Reflection's Edge

Book Review: Echelon, by Josh Conviser

Reviewer: Romie Stott

Summary: In the near future, society has entered a period of peaceful stagnation, controlled and monitored by a secret organization called Echelon. But when the head of Echelon goes rogue, the world is thrown into a chaos it's forgotten how to handle. Against a backdrop of betrayal and paranoia, cyborg field operative Ryan Laing has to choose a side before the nanomachines that make him immortal drive him insane - and before he gets too attached to the beautiful Scottish hacker who can jack in to his mind.

Length: 289 pages. The reviewer finished it in four hours, split between two days, while waiting for appointments.

From the cover, you might think this book is about: Two action movie archetypes single-handedly bringing down an all-powerful shadow government in a barrage of nonstop fight scenes and plot twists that would work better on film.

But it's actually about: Two action movie archetypes single-handedly bringing down an all-powerful shadow government in a barrage of nonstop fight scenes and plot twists that would work better in an anime television series.

Plausibility of Conspiracy Theories: Low. If the CIA has taught us anything, it's that subtle behind-the-scenes manipulations often fail, and more data leads to less clarity.

Signs of Cyberpunk's 1980s Roots: The female lead plays bass in an underground punk band; hackers hang out in virtual reality; NORAD and the Star Wars missile defense system are namechecked.

If this book were a food, it would be: Crystal Pepsi.

Mainstream appeal: Low to moderate; Echelon doesn't ask much of its audience beyond a strong visual imagination, but its slick cyberpunk setting will drive off non-geeks. Moreover, exclusive emphasis on action and imagery makes for a strongly masculine fantasy - one can easily imagine Bruce Willis powering his way through the lead role, and the female lead is equal parts sympathy and great boobs. This specialization makes Echelon easily marketable, and it carries the confident air of a blockbuster. However, it will have trouble hooking readers outside its target market; it's not the kind of book you recommend to your mother.

Fringy-ness: Moderate. The title will catch the interest of hackers and signals intelligence wonks, but they will find the fictional Echelon much less weird, convoluted, and fascinating than the real thing. There's a little bit of sex - even a little bit of lipstick lesbianism - and a lot of superhero violence, but it's tame compared to what can be found in the best comic books. Although characters constantly die and are resurrected, it feels incidental.

People are saying: Behind the flash, there isn't much philosophy or characterization, and the dialogue is restricted to one-liners; while the book is not unpleasant, it is also not memorable. Most readers will leave Echelon chagrinned - it feels like a book that was written because books are easier to pull together than comics, or movies, or animated series. Despite this, there are moving moments that caught the reviewer by surprise, as when, late in the book, the nanomachine-infested hero takes off his biohazard suit so he can describe the smell of radioactive jungle to his more mortal companions. Unfortunately, it is hard to care about the unusually-paced plot, which hinges on dubious and unsupported claims that art and innovation are impossible without violence - not to mention farfetched ideas about computer viruses. Oddly, the book's most jarring fallacy is not the idea that aliens would understand human technology better than the humans that built it, but a mix-up about the figure of Minos in Greek mythology - particularly strange given author Josh Conviser's role as executive consultant on HBO's Rome.

The author is: Probably cursing NORAD for its late-July decision to move its operations from Cheyenne Mountain to the Peterson Air Force Base, thus dating his book mere days after its publication. Otherwise, Conviser is busy mountain climbing, reading good books, developing scripts for film and television, and generally leading a cool and well-traveled life - and if you enter a contest on his website, you could win a walk-on role in Echelon's forthcoming sequel (Deadline: September 1, 2006).

To buy a copy of this book, click: here.

If you liked this book, check out:

Jennifer Government, by Max Berry

Neuromancer, by William Gibson

The Traveler, by John Twelve Hawks

Equilibrium, directed by Kurt Wimmer (DVD)

Gattaca, directed by Andrew Niccol (DVD)



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