Ciphers: A Post-Shannon Rock 'N' Roll Mystery

Paul Di Filippo's first published novel offers an entertaining mix of seemingly contradictory qualities. Fast-paced, yet recursively digressive. Hilarious, but poignant. Intellectually stimulating, and generously fleshed out by kinky sex. Ciphers turns paranoia inside out, rewriting history on a grand scale.

With Ciphers Di Filippo has undertaken a "thematic sequel" to Thomas Pynchon's Gravity's Rainbow. (No explicit continuation of characters or plot elements, but very much an homage in many respects.) Conspiracy theorists will find much to ponder between these covers, as will herpetologists and economists, religio-historians and pornstar wannabes. Over 500 pages of sex, drugs, rock 'n' roll — and information theory!