Rating: 
Summary: Skillfull author, but he should stick to what he knows.
Review: I must admit I was rather pleased with the general writing style of the author, I imagine he's normally quite good at both telling the story itself, and building characters one cares about.This book was however, a major disapointment. It's not only the most technically flawed book of it's kind I've ever read, but it's failed in every turn it possibly could. The technical flaws are not limited simply to the mathematical nature of cryptography, but the characters he discribes are not at all believable. If you think you'd like this book based on the introduction to the storyline I would rather suggest you pick up a copy of Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson.
Rating: 
Summary: A really fun and enjoyable read!
Review: This is a great book for those who like techno-thrillers. It is also provides the reader with a lot of interesting facts and background, as far as the NSA is concerned. I also really liked all the information about codes and code breaking. The book is well written and is a real page turner. Every time I put the book down, I found myself wondering when I would be able to return to it, to see what happend next.
Rating: 
Summary: Junk junk junk junk
Review: This book is junk. The story is unconvincing and written like an action-movie script. It contains several technical errors and assumptions. The plot is not credible. The end is weak.
Rating:
Summary: Indecipherable
Review: In the mood for suspending my belief, I packed "Digital Fortress" on a trip to Orlando and was amazed at how all those Orlando attractions now attained a level of incredible plausibility. Ostensibly the story of how a computer programmer creates a virtually unbreakable code, the eponymous "Digital Fortress", setting off a global-manhunt for the only conceivable key, the novel never grows out of a great idea, never offers remotely plausible or even appealing charachters, and never creates any tension. By the end, when secrets are revealed, what should be major plot twist has long been undermined by plot contrivances and fake charachters. I should have seen the warning signs - the Author describes the NSA in terms of how many Americans are aware of it. In one swipe, the author identifies his readers by their ignorance of the setting and insures us that much of our suspense will thus rely on our not having seen "Sneakers" or "Good Will Hunting". Further complicating things is the ends by which the author neglects the cause of pluasibility: The denizens of NSA headquarters are so dim, it's inconceivable that they'd be able to run an ISP, let alone the most sophisticated code-breaking computer in the world. Our hero is a bookworm in somewhat adequate shape, but the author presents no credible reason to explain his survivability against one of the world's deadliest assasins; The assassin is a bit of a cheat himself - using a PDA (?) to phone in his kills before their dead. Once it becomes apparent that the key to "Digital Fortress" might be engraved on a ring worn by its creator, prolongoing the hunt for the code-key, the author fails to create sense that the hit man might be better off tracking down the ring than our hero. Instead, and for reasons unknown, the assassin remains forever two-steps behind. Much of the tension of "Digital Fortress" involves just that - the hero tracking down the mysterious code-key ring in Spain, and boy it gets tired fast, with the hero tracking the ring down from one owner to the next. But plausbility isn't what the author is looking for. By the time that "Digital Fortress" reaches a climax, I couldn't care whether the NSA would be destroyed by the killer code, mostly because the author had by then changed from telling a story to giving a pitch for some splashy action movie, making the novel's Hollywood aspirations annoyingly clear. Throw away the key!
Rating:
Summary: Great Book
Review: I read this book in one day. I couldn't put it down. It has a good story line and the plot twists are great. Quick read and enjoyable at that.
Rating: 
Summary: Flawed, but great for a debut novel
Review: Okay, so the characters weren't all that complex. This book had an intriguing premise and some great action. Maybe an expert on codebreaking wouldn't be impressed with the technical info, but to somebody like me with a casual interest in codes, it was fascinating. I was more interested in the sociological implications of what was going on, anyway. As for that humongous red herring, well, if Eric Ambler could get away with that sort of thing in A Coffin for Dimitrios, I don't see why Dan Brown or anybody else should be barred from it. My only real complaint comes from that oversimplistic final puzzle stumping NSA's supergeniuses. I read along for paragraphs, if not pages, muttering, "I flunked high-school chemistry, and *I* know what he's after!"
Rating:
Summary: Pedestrian writing mars a by-the-numbers plot
Review: A love story that is nothing less than trite swill. A plot that echoes every Hollywood blockbuster from 'Wargames' on. The material on cryptography is interesting as is some of the stuff regarding the NSA.
Rating:
Summary: This is junk!
Review: I can't figure out why this book is so highly rated so far. It is so trite...especially the love story, very Hollywood. This was written to be made into a bad movie. The best thing I can say about it is that it's fast-moving, and increasingly picks up speed. But it's derivative and empty of characterization and even information.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent
Review: My first Dan Brown novel and it was excellent. I was put off at all by the developement at the beginning and it captured me. Well worth the time.
Rating:
Summary: Jabba resembled a giant tadpole, he was a hairless spheroid.
Review: I have read many of the other reviews for this book, and in none have I seen the humor that the Author places in his books mentioned. This is the second book of Dan Brown's that I have read and everything I enjoy about his writing was present in this work and was even more in evidence in his second "Angels And Demons". It is true this book does not have the same energy level for the first third of the story. I had less of problem with this, as I know little about cryptography. It may seem incongruous to read about Caesar in the midst of a tale of the NSA, but I found it interesting as well as the type of detail that adds credibility to the book because of the level of research. In addition once the pace quickens the Author maintains it to the end. Too many of the books I read seem to hurry to a conclusion. It's almost as if the Authors after years of work and dozens of drafts just want to be finished. Dan Brown keeps the tension high, and does so with credibility, not some contrived nonsense that just drags the reader along with false partial endings. The book only suffers by comparison when you read "Angels And Demons" first as I did. But Authors that fail on their second attempt are far more numerous than those who not only maintain the level of their work, but also take the whole reading experience a step up. This failing is called "the sophomore jinx". This Author does not suffer from that malady, and with his next work not only will the "third time be a charm", rather I think it will be the next in a series that will get ever more intricate and clever. There were those who felt the ultimate ending was simple, and while I do agree the final solution was not "Fermat's Enigma", I think being disappointed in the ending is wrong. It is true the very final answer is simple, the answers to many great enigmas are, but the series of partial solutions that allow steps toward the final answer when considered as a whole are anything but simple. There are a number of Authors who nailed the best-seller lists their first time out. I read about their recent books, and more often than not the loyal readers become more and more disappointed as new books are written. They express the frustration that the books become a formula. To date Dan Brown has not done this. I believe his books will continue to gain the recognition they deserve, and his admirers will continue to be pleased many many books into the future.
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