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I learned about this novel three years ago by clicking the link at the bottom of one of author David Calderwood's articles on LewRockwell.com. I started the book twice before, and only made it through a few pages each time. For some reason, I decided to give it one final try four days ago, and once I made it through those first couple of chapters again, the book immediately got a whole lot better, and I breezed through the rest of it. Revolutionary Language is divided into two parts: Bliss, which consists of about 20 pages; and Enlightenment, which consists of the remainder of 307 pages total. The Bliss set-up, although necessary, isn't very captivating. The much longer Enlightenment portion, however, is highly enjoyable -- I didn't want to put it down. In fact, if work and other obligations hadn't intervened, I probably would have read Revolutionary Language in one sitting.

Revolutionary Language tells the story of Andy Archer, computer programmer. At the start of the novel, he's working on his e-mail encryption program, Bliss. Andy is a sole proprietor/freelancer: he sets his own hours and is his own boss. This causes some problems for his fiance, Laurel, who doesn't understand his entrepreneurial nature. Andy also leans libertarian, as many entrepreneurs do; while Laurel is a liberal who volunteers at a drug-rehabilitation center. I don't want to spoil the plot, but let's just say that Andy's programs end up having far wider reaching applications, and they threaten to undermine the entire tax system. This makes him the target of government persecution, which at times explodes in violence. Along the way, Andy makes friends with various minarchist and anarchist philosophes, and hones his own understanding of the relationship between man and state, and what that relationship should be. Some of the highlights of the book are the tirades various characters go on when explaining their disdain for statism.

Revolutionary Language is exciting, entertaining, and thought-provoking, but I did feel it had one major flaw: The paragraph structure Calderwood uses is a bit erratic, and with sparse use of dialogue tags (and imperfect character-voice differentiation), I often had a hard time telling who was saying what. Sometimes I'd figure it out a few lines down, but other times I could read a whole scene and not know who had said what by the end. This was frustrating, but by no means reason enough to pass on this otherwise great libertarian story. The book is especially good for a first-time author, and it is unfortunate that Mr. Calderwood is an only-time author! I would like to read more of his fiction.

An excellent new near-future SF novel, dealing with the current inroads on liberty and how strong encryption might reverse the trend. The novel focuses on a computer programer whose life is wrecked because a Federal Prosecutor decides to "make an example" of him for unwittingly writing code to be used by a company involved in drug dealing. After losing everything he owns due to asset forfeiture and doing time in prison, the sadder but wiser hero begins to write an encryption program which will allow individuals to "opt out" and live invisible to government. The novel raises many good philososphical points and tells a gripping story. If you're interested in encryption or the future of liberty, READ THIS BOOK!