The Cobweb by Stephen Bury
reviewed by Rodger Turner
Let's suppose you want to start a war or you want to annex some land because you feel that it is part of your country (despite having lost it in battle). Suppose you want to have weapons against which your opponent has little or no defense. But all you have is money: you don't have the technology, you don't have the science infrastructure, you don't have the planning to bring it all together. But you do have the money and you do have the time. One way to do it is to buy the pieces in such a way as to make it appear that you are buying something else.

In the Beginning... Was the Command Line by Neal Stephenson
reviewed by Peter D. Tillman
It is an amusing guide to the whole dos/mac/windows/unix/gnu/linux/beos soap opera, for the perplexed -- highly recommended. It's aimed at the Unix-literate (whose ranks certainly don't include Peter), but anyone who's messed about with computers will find some goodies.

Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson
reviewed by Kim Fawcett
Cryptonomicon alternates between the 40s, where the infant science of cryptography is winning World War II for the allies, and the 90s, where an eclectic group of businessmen, hackers, and thieves are using the same science to create an Internet data haven. That's the Cliff Notes version, of course -- even the simplest of Stephenson's plots defies description.

The Cobweb by Stephen Bury
reviewed by Alex Anderson
Another sci-political thriller from Stephen Bury, the pseudonym for Neal Stephenson and his uncle, Frederick George.