To paraphrase  Dante Alighieri: abandon all hope, ye who read this novel. While Dan Brown is capable of writing a strong book, this isn’t one of them. I thought The Da Vinci Code was terrific, but Brown’s latest novel is marred by garrulous writing and repetitive dialogue. It’s also overflowing with unnecessary historical facts that do nothing but distract the reader from the sloppy narrative. The worst offense is the author’s explanation for Robert Landon’s amnesia. It’s so laughably bad that it makes the first two thirds of the book seem superfluous. Inferno’s only redeeming quality is the villain’s fascination with overpopulation and transhumanism; these topics are discussed at length and are fascinating. Unfortunately, you have to trudge through a swamp of mediocrity to get to them. While I enjoy Dan Brown’s work, Inferno was largely disappointing and I can’t recommend it. I only hope that Robert Langdon’s next adventure is one worth taking.