31 of 36 people found the following review helpful:
A Great Debut
I bought this, Dan Brown's first novel, on the strength of reading The Da Vinci Code. It's not as strong or as indepth as The Da Vinci Code but nevertheless I found it an excellent read.
It centres around code breaking and computing - there is no art history or religion in sight this time. Originally published in 1998 the computing and technology side of the book will...
49 of 54 people found the following review helpful:
Hard to believe its the same author!
Having read 'The Da Vinci Code' and 'Deception Point', both of which I thoroughly enjoyed, It is difficult to believe this is Dan Brown and not a 'Bay Watch' script writer trying to make a few quid on the side.
Unlike the rest of his books, the plot here is paper thin (close to none existent) and the pace is incredibly slow (up until the last couple of chapters). What...
Having read 'The Da Vinci Code' and 'Deception Point', both of which I thoroughly enjoyed, It is difficult to believe this is Dan Brown and not a 'Bay Watch' script writer trying to make a few quid on the side.
Unlike the rest of his books, the plot here is paper thin (close to none existent) and the pace is incredibly slow (up until the last couple of chapters). What really kills it is the obviously poor research into IT, Computers, Viruses and Encryption - I cringed the whole way through the book.
If you like Dan Brown because you've read his other books, do yourself a favour and avoid reading this one as it will only spoil your opinion of the author.
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Welcome to my latest gift to my local Oxfam charity shop. At least this time I've learned my lesson. I can add little to these reviews because they have mainly all said it before. I only wish I'd read them before buying this book.
I can confirm: one-dimensional characters, generally unfinished and un-edited feel to the writing, obvious technical deficiencies. I think this is a screenplay or "treatment" that I've read and not a novel.
What I can add, is that if you really want to understand the working of hacking, counter-hacking, cryptography and cryptanalysis I can recommend both "The Cuckoo's Egg" by Clifford Stoll and "Codebreakers" edited by F Hinsley and Alan Stripp. Both are non-fiction books but a helluva lot better read than this thin junk.
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I saw the book in the airport and thought it would make a good holiday read. I was very disappointed. So predictable and obviously written by somebody who knows nothing about computers. I admit I am in IT but. People do not crawl under computer consoles with soldering irons (30 years ago may be). Since when did you spend a billion dollars on a computer and if it was working hard, it over heated, took all the power from the building, turned the lights off and stopped the doors working. I would fire the designer and the hundreds of people it would have taken to design it. Has nobody heard of Health and Safety in the USA. It was careless plot devices like this which turned it from an average thriller to pathetic.
I cetainly do not feel the need to read any other of his books.
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27 of 31 people found the following review helpful:
Trees had to die for this?, 29 Jul 2004
By A Customer
Well, had high hopes for this one having read the Da Vince code, but this turned out to be a complete load of rubbish. The technical details are appaling - my 2 year old son would probably do better at writing something about Internet security - and the plot was so thin it was a complete joke. It could have been good because there were some good ideas there that could have worked, but why the publisher allowed trees to die for this is beyond me!
Avoid at all costs!
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This is one of the worst books I have ever read. Well, the first few chapters are ok, introducing some interesting characters, but then when Brown ventures to start describing technology, probability theory and Spain, it really turns into complete mumbo jumbo.
I know something about computer science and mathematics, having studied it for five years at university, and what Brown describes in terms of the NSA super computer is utter bollocks. Further, who would even know hoe to write a virus for a computer which nobody knows even exists - unless NSA in their wisdom built the billion dollar monster on some flavour of Windows. Not likely ... and whoops, there dies the basis for the entire plot.
Then, Brown turns to describing Spain (book written in late 90's) as some completely backwards third world country with no functioning infrastructure and being completely corrupt. This is the country which, in 1992, arranged both the Olympics in Barcelona and the World's Fair in Seville (which is the city described in the book).
Brown claims, for example, that it was impossible to get an international phone connection for the book's main character on an ordinary day. I had no problem with that during the world fair in -92, when the city was swamped with tourists from the whole world. I have visited Spain on many occasions since, and I can tell you that what is written in this book can only come from someone who has never sat foot outside of Nowhere, Arkansas.
Then we move to the core of the plot, which turns out to revolve around the love sick behaviour of a very senior government official. I find it extremely unlikely that such a senior person should loose all of his logical abilities - which of course were expanded upon in great detail early in the book - and start behaving like a love crazed 13-year old. The man looses all sight of reality in a situation that supposedly was his forte to deal with during his entire career. How likely is that?
Is there any suspense in the book? Well, if you think that suspense is created by repeated slow-motion descriptions of how people move in attack or flight (the first fibre in his thigh tensed, then the second fibre ... then finally his whole thigh was tense, moving the squash-honed leg forward...), page up and page down of people yelling utter nonsense in computer related matters, then yes, there is suspense in the book. Not otherwise.
I will never read another book by Dan Brown. This writer cannot paint exciting or even plausible characters, plots or places, nor does he do any research on the subject he writes about. Rubbish!
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Now if you are wondering whether or not you should buy this, you have probably read "the Da Vinci code" and possibly "Angels and Demons" with enjoyment. Well, this one isn't in the same league as either of those. If you've only read one of the above, then read the other before thinking about this one. Having said all that, I quite enjoyed this. We are still loosely in the realm of codes and code-breaking here. In fact, probably the most significant use of code-breaking today is in the encryption of communications to ensure that these remain confidential in the digital age. The action in this novel shifts between the NSA headquarters and Seville. It appears that an unbreakable code "Digital Fortress" has been developed, which, if it were to become widely available would remove the ability of the US government to intercept communications. The race is on to make sure that no-one gets their hands on "Digital Fortress"! Like other Dan Brown novels, the action takes place over a short space of time, and is fast-moving. The plot is a bit unlikely, but then you are probably not looking for gritty realism if you are considering this as a purchase. Having said that though, Dan Brown is able to raise questions in this book about to what extent (if at all) it is acceptable for governments to be able to intrude on private communications, and rationales for doing so. This was a good summer read. Pacey, entertaining and good fun.
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I bought this, Dan Brown's first novel, on the strength of reading The Da Vinci Code. It's not as strong or as indepth as The Da Vinci Code but nevertheless I found it an excellent read.
It centres around code breaking and computing - there is no art history or religion in sight this time. Originally published in 1998 the computing and technology side of the book will no doubt date with time but six years on it is not too dated although I am sure experts will no doubt pick holes in some of it.
The book centres around a couple searching for a key for a newly developed code. The woman, and main character, is in her place of work, a highly secure NSA building dedicated to code breaking. Her partner is in Europe tracking down a second copy of the key which is held inside a ring.
The book is fast paced and I read it within 24 hours. I found it thoroughly ejoyable and although some of the story was a bit predictable there were enough twists to it to make it page turner.
It's not as good as The Da Vinci code but it brought to me a similar excitement when reading it. A great debut 9/10.
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Having read the Da Vinci Code I decided to see what some of Dan Brown's earlier work was like. Oh dear. At least this is encouragement to new authors that you can write a poor first book and still make a fortune!
Characterisation is very two-dimensional, and Brown makes Spain look a very backward 3rd world type of place, which might have been true in the 1970s but certainly wasn't in the late 1990s - did no-one tell him that Seville was thoroughly spruced-up for Expo 1992? The final denouement was quite literally incredible - unbelieveable - I simply cannot credit that a roomful of the NSA's brightest, from the Director down, couldn't work out what the passphrase was once the clue was revealed -- even a relative ignoramus like myself knew instantly what the passphrase was, yet these characters took another fifteen minutes to figure it out!
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After reading DaVinci Code and accepting it for what it is (a story, not a 100% factually correct account) I ordered Digital Fortress.
A collegue at work warned me that reading these books "the wrong way round" would be dissapointing, and he was unfortunately correct.
Both have an American academic jaunting across Europe like a CIA field agent, in search of something they do not fully comprehend while some sinister world organisation (in one, the NSA, in the other the Church) pull the puppet's strings. And both have a physically impaired assassin out to hamper the whole thing.
The characterisation is shallow, such as the depiction of the NSA workers by phrases like "...he knew she was right; Ms X's instincts were infamous for always being right..." which doesn't create any reader empathy - in fact it makes you wonder how they didn't avoid the whole crisis in the first place it they were all so perfect!
I think Dan Brown has a random plot generator:
<insert main charachter's name> is an academic with language skills, sent to <insert European city> by <insert world organisation> to look for <insert mythological artifact or technological breakthrough>. However, <insert name of main character's oldest trusted friend> has other ideas and has sent <insert assasin with single physical perculiarity> to muck it all up. In the end though, the assasin is despatched and the hero returns home while his friend is exposed and probably killed.
No wonder DVC was a best seller, he'd had a few practice attempts beforehand...
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15 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
PUT THIS BOOK DOWN !!!, 25 Jan 2006
By A Customer
Reading the Da Vinci code by Dan brown was a breath of fresh air and made me pick up this book to see if Dan Brown could recreate his exploits into another book. How wrong I was. The Digital Fortress has a storyline way too farfetched and the characters are as linear as a 2d platform game. I was very dissapointed with actually buying this book as I got caught in the Dan Brown hype and dismissed all negative comments of this book being blinded by the brilliance of the Da Vinci Code.
Dont buy this book....It is a complete waste of time and you will be more enthralled watching the contestants of big brother sleeping than reading this.
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