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Revision as of 03:27, 5 January 2006 by Jjjjjjjjjj (talk | contribs)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)The Solomon Key is an unreleased novel written by author Dan Brown that will be released sometime in 2006. This will be the third book involving American professor Robert Langdon and will take place after the events of Angels and Demons and The Da Vinci Code.
(An interesting note:
a 1998 online novel, The Key Of Solomon by Howard Clarke, focuses on rare book collecting and its murky ties to the occult world. A rare book dealer and a U.S. Attorney special investigator join forces to find the legendary Key before it can fall into the hands of a modern day sorcerer.)
Likely content
There have been a number of educated guesses regarding the likely content of The Solomon Key. While Dan Brown has offered some hints in interviews, in large part most ideas to the likely content of the upcoming book come from an interesting marketing strategy used by Brown and his publishers. On the original jacket cover of The Da Vinci Code were a number of ciphers and symbols, the meaning of which was made clear when a web quest was posted on Dan Brown's website which 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 certainly play a part in the novel:
- The 'secret society' known as Freemasonry
- The Masonic connections of the Founding Fathers
- The esoteric architecture of Washington, D.C.
Esotric architecture of Washington, DC was first discussed in 1990 in the book Talisman of the United States by Charles Westbrook. ISBN: 0962655406 The novel The Kabalyon Key due in 2006 will also cover the topic in detail.
Author Greg Taylor, in his book The Guide to Dan Brown's The Solomon Key, says that it seems likely - based on Brown's track record - that the book will reference controversial subjects such as the non-Christian viewpoints of the Founding Fathers, and the fact that the most recent U.S. Presidential election was a choice between two members of the quasi-Masonic secret society, Skull and Bones.
Further research into the ciphers left on the dust jacket of The Da Vinci Code, and also into Brown's previous sources of information, suggest that the following are also possible plot devices in The Solomon Key:
- The Kryptos statue in the complex of the Central Intelligence Agency in Langley, Virginia (the web quest mentions it by name)
- 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 (see here).
- The Great Seal of the United States, which contains the alleged 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 (David Shugarts, author of Secrets of the Widow's Son, made this connection after hearing Brown mention that he may include a certain super-secretive government department in his next novel).
A HISTORICAL VIEW ABOUT THE KEY OF SOLOMON
If an actual "Key" had been written, it was by King Solomon in an ancient form of Hebrew, and likely upon vellum--or sheepskin. To survive the many centuries since, the delicate scroll would have had to have been carefully stored and hidden from the ravages of time and man's handling. One safe place--perhaps the only--would have been the Vatican Library.
"Once deemed the wisest man on Earth, King Solomon was influenced by his many wives--women who worshipped pagan deities and practiced the dark arts of the occult. The once mighty king succumbed to the influence of his wives and ended his days as the fading shadow of his former glory.
But before he passed from this life, Solomon The Wise documented all he had learned. He methodically categorized every creeping, flying, and walking thing of the world. And some things not of this world...
Some say Solomon, in his extreme folly, even dared to record how one might summon not just demons or even Lucifer, but the very angels of Heaven. Even summon the Creator Himself." --from the Preface, The Key Of Solomon, Howard Clarke, 1998.
Sources
New Hampshire Union Leader ("His next novel will be about the freemasons.")