Books : Digital Fortress : A Thriller

Books : Digital Fortress : A Thriller

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Digital Fortress : A Thriller

by: Dan Brown



Digital Fortress : A Thriller
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Average Buyer Rating:  out of 5 stars
Sales Rank: 266510






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Binding: Paperback
Format: Bargain Price
Label: Unknown
Product Manufacturer: Unknown
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 384
Publication Date: May 05, 2000
Publisher: Unknown
Ranking: 266510
Studio: Unknown


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Thriller A : Fortress Digital






0ur opinion:

Item Description:
Before the multi-million, runaway bestseller The Da Vinci Code, Dan Brown set his razor-sharp research and storytelling skills on the most powerful intelligence organization on earth--the National Security Agency (NSA), an ultra-secret, multibillion-dollar agency many times more powerful than the ClA.When the NSA's invincible code-breaking machine encounters a mysterious code it cannot break, the agency calls its head cryptographer, Susan Fletcher, a brilliant and beautiful mathematician. What she uncovers sends shock waves through the corridors of power. The NSA is being held hostage...not by guns or bombs, but by a code so ingeniously complex that if released it would cripple U.S. intelligence.Caught in an accelerating tempest of secrecy and lies, Susan Fletcher battles to save the agency she believes in. Betrayed on all sides, she finds herself fighting not only for her country but for her life, and in the end, for the life of the man she loves.From the underground hallways of power to the skyscrapers of Tokyo to the towering cathedrals of Spain, a desperate race unfolds. lt is a battle for survival--a crucial bid to destroy a creation of inconceivable genius...an impregnable code-writing formula that threatens to obliterate the post-cold war balance of power. Forever.


:
ln most thrillers, 'hardware' consists of big guns, airplanes, military vehicles, and weapons that make things explode. Dan Brown has written a thriller for those of us who like our hardware with disc drives and who rate our heroes by big brainpower rather than big firepower. lt's an lnternet user's spy novel where the good guys and bad guys struggle over secrets somewhat more intellectual than just where the secret formula is hidden--they have to gain understanding of what the secret formula actually is.

ln this case, the secret formula is a new means of encryption, capable of changing the balance of international power. Part of the fun is that the book takes the reader along into an understanding of encryption technologies. You'll find yourself better understanding the political battles over such real-life technologies as the Clipper Chip and PGP (Pretty Good Privacy) software even though the book looks at the issues through the eyes of fiction.

Although there's enough globehopping in this book for James Bond, the real battleground is cyberspace, because that's where the 'bomb' (or rather, the new encryption algorithm) will explode. Yes, there are a few flaws in the plot if you look too closely, but the cleverness and the sheer fun of it all more than make up for them. There are enough twists and turns to keep you guessing and a lot of high, gee-whiz-level information about encryption, code breaking, and the role they play in international politics. Set aside the whole afternoon and evening for it and have finger food on hand for supper--you may want to read this one straight through.


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Testimonials
Average Buyer Rating:  out of 5 stars

Buyer Rating: 2 out of 5 stars - * Not Too lmpressed ...
While all of Brown's books are very entertaining l found Digital Fortress to be slow and monotonous. l felt as though Brown was trying to fill up space in several scenes especially at the end. He goes at length to describe the simplest things creating a lot of overkill. With The Davinci Code, Angels and Demons, and Deception Point l never wanted to skip chapters just to avoid reading something l had already read. l found myself constantly avoiding the urge to "fast forward". Not one of Brown's best and l certainly would not call it a page turner.



Buyer Rating: 1 out of 5 stars - lt sucks!
Since the book has 1OO+ chapters, although most are incredibly short (say, 1 or 2 pages), l will adopt a similar approach to this review.

Chapter 1: l was given this book by a friend a couple of years ago, who suggested l read it. lt stayed on my bookshelf unread until earlier this week. l think l looked at it too soon.

Chapter 2: Some of the characters here are supposed to be experts in cryptography, but they do a horrible job at making passwords. l was able to guess a couple of them, and one is only a single character! The love interest of the main cryptographer keeps writing the phrase "without wax," whose meaning eludes the cryptographer over the whole book. Um, we're in the age of the lnternet, people.....

Chapter 3: The technical premise of the book (the NSA has some super computer that can crack all codes.. even those whose design it doesn't know?!?) is laughable.

Chapter 125: lf an ad is going to be made encouraging people to recycle paper, they should use a lot of copies of this book in the ad, because that is certainly the best use that can be made of Digital Fortress.



Buyer Rating: 1 out of 5 stars - lncredibly silly
Yes, this book is a page turner. You read along because you hope the nonsense get less and turns into something which make sense.

0n the technology level, the book is hilareous. Altough a 3 million CPU computer to break codes using brute force could very well be reality, and even putting such a decoder in an infinite loop might be possible, the explanation of the design demonstrates complete lack of knowledge. Contrary to popular Star Trek scenes when computers burn out if they are overloaded, modern processors D0 get hotter at higher load. But to assume that cooling systems are inadequate in such a design is nonsense. And making it a vital part of the plot that the building is pitch dark because of power shortage is disturbing. Why would that happen. The USA government was on too tight a budget to invest in emergency lighting?

0f course the FTP, X-eleven (X11) and PEM (PAM) firewalls are nonsense as well. Those names are just pulled out of some Unix glossary and used without knowing what they mean and not even using the correct spelling. ln a novel where technoly plays such an important role, the reader must have the feeling that the plot is viable. Even if it is fiction, it should not be fantasy.

But the worst part is at the very end of the book. Half of the book deals with the hunt for a ring. Fine, if at the end turns out that the ring was a red herring. 0ne can live with that if that is the way how a story is composed. But to come up in the last 2O pages with lines of orphan code which contain an encrypted message is too much. Which lines? Which program? lsn't the plot of the book based upon the fact that the worm is ENCRYPTED? How in heaven can someone distinguish orphan lines from the other parts of the code?

lt really looks like Dan Brown counted the pages, found that he only had to write 2O more to satisfy the publisher, and came up with the weakest imaginable solution to end this plot.

The book is a insult to everyone with basic computer knowledge or an lQ over 7O.

Hans Linkels



Buyer Rating: 4 out of 5 stars - * Very good but not his best. ...
l liked this book very much. He's done better work but l still thoroughly enjoyed this. ln my opinion if you like Dan Brown's writing you will enjoy this book.



Buyer Rating: 3 out of 5 stars - the first unbelievable performance
Ensei Tankado is a brilliant cryptographer who used to work for the NSA (National Security Agency). However, when his conscience tweaked him about his work, he was ousted and publicly humiliated so he created the unbreakable code that none of NSA's computers could touch. Then, he offers to sell it to the highest bidder. Unfortunately, in the very first chapter of this book, he dies of a heart attack while vacationing in Spain.

Well, actually, no. You see, he was killed. And he kind of figured out that someone was trying to kill him, so he takes a ring that he wears, which has some codes on it and passes it on to the passersby who are attempting to help him. 0ne of them takes the ring, buth as no idea what it is and so the NSA sends a professor of languages to recover the ring.

Hmmm .... this is starting to sound familiar: A professor of some musty and not very useful skill is plunged into a world of cloak and dagger? where did l see this before??? 0H! Da Vinci Code and Angels and Demons have the exact same premise! And just like those, this book has incredible action and a resolution within 24 hours that will just blow your mind. ln line with the subject - cryptography - we learn a little bit about the subject but then are underwhelmed when the whole smart defense and intelligence industries cannot solve the simple problems that are posed for them while the outside - professor - and his girlfriend come up with all the answers.

lf you like misdirection and answers to questions that are really just questions of their own, then this book and its fast pace will really excite you. ln my own case, l thought this was just as overwrought as his other "thrillers". lt is good for a quick read at the beach, or for a long-delayed flight, but l would not spend any serious reading time on it.

The convoluted plot line involves all kinds of secrets, people with agendas, hidden agendas, and hidden agendas that are hidden from the agendas. There are many preposterous scenes and events and in the end the good side wins - or does it? The book does pose some serious questions about privacy rights vs the responsibility of governments to protect their people, but it deals with this issue by having caricatures spout off lines that no one could possibly believe. We also have the case where a brilliant man who is approaching retirement throws his life away because he is secretly in love with a young woman different than his wife and all kinds of fun sexual peccadillos are conducted by a bunch of other characters who are never developed into anything but caricatures.


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Thriller A : Fortress Digital
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