Day Saint movement
Footnotes
- ^ Rushton, Katherine (2007-05-18). "New Brown unlikely this year". BookSeller.com. Retrieved 2007-08-08.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ Amazon.com: Solomon Key: Books: Dan Brown
- ^ Amazon.com: Solomon Key: Books: Dan Brown
- ^ Shelton, Chuck (2006-04-21). "Just Re-Read 'The Da Vinci Code': Dan Brown's Follow-Up Novel Delayed a Year". The Book Standard. Retrieved 2006-08-28.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ "Delays to latest Dan Brown novel". BBC News. 2006-04-21. Retrieved 2006-08-28.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ The Guide to Dan Brown's The Solomon Key
- ^ UK's The Guardian, June 11, 2005, "Interest grows in solving cryptic CIA puzzle after link to Da Vinci Code"
- ^ Dan Brown - The Udjat and The Solomon Key | The Cryptex - News on Dan Brown, The Da Vinci Code and The Solomon Key
- ^ Secrets of the Widow's Son: The Mysteries Surrounding the Sequel to The Da Vinci Code[1]
- ^ Some educated guesses about the Masonic content of Dan Brown's new novel - US News and World Report
References
- Washington Post, November 1, 2005, "The man who's riding Dan Brown's 'code' tails"