I am a self-confessed lover of technology, loving it as an externalisation and extension of the brilliance that is the human mind. I came across Neal Stephenson's name in an information science related discussion list. The book was Snowcrash, referring to the way computer screens would white out as they crashed. My beloved library didn't have Snowcrash but it did have the tome-like and hard to pronounce Cryptonomicon.
Cryptonomicon is an Indiana Jones epic for technology and cryptography junkies. Two threads, one set during WWII highlighting codes and their breaking, looted Nazi and Japanese gold, and one set in present day around the development of an uncrackable data haven free from government or commercial interference (A Swiss banking system for data if you will). The two central characters in the present are the grandchildren of two significant characters in the WWII time. And of course, the stories and lives converge to a suitable and satisfying climax.
Like all my favourite authors, Stephenson blurs fact and fiction, and historical characters are deliberately painted larger than life. Blending Alan Turing (one of the fathers of modern computing) with a genius US Navy code breaker and Douglas Macarthur, General of the US Army, hated by US Marines, but fearless in the face of combat with a Marine hero responsible for a "black ops" group whose role was to ensure the Germans and Japanese did not suspect their transmission codes had been cracked. And that is just one of the threads.
As much a vision into an intelligent, lucid and creative American mind, Cryptonomicon is an expose of the world of codes, their makers and breakers, the consequences of broken and unbroken codes during times of war and the possibility that in today's World Wide Web world security of data will be of greater value than gold.
I did need to renew the book two times (isn't online renewal great) to cover the 900+ pages. And my eyes did glaze at some of the explanation of some of the codes and statistical methods for code hiding and breaking.
But the writing style was crisp and wry, the storyline intriguing. Language and concepts make the book more suitable for open minded adults, rather than children or people locked in patriotic or unexamined views of reality.
Andy Carnahan
Thursday, June 5, 2008
The Rose of Sebastopol by Katherine McMahon. Weidenfeld & Nicolson , 2007
The Rose of Sebastopol by Katherine McMahon is an engrossing historical novel which juxtaposes London’s comfortable middle class world of the 1850s and the horror and suffering of the Russian battlefields of the Crimean War.
Mariella Lingwood is an accomplished young middle class woman who wants nothing more than to marry her fiancé Henry, who is a respected London surgeon and public health expert, and to spend her married life in pursuits acceptable to her social circle.
Mariella’s conventional and comfortable world is turned upside down when in the winter of 1854 Henry leaves for the bloody battlefields of Balaclava and Sebastopol to tend the injured, sick and dying of the Crimean war.
Henry is followed soon after by Mariella’s headstrong and unconventional cousin, Rosa who, unlike Mariella, wants more from life than Victorian convention allows women. Rosa travels to the Crimea determined, despite the appalling conditions, to nurse and save as many sick and injured as possible.
As she waits patiently at home, the war for Mariella is contained within the pages of her scrapbook, in her London sewing circle, and in the letters she receives from Henry. This all changes when the news that Henry is gravely ill with typhoid fever reaches her.
Accompanied by her maid, she hurries to Henry’s sickbed in Italy and there she discovers Henry is no longer the man she thought she knew and that Rosa has gone missing.
Mariella is driven to find Rosa so sets off to the carnage which were the battlefields of the Crimean war to search for her. Rosa’s possible whereabouts are surrounded by mystery and hearsay and in her quest Mariella ends up discovering more than she ever thought she would.
This novel is compelling and recommended reading for those who love romance and historical fiction with an edge. The description of battle and disease is not for the squeamish but for anyone interested in the world and society of England in the 1850’s it conveys that world in telling detail.
Roxanne
The Rose of Sebastopol by Katherine McMahon is an engrossing historical novel which juxtaposes London’s comfortable middle class world of the 1850s and the horror and suffering of the Russian battlefields of the Crimean War.
Mariella Lingwood is an accomplished young middle class woman who wants nothing more than to marry her fiancé Henry, who is a respected London surgeon and public health expert, and to spend her married life in pursuits acceptable to her social circle.
Mariella’s conventional and comfortable world is turned upside down when in the winter of 1854 Henry leaves for the bloody battlefields of Balaclava and Sebastopol to tend the injured, sick and dying of the Crimean war.
Henry is followed soon after by Mariella’s headstrong and unconventional cousin, Rosa who, unlike Mariella, wants more from life than Victorian convention allows women. Rosa travels to the Crimea determined, despite the appalling conditions, to nurse and save as many sick and injured as possible.
As she waits patiently at home, the war for Mariella is contained within the pages of her scrapbook, in her London sewing circle, and in the letters she receives from Henry. This all changes when the news that Henry is gravely ill with typhoid fever reaches her.
Accompanied by her maid, she hurries to Henry’s sickbed in Italy and there she discovers Henry is no longer the man she thought she knew and that Rosa has gone missing.
Mariella is driven to find Rosa so sets off to the carnage which were the battlefields of the Crimean war to search for her. Rosa’s possible whereabouts are surrounded by mystery and hearsay and in her quest Mariella ends up discovering more than she ever thought she would.
This novel is compelling and recommended reading for those who love romance and historical fiction with an edge. The description of battle and disease is not for the squeamish but for anyone interested in the world and society of England in the 1850’s it conveys that world in telling detail.
Roxanne
Thursday, March 13, 2008
Killer heat
Killer Heat is the tenth book in Linda Fairstein's series about New York Assistant District Attorney Alexandra Cooper.
Success can never be guaranteed in every case Alexandra Cooper prosecutes, but for once the odds are with her for putting away a serial rapist for a crime he committed over twenty years previously.Outside the courtroom, though, another predator is at large. His first victim was a call-girl, a cat-o-nine-tails discovered near her body, and it seems as though Detectives Mike Chapman and Mercer Wallace need to look amongst her clients for the killer, but the discovery of other corpses, the modus operandi remarkably similar to the first, turns the investigation into a hunt for a random and viciously sadistic murderer. A part of his signature is that in the humid heat of summer he leaves his victims' remains in some of the least populated parts of New York - a derelict office building, an abandoned fort on an island below Manhattan. Alex fears it may be another twenty years before they can identify this monster, each day bringing the dread of news of another killing, then she, Chapman and Mercer get lucky and are able to give a name to their target. But that's not the same as putting him safely behind bars: to do that they are going to have to get close to him, much too close for Alex's own safety ...
It seems the central characters , Alex Cooper, Mike Chapman and Mercer Wallace need little or no sleep as they search for this killer. However, the story is believable, enthralling and as usual includes a history lesson about New York.
Helen
Success can never be guaranteed in every case Alexandra Cooper prosecutes, but for once the odds are with her for putting away a serial rapist for a crime he committed over twenty years previously.Outside the courtroom, though, another predator is at large. His first victim was a call-girl, a cat-o-nine-tails discovered near her body, and it seems as though Detectives Mike Chapman and Mercer Wallace need to look amongst her clients for the killer, but the discovery of other corpses, the modus operandi remarkably similar to the first, turns the investigation into a hunt for a random and viciously sadistic murderer. A part of his signature is that in the humid heat of summer he leaves his victims' remains in some of the least populated parts of New York - a derelict office building, an abandoned fort on an island below Manhattan. Alex fears it may be another twenty years before they can identify this monster, each day bringing the dread of news of another killing, then she, Chapman and Mercer get lucky and are able to give a name to their target. But that's not the same as putting him safely behind bars: to do that they are going to have to get close to him, much too close for Alex's own safety ...
It seems the central characters , Alex Cooper, Mike Chapman and Mercer Wallace need little or no sleep as they search for this killer. However, the story is believable, enthralling and as usual includes a history lesson about New York.
Helen
The conjuror's bird
The back of this book says:
The Conjuror's bird is a dazzling debut novel, spanning three centuries of secrets and surprises.
It seems a long time ago that Fitz and Gabby were together, with his work on extinct species about to make him world-famous. Now, it's his career that is almost extinct. Suddenly, though, the beautiful Gabby reappears in his life. She wants his help in tracing the history of The Mysterious Bird of Ulieta, a creature once owned by the great 18th Century naturalist Joseph Banks. It soon becomes clear that Fitz is getting involved in something more complicated - and dangerous - than the search for a stuffed bird. To solve the puzzle, he must uncover the identity of the amazing woman Banks loved - a woman who has disappeared from history as effectively as the specimen he is hunting.
This is the intriguing debut fiction writing by Englishman Martin Davies. He details history without being boring and describes their environments beautifully. His characters are absolutely human, weak and strong.
If you liked Kate Grenville's The secret river, read this.
Helen
The Conjuror's bird is a dazzling debut novel, spanning three centuries of secrets and surprises.
It seems a long time ago that Fitz and Gabby were together, with his work on extinct species about to make him world-famous. Now, it's his career that is almost extinct. Suddenly, though, the beautiful Gabby reappears in his life. She wants his help in tracing the history of The Mysterious Bird of Ulieta, a creature once owned by the great 18th Century naturalist Joseph Banks. It soon becomes clear that Fitz is getting involved in something more complicated - and dangerous - than the search for a stuffed bird. To solve the puzzle, he must uncover the identity of the amazing woman Banks loved - a woman who has disappeared from history as effectively as the specimen he is hunting.
This is the intriguing debut fiction writing by Englishman Martin Davies. He details history without being boring and describes their environments beautifully. His characters are absolutely human, weak and strong.
If you liked Kate Grenville's The secret river, read this.
Helen
The draining lake
The book I’m reading now is a murder/thriller called “The Draining Lake” which is part 4 of a series of books by Arnaldur Indridason, which are all set in Iceland. The novels certainly don’t fit the norm of your average whodunit and to me, this is their great appeal.
“The Draining Lake” happens in Iceland just after an earthquake. One of the country’s main lakes has dramatically lowered and a skeleton is discovered, which had been weighed down by an old radio bearing Russian Script – herein lays the start of the investigation which goes back and forth between present day and Cold War East Germany.
The central character in all of Indridason’s novels is a police inspector called Erlendur Sveinsson, who is always addressed by his first name, because as I discovered, everyone in Iceland is addressed by their first name, which is one the many quirky things I learned as I read the books. I was also introduced to a culture which throws open a whole new view into how people live their daily lives in a climate and a world so different from my own.
The novels are not just about solving a murder, they are way more. They move from the present day to the past and back again many times and you learn what lead people to that fateful day of the crime - your past, is going to affect your present, especially when you least expect it. They also have a main character who is not a super cop detective who can solve everything, but a real person who brings his life to the job and the job to his life. If you like your novels with character and depth then Arnaldur Indridason is an experience not to be missed.
Chris
“The Draining Lake” happens in Iceland just after an earthquake. One of the country’s main lakes has dramatically lowered and a skeleton is discovered, which had been weighed down by an old radio bearing Russian Script – herein lays the start of the investigation which goes back and forth between present day and Cold War East Germany.
The central character in all of Indridason’s novels is a police inspector called Erlendur Sveinsson, who is always addressed by his first name, because as I discovered, everyone in Iceland is addressed by their first name, which is one the many quirky things I learned as I read the books. I was also introduced to a culture which throws open a whole new view into how people live their daily lives in a climate and a world so different from my own.
The novels are not just about solving a murder, they are way more. They move from the present day to the past and back again many times and you learn what lead people to that fateful day of the crime - your past, is going to affect your present, especially when you least expect it. They also have a main character who is not a super cop detective who can solve everything, but a real person who brings his life to the job and the job to his life. If you like your novels with character and depth then Arnaldur Indridason is an experience not to be missed.
Chris
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