BKRNBSND.RVW 20130525
“Rainbows End”, Vernor Vinge, 2006, 0-312-85684-9, U$25.95/C$34.95
%A Vernor Vinge
%C 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010
%D 2006
%G 0-312-85684-9
%I Tor Books/Tom Doherty Assoc.
%O U$25.95/C$34.95 pnh@tor.com www.tor.com
%O http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0312856849/robsladesinterne
http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0312856849/robsladesinte-21
%O http://www.amazon.ca/exec/obidos/ASIN/0312856849/robsladesin03-20
%O Audience i+ Tech 2 Writing 3 (see revfaq.htm for explanation)
%P 364 p.
%T “Rainbows End”
It is always a pleasure to read something from Vinge. His characters are interesting, his plots sufficiently convoluted, and his writing clear and flowing. In addition, for the geek, his understanding of the technology is realistic and fundamental, which makes a change from so many who merely parrot jargon they do not comprehend.
Of course, this is future technology we are talking about, so none of it is (currently) real. But it could be, without the wild flights of illogic that so abound in fiction.
In this book, we have a future with interconnectedness around the globe. Of course, this means that there are dangers, in regard to identity and authentication. The new technology protects against these dangers with a Secure Hardware Environment. (Or SHE, and, since the DHS mandates that everyone must use it, does that make it SHE-who-must-be-obeyed?)
Encryption is, of course, vital to the operations, and so is used a lot, often in multiple layers. It is probably a measure of the enjoyability of Vinge’s work that I really didn’t take note of the fact that two of the characters were named Alice and Bob. Not, that is, until late in the volume, when the author also briefly introduces a character named Eve Mallory.
copyright, Robert M. Slade 2013 BKRNBSND.RVW 20130525
