Eric Nylund's fourth novel is touted by the publisher as "hyperpunk," but what is that, exactly? Is it the spastic child of cyberpunk? The willful offspring poking Father Gibson in the eye? While Signal to Noise introduces some fascinating virtual sleights of hand, the overall impression is of a continuation of the nano-techno-cyberpunk genre rather than a leap in evolution to a new form of fiction.

This latest offering from the former Microsoft employee will undoubtedly thrill writers of code and the romantics who call themselves hackers. Nylund's main characters are affixed with permanent implants allowing instant access to cyberspace; a virtuality so vivid that they often prefer the virtual over the reality. The trouble begins when Jack Potter, an encryption expert who's done some shady work for the NSO, finds and decodes a message buried in old astronomical data. Contact with the outreaching alien and information bartering result. Unfortunately, someone else is watching, too. "Down the hall, bars rattled. It was a nice touch. Cold churned in Jack's stomach, diffused down his legs and up his spine. It was synthetic fear generated by the bubble. He fought it. DeMitri took a set of keys from his pocket, picked one out, then opened a cell door ... 'Alcatraz'--he spread his arms in a grand gesture--'is a reflection of what's on your mind, Jack. Feeling guilty about something?'"

The brilliance of Signal to Noise is in the science: the idea of looking out into the swirling sea of the cosmos and finding patterns hidden amongst the static hiss of the births and deaths of stars. At times, the math itself has more depth than many of the characters, who tend to be reminiscent of stock figures in pulp fiction. Which isn't to say that there's no fun to be had here. As the novel progresses, the ante is upped until Jack is bartering the alien for Earth itself. An extra implant crammed into Jack's brain against his will is starting to burn out his optical nerve, and he's no longer sure who his friends are. Log on to Signal to Noise to find out who the bad guys are, and who, if anyone, is going to survive. --Jhana Bach


From Booklist
The future that Jack Potter lives in is one where the corporate-shark mentality has filtered into every aspect of life: from the beginning of a school career, students learn to lie, cheat, and steal in order to get the best grade. The most successful, and ruthless, are implanted with devices that link their brains to powerful computers. Over the years, Jack has done very well, climbing all the way to the prestigious Academe of Pure and Applied Sciences, where he is in a bitter fight with a rival for tenure. Using a decryption program stolen from his rival, he detects a signal in the background noise of space. He and two friends enter into an information-trading partnership with an alien race that promises amazing and potentially deadly rewards. Soon the three find themselves involved in a no-holds-barred power struggle between corporations, governments, and interstellar life-forms to see which will proffer the ultimate takeover bid. Eric Robbins


From Kirkus Reviews
Alien contact yarn from the author of Dry Water (not reviewed). By 2070, earthquakes have destroyed America's West Coast. On the artificial island city of Santa Sierra, hacker and cryptographer Jack Potter claws his way up the academic ladder, performing shady services for the all-powerful National Security Office, stealing his colleagues' researchuntil in an apparently random noise received from space, he detects an encoded signal that yields the key to instantaneous communication with an alien civilization. Jack's contact, Wheeler, trades information on human genetics for an enzyme that rebuilds human DNAproviding, among other things, a cure for cancer. Jack's office, however, has been trashed; then his ``uncle'' Reno grabs him and implants a device in his head that, via ubiquitous VR ``bubbles,'' allows Jack to influence other people's perceptions. Jack outsmarts Andropov DeMitri of the NSO, but his friends Isabel and Zero dose themselves with Wheeler's enzyme, and their personalities begin to change. Panda, a Chinese agent and Reno's rival, helps Jack evade the vengeful NSO, but the rapacious Wheeler threatens to destroy the Earth unless Jack seeks out new alien technologies for Wheeler to plunder. Zero disappears, while Isabel and Reno try to grab Wheeler's miraculous computers, intelligent translators, and teleport devices. Can Jack save the Earth? Or, if Wheeler can't be defeated, should Jack join him? Ferociously inventive and often fascinating, but overcomplicated by several orders of magnitude, with an unsatisfying apocalyptic wrap-up that seems to promise sequels. -- Copyright ©1998, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.


Book Description
Jack Potter puts computer cryptography to work for the highest bidder: sometimes for private corporations, sometimes for the government. Sometimes the work is legal; if not, Jack simply raises his price. But one day, Jack discovers something cloaked in the hiss of background radiation streaming past the Earth from deep space: a message from an alien civilization. One that's eager to do business with humanity -- and its representative.Before he knows it, Jack has entered into a partnership that will open a Pandora's Box of potential profit and loss. The governments, the multinationals, and mysterious players more powerful still, all want a piece of the action -- and they're willing to kill, even wage war, to get it. Now Jack is entangled shifting web of deceit and intrigue in which no one, not even his closest friends, can be trusted. For Earth's cloak-and-dagger business practices are writ large in the heavens...and hostile takeovers are just as common across light years as they are across boardroom tables.


About the Author
Eric S. Nylund received a B.S. in chemistry from UC Santa Barbara and a Masters in theoretical physics from UC San Diego. A 1994 graduate of the Clarion West writers' workshop, he is the author of three previous novels, and has recently completed A Signal Shattered,the sequel to Signal To Noise. He lives with his wife in Seattle, Washington.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Jack Potter has clawed and cheated his way into the elite Academe of Pure and Applied Sciences. There, with access to the best "bubbles" - networked virtual reality environments tapped directly into the subconscious - Jack puts computer cryptography to work for the highest bidder. Sometimes he hacks for private multinational corporations, sometimes for the government and its ruthlessly efficient National Security Office. Sometimes the work is legal; otherwise, Jack simply raises his price.

FROM THE CRITICS

Greg L. Johnson - SF Site

...Signal to Noise is a good read, well-written with a wealth of inventive details.

Kirkus Reviews

Alien contact yarn from the author of Dry Water (not reviewed). By 2070, earthquakes have destroyed America's West Coast. On the artificial island city of Santa Sierra, hacker and cryptographer Jack Potter claws his way up the academic ladder, performing shady services for the all-powerful National Security Office, stealing his colleagues' researchþuntil in an apparently random noise received from space, he detects an encoded signal that yields the key to instantaneous communication with an alien civilization. Jack's contact, Wheeler, trades information on human genetics for an enzyme that rebuilds human DNAþproviding, among other things, a cure for cancer. Jack's office, however, has been trashed; then his "uncle" Reno grabs him and implants a device in his head that, via ubiquitous VR "bubbles," allows Jack to influence other people's perceptions. Jack outsmarts Andropov DeMitri of the NSO, but his friends Isabel and Zero dose themselves with Wheeler's enzyme, and their personalities begin to change. Panda, a Chinese agent and Reno's rival, helps Jack evade the vengeful NSO, but the rapacious Wheeler threatens to destroy the Earth unless Jack seeks out new alien technologies for Wheeler to plunder. Zero disappears, while Isabel and Reno try to grab Wheeler's miraculous computers, intelligent translators, and teleport devices. Can Jack save the Earth? Or, if Wheeler can't be defeated, should Jack join him? Ferociously inventive and often fascinating, but overcomplicated by several orders of magnitude, with an unsatisfying apocalyptic wrap-up that seems to promise sequels.