Inferno is a 2013 mystery-thriller novel by Dan Brown and the fourth in the Robert Langdon series. Dan Brown has slowly been associated with a genre of fiction with elements of whodunit, extensive historical trivia, and a life-threatening chase that has Robert Langdon running helter-skelter looking for clues of a puzzle only he can solve.
Like his previous works, ‘Angels and Demons’, ‘The Da Vinci Code’, and ‘The Lost Symbol’, ‘Inferno’ has a simplistic plot structure. Robert Langdon is being chased in a man-hunt. He finds a beautiful woman during his chase, who accompanies him as he solves clues spread over a wide area, usually in exotic foreign locations, to find the reason or the perpetrator who is doing this. A man he adores and respects is dead, who holds the key to a great secret. He is usually accompanied by a man whom he trusts, but who betrays him and is wary of a man who is trying to help him. Along the journey, there is a lot of trivia, conspiracy theories, and simplistic but convenient plot twists.
Given that Robert is a professor at Harvard, of religious symbology and iconography, a fictional subject, but one that amasses great respect in all circles, and is quite popular. The female characters are super-brainy but are required to fulfill the usual character tropes. They all end up having feelings for Robert Langdon. However, Inferno is an exception in this regard. The main female lead, Sienna Brooks, is revealed to be the person who betrays Langdon and is romantically involved with the dead antagonist.
Another exception comes in the resolution of the book, where the deadly virus, that everyone was trying to protect the world from, is released. So, Langdon fails, but everyone then realizes that the virus is a ‘good’ virus. It won’t kill anyone but will make sure that only a third of the population can reproduce. The resolution, which is the opposite of what the protagonists want, is far too convenient and somehow becomes acceptable.
