In 1992 Neal Stephenson defined virtual reality with his landmark book Snow Crash. In 1995 he did the same for nanotech with The Diamond Age. So what does he have in store for us with his 928-page opus Cryptonomicon? Surprisingly, not much insight into the future, but a heck of an action/adventure story involving the past.
Cryptonomicon begins in Shanghai in 1941, where haiku-writing corporal Bobby Shaftoe and his Marine Corps pals are bugging out in preparation for war with the Japanese. Meanwhile, at Princeton, mathematical genius Lawrence Waterhouse meets Alan Turing and learns about cryptography. The story then brings us to modern-day Kinakuta, where hacker Randy Waterhouse - Lawrence's grandson - tries to establish an offshore data haven with some entrepreneurial Silicon Valley types. It's all part of a chase for a treasure so vast it may change the way the world works - or, at least, does business.
The link between the past and the present turns out to be Arethusa, a code intercepted by the Allies during the war years. The NSA thinks Arethusa is an elaborate practical joke, but Randy knows different. He has the real Arethusa intercepts, which were kept hidden by his grandfather, and with his trusty laptop and access to the Cryptonomicon - the cryptographer's Bible - he's going to find out what they say.
It's pretty obvious that gold, U-boats, and Van Eck phreaking are involved in all this, though the author is in no hurry to spell out how. In fact, things start to get clear only around page 500. Stephenson, however, lives up to his reputation as a steely-eyed word hacker, driving the story along with prose thick with cultural references and a plot that needs a substantial wood pulp infrastructure to support it. That makes Cryptonomicon a hell of a read, even if it's not quite the prognosticative tale we're used to from this whiz kid.
Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson: $27.50. Avon Books: www.avonbooks.com.
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