Cryptonomicon

At 1070 pages, Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson is a long read, but  it is good enough to keep the pages turning. Neal Stephenson is also the author of the highly acclaimed techno-thriller Snow Crash. 

With two main plotlines and scores of characters, Cryptonomicon is a novel of epic proportions. The story is that of codemakers, codebreakers, hackers, soldiers, and businessmen; all of them after one thing, gold. 

           

Approximately one half of the novel takes place during World War Two, following Sgt. Bobby Shaftoe, a hardened China Marine, and Lawrence Waterhouse, an expert mathematician and expert codebreaker. The other half takes place in the modern world of high tech business, following Randy Waterhouse, Lawrence’s grandson, and Avi Halaby, business partners and majority stockholders in Epithyte Corporation, a small tech startup company. The two strands of the story have many shared characters and plot points. Any further information would ruin the many surprises in the book.

           

Overall, Cryptonomicon, is an excellent read, that will have you on the edge of your seat, and laughing out loud in all the right places. I highly recommend it.

Book Review by Maxwell J.