海角大神

Talk about blazing hot.

We鈥檙e not just talking about Dan Brown鈥檚 forthcoming novel, 鈥淚nferno,鈥� the author鈥檚 fourth and highly anticipated book in the Robert Langdon series 鈥� we鈥檙e also talking about its sales, which are expected to be smoldering.聽

鈥淚nferno鈥� hits shelves in the US and UK Tuesday and booksellers, many of which enjoyed brisk sales from Brown鈥檚 previous three novels in the series, are bracing for blockbuster sales.

鈥淭his should be the fastest and biggest selling novel of the year 鈥� it's hard to see how anything could beat it,鈥� said Chris White, a fiction buyer for the UK鈥檚 Waterstones chain, according to media reports. 鈥淚t'll be a huge hit now and throughout the summer, then see another peak at Christmas. It could well be No 1 on 25th December.鈥�

If Brown鈥檚 previous novel sales are any indication, that鈥檚 not hyperbole.

Since its 2003 publication, the 鈥淒a Vinci Code,鈥� the second novel in the Robert Langdon series, has sold 80 million copies, spent more than a year atop the New York Times bestseller list, and was made into a hit movie starring Tom Hanks. 鈥淭he Lost Symbol,鈥� Brown鈥檚 most recent work, sold more than half a million copies in its first week on sale in 2009.

Though it hasn鈥檛 yet been released as of Monday, 鈥淚nferno鈥� is already No. 1 on Amazon鈥檚 Best Sellers list. Its hardback and Kindle editions are also in first and second place on its preorder chart. UK bookseller Waterstones told the Guardian that 鈥淚nferno鈥� received the largest level of customer pre-orders since JK Rowling鈥檚 鈥淭he Casual Vacancy.鈥�

(And, as the UK鈥檚 Independent pointed out, 鈥淚t has already had the honor of dragging its Medieval namesake, the 14th-century Italian poem by Dante Alighieri, to the top of Waterstones鈥� poetry bestseller list 鈥� whether because people are interested in the new novel鈥檚 origin, or by mistake it is not clear.鈥�)

All this in spite of minimal information about the actual book, much of which has remained a secret.

What we know: The book again stars Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon as he takes 鈥渁 journey deep into [the] mysterious realm鈥� of Dante鈥檚 Inferno in Florence, according to the sole interview Brown gave to the UK鈥檚 Sunday Times ahead of the novel鈥檚 publication. He also promised this would be 鈥渢he darkest novel yet.鈥澛�

The subject, Brown told the Sunday Times, 鈥渋s so vibrant and so horrifying that it does a lot of the work for me. I'm not writing about the masons and ancient histories, which is kind of ethereal. I'm writing about Dante's vision of hell.

鈥淚t wasn't until the 1300s and this version of Inferno that it became terrifying. Dante has had enormous influence on the 海角大神 view of hell.鈥澛�

Which, apparently, spurs sizzling sales in the 2010s.

Husna Haq is a Monitor correspondent.