2006 Year in Review: Angels and Demons

First off, I figure I'd better explain the title of this post. I read "Angels & Demons" by Dan Brown about a year and a half ago, so this is not a literary review of a book I recently read. For that matter, it actually has nothing to do with angels or demons or anything remotely having anything to do with heaven or hell. No, it has to do with comparing my year to that book.

Ok, here's a little more of an explanation. When I read "Angels & Demons" I'll admit I thoroughly enjoyed it. I thought the plot was interesting (probably even better than "DaVinci Code") and it kept my attention for the most part. That's the problem, it was only for the most part. In my opinion, the ending was, well, terrible. As a result, a book that I really enjoyed and looked forward to reading, was ruined by a bad ending. Instead of having a satisfied feeling after the completion, I was left with a bad taste in my mouth. It's kind of like finding out who the murderer is halfway through a mystery. No matter what else happens, the feeling of dissatisfaction drowns everything else out and forever frames your opinion.

And that in a nutshell was 2006 for me. The vast majority of the year was a well-written, intricately-plotted, engrossing story that held my attention and left me excited about the next chapter and looking forward to the dramatic and satisfying climax. Then, unfortunately, I encountered the "Angels & Demons" Effect. I was suddenly faced with a really bad ending that made it impossible to look back on the rest of the story with anything but contempt for what might have been.

Fortunately, "Angels & Demons" is going to be made into a movie following the success of "The DaVinci Code." So there is still a chance for it's story and unfulfilling ending to be tweaked and improved. As a matter of fact, the story is going to have to be tweaked as it was announced that it is going to follow the events of "DaVinci Code" chronologically instead of preceding them as it was written. Maybe the ending will be updated and improved after all. Unfortunately, a year can't be rewritten or tweaked to shoehorn it better into events chronologically.

But, as the end of this year and the beginning of a new one approaches, the chance arises to create a brand-new story - one that doesn't require any tweaking. I know it's a cliche, but the coming year is like a blank piece of paper. The good news is that I have the opportunity to craft something entirely new. I can dictate how the plot unfolds. Hopefully, I'll also be able to create for myself a better ending too.