Book Title:     Digital Fortress
Author:        Dan Brown
Year Published: 1998
Reviewed By:    Doug Moore
Date:          02-15-08

Review:

Most of us have been introduced to author Dan Brown with his stellar novel The Da Vinci Code. I was among that crowd,  then went on to read Angels and Demons which I thought was his best novel.  Better then Da Vinci Code?  Yes - it was actually much better.

But Digital Fortress precedes both these books and frankly is not quite on par with either one. That being said,  I must remind you that Brown is a great author and Digital Fortress isn’t a bad read by any means, but given the compelling story and intrigue of Da Vinci and Angels,  the reader might feel that Fortress comes up short.

For me there were a few minor shortcomings to Digital Fortress. The first one is that since this book was published in 1998 (and probably was being written starting in 1996) the technology that is written about  - and used to force the story along - is now outdated or obsolete these days.  But I was only irritated by this because I use computers for a living and am well aware of both emerging and legacy technologies.  Most readers won’t give a hoot, and will put this aside.  Like I said - these are minor quibbles.

Besides the technology angle, I think most readers would agree that the story structure is a bit cliché and predictable through most of the book.  Dan Brown certainly has some tricks he pulls nicely – especially during the last few chapters, but before getting that far, don’t be surprised if you’re already a step ahead.

A major theme in Digital Fortress is cryptology – and here is where author Brown excels at pulling the reader into a fascinating look at code making and code breaking.   If you’ve read Da Vinci or Angels, you’ll see some core elements that Brown creates in Digital Fortress that are quite interesting yet bloom substantially in his later novels.  Cryptology encompasses history, people in positions of power and religion – and these elements are where Dan Brown swims like a duck in water.  As soon as any of these elements come to the forefront of the story, the reader is rewarded with Browns impeccable attention to detail, research and wit.  It becomes obvious why The Da Vinci Code and Angels and Demons are such fascinating books as Brown sticks to what he knows best.

Digital Fortress will be an enjoyable read for the most part.  But even if you’ve already ripped through The Da Vinci Code or Angeles and Demons, just set you’re expectations a bit lower to make the most of this book.