Dan Brown not averse to book with India setting

Bestselling author Dan Brown is not averse to the idea of setting one of his future novels in India saying he is fascinated greatly by the country but needs to "learn much more" about it before firming up a plan.

"Certainly I would love to (base a book in India). I am fascinated by the culture and the people besides the architecture here. I would need to learn much much more before I make any plan. But it does interest me greatly," said the "The Da Vinci Code" author in an interview with PTI.

"Robert Langdon is a specialist in Christian art. So bringing him to India suddenly will be like bringing a fish out of water," said Brown who is currently in India.Globetrotting professor Langdon is a character Brown has created for his novels.

Brown, whose novels are published in 52 languages around the world with 200 million copies in print, is also impressed by the reading habits of Indians.

"There is this enormous enthusiasm and passion for knowledge, for reading. The level of English here is amazing," he said. He terms the Indian book market as vibrant and growing.

"The Indian book market is expanding and this is good news for writers. The quantity of books sold here is enormous. But piracy is a big problem." Brown has also started reading Indian history which he says is incredibly long.

"I also love the architecture. It is very very different from the Arab and the Western world. There is also a passion for geometry. The domes are an excellent example," he said.

The author of several popular works of fiction, however, said he almost reads no fiction.

"I read almost exclusively non-fiction – history, philosophy, religion, science. So I don't follow fiction of really any country which is something strange for a fiction writer," he said.

Presently he is reading theoretical physicist and renowned futurist Michio Kaku's latest book "The Future of the Mind". This is Brown's second visit to India. He came to India in 1983 as part of a singing group.

"It was a very classical singing group. We travelled for three months and went to 13 different countries and India was one of them. We sang in Delhi and Bombay," he recalled about his visit.

The author of novels like "Angels & Demons", "The Lost Symbol", "Inferno", "Digital Fortress" and "Deception Point" also hopes to come back to India soon.

During this visit, he delivered the eighth Penguin Annual Lecture where he spoke on codes, science and religion. He also participated at the Sharjah International Book Fair last week.

Brown does not give any time frame as to when his next book would hit the stands saying, "I have learned not to predict. Some take two years, some six years. I wish they come faster."

After "The Da Vinci Code" in 2003, his next "The Lost Symbol" came out six years later and then "Inferno" in 2013. He is also excited about the film version of "Inferno". "It's great. The script is good and it's going to be terrific."

Son of a mathematics teacher and a church organist, Brown was raised on a prep school campus where he developed a fascination with the paradoxical interplay between science and religion. These themes eventually formed the backdrop for his books.

He is a graduate of Amherst College and Phillips Exeter Academy, where he later returned to teach English before focusing his attention full time to writing.

In 2005, Brown was named one of the 100 Most Influential People in the World by TIME magazine, whose editors credited him with "keeping the publishing industry afloat; renewed interest in Leonardo da Vinci and early Christian history; spiking tourism to Paris and Rome; a growing membership in secret societies; the ire of Cardinals in Rome; eight books denying the claims of the novel and seven guides to read along with it; a flood of historical thrillers; and a major motion picture franchise".