Dan Brown, known for his religious conspiracy fiction, brings something new and interesting in our growing digital world.
While I enjoyed reading Brown’s Da Vinci Code and Angels and Demons, I never really regarded them as critically impressive. Then I read Digital Fortress. In a similar vein to his other books, it deals with someone impossibly smarter than the reader in an equally impossible situation with the time ticking to solve the problem. The difference here is that it is amazing how well he makes such a complex virtual problem and makes it understandable, believable and tense.
Brown’s protagonist in this book is a woman, which based on his female characters in previous books worried me somewhat. Surprisingly Susan Fletcher doesn’t really suffer from the same cardboard-cutout problems of his other female characters and is quite engaging to read. She is active and on an equal footing with the men around her, which definitely is a break from the role of Sophie Neveu in the Da Vinci Code.
The topic matter of the book is probably something that even now is highly controversial, the idea of government surveillance on citizens. The antagonist is an ex-NSA employee frustrated with the government’s intrusion on people’s personal lives and by casting him and his ideals as the antithesis to Fletcher’s nationalistic role could be seen as commending the actions of his fictional version of the US government. I think this is probably down to reader interpretation though and while the book does have a few points that lean in one direction or another, it’s not so heavy handed as to pull me out of the fiction.
As with most of Brown’s books, there is a heavy amount of exposition, in this case a mixture of both historical tidbits and also technical problems that are necessary to understanding the main plot. I think Brown is a little heavy handed with this in regard to how he explore his exposition, but it’s something you either forgive him for or put the book down for. Anyone who has read Brown before already knows this.
I would highly recommend this if you are on the fence with Brown, as it may just be something you enjoy. If you’re already a fan, you’ve likely already read this, it’s not too obscure. Either way, it’s something I wouldn’t consider one of my all time favourites, but I still very much enjoyed the experience.
Get your copy here – Digital Fortress
If you don’t have time to read the book, but perhaps would like to hear it as you’re driving to work, or laying in the bath – here.
Consuming Creativity 