Variety has reported that Columbia Pictures is moving forward with plans for a movie version of Dan Brown's most recent book, The Lost Symbol. Brian Grazer and Ron Howard will once again produce (returning from The Da Vinci Code and Angels and Demons), although it's not known yet if Howard will also direct. Tom Hanks is expected to reprise his role as Robert Langdon.

In an amusing coincidence, Columbia have signed screenwriter Steven Knight to adapt to the book for film (Akiva Goldsmith penned the two previous adaptations). With Brown's book bringing positive press to the Masonic fraternity, some readers might remember that it was the late British author Stephen Knight (no relation, as far as I know) and his book The Brotherhood which instigated a major scare campaign against Freemasonry in the 1980s....

To view this article in its original typeset format, you can download a PDF version of it, which is a free download of Appendix 1 from The Guide to Dan Brown's The Lost Symbol (just $9.95 on Amazon.com). The Guide takes you deeper into the hidden history of the United States, Freemasonry, Noetic Science, and other topics that Dan Brown wrote about in his latest bestseller. Check out the Guide now, to get a better understanding of the fascinating revelations in The Lost Symbol. Available from Amazon US, Amazon UK, or as a Kindle eBook.

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In late 2003 it was pointed out to me that the dust cover of Dan Brown’s The Da Vinci Code contained a number of curious ‘anomalies’: map co-ordinates in ‘mirror writing’, bolded letters hiding odd messages, and more. The reason for these strange inclusions became clear when Dan Brown announced in an interview that clues about the sequel to The Da Vinci Code were hidden on the cover of the bestselling book. By solving these puzzles and ciphers – and being conversant with many of the topics and resources Brown was likely to use in writing the sequel, I was able to write a complete primer on the as-yet unpublished book in late 2004 (the progenitor of this book you are holding now). In this very early ‘guide’ to the contents of The Lost Symbol – originally titled (and self-published) as Da Vinci In America – I gave background information on many of the topics that I surmised would be in the new book: Francis Bacon and the transmission of Rosicrucian philosophies, the history of Freemasonry, how ‘the Craft’ influenced America’s Founding Fathers, and the esoteric landscape of Washington, D.C. (including such exotic locales as the Scottish Rite’s “House of the Temple”).

When the cover artwork for The Lost Symbol was released in July 2009 I received the first confirmation that my research was on the right track. Though only the front cover and spine design was released prior to publication, it was enough to show that various locations in the American capital which I had written about were important to the new book.

A little help in visualising an early scene in The Lost Symbol: here's the rotunda of the U.S. Capitol in all its glory. The photo was taken during a memorial service for former President Gerald Ford in 2006 (and is in the public domain). Click for a huge version (2000px by 3000px):

Though it hardly needs pointing out, Brumidi's Apotheosis of Washington dominates the upper half of the image. Awe-inspiring setting really.

Before The Lost Symbol was released I wrote an article pointing out the codes on the front cover and spine, and a few of the possible solutions. I've been meaning to update it for a while, but the easiest way is probably just to provide a PDF file of the Appendix 1 from The Guide to The Lost Symbol, in which I give all the codes (so far recognised) and their solutions. So, here it is!

Remember you can buy the complete guide from Amazon US for just $9.95, or if you're on the other side of the pond, from Amazon UK for £7.99 (mad prices, I know). If you're really cheap, or on the cutting-edge of technology (or both), you can instead grab the Kindle version for just $5.99! Either way, I appreciate your interest!

Update 19th Dec, 2009: I've just posted a HTML version of the article as well.

Last week the New York Times featured a crossword puzzle based on The Lost Symbol. You can now download that crossword as a PDF from the official Lost Symbol website. Test your knowledge of the book, and have some fun in the process - it's a good challenge. Thanks to Bill Gates for the heads-up.

Boing Boing recently featured an article on Dan Brown from Arthur Goldway, author of Cults, Conspiracies, and Secret Societies:

No one has ever accused Dan Brown of being a literary stylist; he's too easy to parody. His narrators natter on like chatty tour guides, bludgeoning us with trivia and heavy-handed exposition. His hero Robert Langdon seems to suffer from a testosterone deficiency; his celibate bad guys, with their bulging muscles and self-mortified flesh, are creepily fetishized. But ANGELS AND DEMONS, THE DA VINCI CODE, and now THE LOST SYMBOL do more than merely lead their legions of readers on merry chases; they exhort them to reconsider their world view. Though the answers he provides may be trivial and sometimes historically inaccurate, the questions Brown asks us to consider are worth pondering. Does the church misrepresent Christianity? Is history filled with mysteries and intrigues that mainstream chronicles elide? Are science and religion converging?

Brown earnestly wants us to expand our view of human potential, to open ourselves up to a whole new paradigm--one that is more capacious and filled with possibilities than either secular scientism or the traditional Judeo-Christian world view.

Some criticism in there mixed up with fascinating discussion about a number of the topics covered in The Lost Symbol. Intelligent stuff for the most part, and worth a read.

For those trying to visualize Dan Brown's route around Washington, D.C. in The Lost Symbol, here's a handy little map to show you where everything is at a glance. Click for a larger version (approx. 500kb):

Due to the scale of the map, a few of the less important landmarks aren't included. Perhaps might be worth assembling a set of Google Earth/Maps co-ordinates as well for those that want to fly about the city - feel free to post any location co-ordinates you may have yourself.

Again, apologies for not being able to post too much lately. Here's a selection of Dan Brown-related links that are worth checking out:

• The Washington Post has a very cool interactive map of the D.C. locations featured in The Lost Symbol.
• The Lost Symbol tipped to top the Christmas charts. That's as long as he can hold off Sarah Palin.
• Maureen Dowd at the New York Times suggests that DB is afraid of the Freemasons.
• Entertainment Weekly offers up some new insights into Dan the man, including that he has "refrigerator boxes filled with manuscripts all taped up in the basement."
• Inspired by TLS, Politico has gone in search of Capitol Hill's Freemasons.
• PBS has another Dan Brown/TLS-related feature.
• Time Magazine reviews The Lost Symbol.
• CultureMob walks the sites and secrets of TLS.

Almost cleared my schedule, so hopefully I'll be around more in coming weeks.

For those that participated in the Symbol Quest competition by phoning in to the coded phone number hidden on the cover of The Lost Symbol - prizes are apparently now being sent out. Here's a note from commenter 'Steve G':

I came home from work this evening and found a package from Doubleday waiting for me. In it was a signed copy of The Lost Symbol with a note saying, "Congratulations! You are 1 of 33 winners of Symbol Quest."

...For those who may be wondering, I sent the e-mail in to Random House on September 14 at +/- 8:20 pm EDT.

Congrats to Steve, great to see a reader got in early enough! Given that Steve phoned a few hours before The Lost Symbol was published, I hope the rest of you hopefuls got in super early. (If you're wondering how the phone number was solved before publication, view the comments to the Symbol Quest story - or wait a few days, when I'll finally have time to post a comprehensive look at the cover codes).

An 'old' piece of news that might be worth mentioning: a few years ago I profiled the Institute of Noetic Science, and interviewed Senior Researcher at IONS, Dr Dean Radin, in a free PDF magazine known as Sub Rosa (Issue 5). Readers wanting to learn more about IONS and their research might like to check it out - note that the same issue also features an article from Clive Prince and Lynn Picknett on the Rennes-le-Chateau mystery, so it's basically a Dan Brown-themed issue now, between the Priory of Sion material in The Da Vinci Code and the inclusion of IONS in The Lost Symbol...