Book Review - Breakpoint by Richard A. Clarke
Category Book Review
Since I work in the technology industry, I'm always happy to find a novel that has a strong "cyber" theme to the plot. A friend recommended I give Breakpoint by Richard A. Clarke a shot. Overall, it was an interesting read that makes you wonder about the security of our nation's technology infrastructure. I personally would have enjoyed it even more without the overt message the author was trying to push...
The basic story is that the nation's computer and technology infrastructure is under attack. A number of primary nodes for internet traffic are physically destroyed, cutting off the US from a large part of the international traffic. Next, three major heads of government research departments are assassinated. High-tech buildings and sites are being targeted for destruction, and someone figures out how to hack and shut down the western power grid. All of these events seem to tie back to China, and it's thought that the attacks are a way to force the US to abandon Taiwan's bid for independence, as well as stopping the ever-widening technology gap between China and the US. A small group of investigators are trying to figure out exactly how these attacks are occurring, as well as who is ultimately responsible. As they dig deeper, the driving force appears to be something more than just nationalistic posturing. Instead, it could well be a fight against the melding of humans and technology to create a "super-race" of beings. And if that's indeed the case, then is it really China who's behind it all?
From a pure plot perspective, I enjoyed the book a lot. Many of the situations and technologies are things that either already exist, or are within a decade of becoming possible. And of course, there's the whole "how fragile are our connections" theme. Where I started getting frustrated is when the book strayed into the moralistic "we must stop this from happening" ground. The villains in all this are conveniently pegged as right-wing religious Luddites, and it was just too convenient of an "out" for the plot. Granted, it supported the plot as to why all the cutting-edge research has either gone underground or off-shore. Still, it was stereotyping in the first degree...
But even with those (in my opinion) flaws, it was still an enjoyable read. I had a hard time putting the book aside for more important things, like sleep...
Since I work in the technology industry, I'm always happy to find a novel that has a strong "cyber" theme to the plot. A friend recommended I give Breakpoint by Richard A. Clarke a shot. Overall, it was an interesting read that makes you wonder about the security of our nation's technology infrastructure. I personally would have enjoyed it even more without the overt message the author was trying to push...
The basic story is that the nation's computer and technology infrastructure is under attack. A number of primary nodes for internet traffic are physically destroyed, cutting off the US from a large part of the international traffic. Next, three major heads of government research departments are assassinated. High-tech buildings and sites are being targeted for destruction, and someone figures out how to hack and shut down the western power grid. All of these events seem to tie back to China, and it's thought that the attacks are a way to force the US to abandon Taiwan's bid for independence, as well as stopping the ever-widening technology gap between China and the US. A small group of investigators are trying to figure out exactly how these attacks are occurring, as well as who is ultimately responsible. As they dig deeper, the driving force appears to be something more than just nationalistic posturing. Instead, it could well be a fight against the melding of humans and technology to create a "super-race" of beings. And if that's indeed the case, then is it really China who's behind it all?
From a pure plot perspective, I enjoyed the book a lot. Many of the situations and technologies are things that either already exist, or are within a decade of becoming possible. And of course, there's the whole "how fragile are our connections" theme. Where I started getting frustrated is when the book strayed into the moralistic "we must stop this from happening" ground. The villains in all this are conveniently pegged as right-wing religious Luddites, and it was just too convenient of an "out" for the plot. Granted, it supported the plot as to why all the cutting-edge research has either gone underground or off-shore. Still, it was stereotyping in the first degree...
But even with those (in my opinion) flaws, it was still an enjoyable read. I had a hard time putting the book aside for more important things, like sleep...
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http://www.ns-tech.com/blog/geldred.nsf/plinks/GELD-72XUWP
The Author Notes are pretty entertaining, too.
Posted by Gregg Eldred At 12:30:37 On 22/06/2007 | - Website - |