BKSCDSKN.RVW   20000301

"Second Skin", Eric V. Lustbader, 1995, 0-671-70349-8
%A   Eric V. Lustbader
%C   1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY   10020
%D   1995
%G   0-671-70349-8
%I   Pocket Books
%O   212-373-8500 +1-212-698-7541 www.simonsays.com
%P   518 p.
%T   "Second Skin"

It's been a while since I last reviewed one of Lustbader's books (cf.
BKWHTNNJ.RVW).  I'm not sure why he has started to include technology
in the mix, since he started out with a fairly straight (you should
pardon the expression) sex-and-martial-arts-violence type of action
thriller, and has now imported a large fantasy element with the
purported mystical roots behind various eastern fighting schools. 
(I'm also surprised that Hollywood has not yet discovered Lustbader
and the Nicholas Linnear series: with the addition of the computer
stuff the later books now have a kind of "Bruce Lee and Poltergeist
meet The Matrix" feel.)

The other reason that I am startled by the increasing centrality of
technology to the plots is that the author knows nothing about it at
all.  The hero is supposed to: at one point he pulls an all-nighter to
fix a technical glitch that has eluded his large staff of computer
wizards.  (Doesn't say much for the wizards.)  But, while the story
turns on the battle for CyberNet, the communications giant that is
going to take over Southeast Asia, Lustbader obviously has a serious
misunderstanding of the basics of networking.  The book, probably
wisely, does not provide too much detail, but what there is gives us
plenty of ammunition.

Of seeming importance is the new "vid-byte" technology that allows for
video conferencing over the net and also over wireless links.  Now, of
course, a byte of video is just like any other byte, as the saying
goes, it's all just ones and zeroes.  (Unless, of course, he is
talking about "vid-bites," being somehow analogous to sound-bites, but
the limited length thus implied doesn't seem to be congruent with the
lengthy conversations that take place.)  In any case, the CDMA2000
standard appears to be proposing short range speeds that are close to
allowing full-feed NTSC TV bandwidth, so the new "Kami" technology
just isn't terribly advanced.

CyberNet appears to be a version of the Internet, with mixed data,
voice, and video traffic but with higher bandwidth.  Of course, the
Internet protocols, and particularly the new IPv6, can be scaled to
any amount of bandwidth, so why a proprietary technology is needed is
not too clear.  Nevertheless, the fact of the central "data" of this
net, contained in what is apparently one file, being stolen is vitally
important.  (Except that it isn't.  Yes it is.  No it isn't.  The book
can't make up its mind.)  In any case, as many companies have found to
their sorrow, proprietary networking just does not seem to be able to
compete with open standards.  After all, the purpose of a net is to
allow communications, and if nobody can connect to it, it isn't very
useful.

This net also seems to be quite centralized.  While that works
admirably for Fedex, in this day and age it is a recipe for digital
disaster.  Nevertheless, we have important plot elements relying on
the interception of communications which, in turn, would be dependent
upon all packets flowing through a central node.  (We also have a
system being sold to businesses on the basis of privacy and
confidentiality where nobody has ever heard of encryption.  Oh, you
have the central encryption algorithm?  Well, if you can crack it
knowing only that, it isn't very good, is it?  But then, I suppose a
proprietary algorithm would be more likely to contain holes ...)  We
also have a proposal to eavesdrop on everyone using a multinational
network from one central location.  This sounds more like Usenet news
than email.

Oh, and, direct from its smash hit in "White Ninja," Lustbader again
brings us the amazing, non-reproducing, operating without being
invoked, data-eating virus.

copyright Robert M. Slade, 2000   BKSCDSKN.RVW   20000301