But "Inferno" picks three of the world's most strategically significant, antiquity-rich cities as its settings, and Langdon makes a splendid tour guide and art critic throughout.
The Met, as it has so often in the last 103 years, returned to the scene of the crime on Friday night, bringing with it a cast of improbable depth and eminence, splendid orchestral playing guided by Peter Schneider and chilled and misty forest settings designed by Otto Schenk.
Bata, our guide, arrives in a splendid brown and gold robe and a suede cowboy hat.
A splendid text for beginners and journeymen is Dick Talleur's "Guide to Fly Tying" (Stackpole, 208 pages, hardbound, $49.95).
Perhaps the AA could bring back its splendid Pilot service, whereby members could request professional assistance to guide them through the capital: the 20th-century predecessor to sat-nav, with the personal touch.
The first edition of the homosexual Baedeker, "The Gay Girl's Guide," published in 1949, called the chapter on Momma "splendid".
There is, too, a splendid cameo performance by Rolley Mintuma as an Aboriginal elder who guided and befriended Ms. Davidson on one of the most hazardous parts of her journey.
As we enjoyed the mist that sprayed off the thundering falls, our guide got to work cutting down banana leaves, laying them out as tablecloths and unpacking a splendid meal of cooked aubergine, fresh salad and omelettes.
