BKLMBSRC.RVW 950906 "Limbo Search", Parke Godwin, 1995, 0-380-77300-7, U$5.50/C$7.50 %A Parke Godwin %C 1350 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10019 %D 1995 %G 0-380-77300-7 %I Avon Books/The Hearst Corporation %O U$5.50/C$7.50 +1-800-238-0658 %P 275 %T "Limbo Search" If Godwin's book is an attempt to hark back to the rather hokey "Golden Age" stories of science fiction, it must be reckoned a success. We have delta- winged space fighters, dashing deeds of daring do, and a local economy based on cigarette trading. (On the other hand, Godwin's other books all seem to be sword and sorcery types, so maybe we can put it down to lack of familiarity with the modern genre.) What I find fascinating in the book, though, is the theme of electronic intelligence and data security. The "Limbo" of the title is, basically, an electronic listening post. The searchers/listeners are tracking voice transmissions, guarded by that most sophisticated of encryption methods: code words! This is rendered even more secure by frequency hopping: not the spread spectrum systems currently used, but simply an occasional change of channel. Do we see data links, in this far distant future? Digitized voice? Mathematical encryption? Nope. When they *really* want to get secure, they use Morse code. copyright Robert M. Slade, 1995 BKLMBSRC.RVW 950906 ============== Vancouver ROBERTS@decus.ca | "Do you get guns with your Institute for rslade@vanisl.decus.ca| gun magazines? No. Research into rslade@cyberstore.ca | Do you get viruses with your User rslade@cln.etc.bc.ca | virus magazines? Yes." Security Canada V7K 2G6 | - Kevin Marcus