The Traveler (novel)

Traveler ( English for " travelers " or " walkers ") is the title of a novel, which was published in 2005 in English under the title The Traveler by John Twelve Hawks to the author. It is the first part of the Fourth Realm Trilogy, The Dark River whose second part was published in summer 2007. The German translation by Claus Varrelmann and Eve Bonné appeared in the spring of 2006 under the imprints Page & Turner in Wilhelm Goldmann Verlag, Munich, a division of Random House Publishing Group.

The book impressed some critics and became an international bestseller.

The book is about an alternative contemporary reality, and is permeated by the teachings of Tibetan Buddhism and other Eastern religions. In this fictional reality, the U.S. and Europe are part of a society that is monitored by a secret organization, the Brotherhood of the Tabula. The brotherhood has the perfect control of the population to the target. The common theme is designed by philosopher Jeremy Bentham Panopticon prison. The monitoring is done by video cameras, central databases by identifying RFID tags and RTLS location transmitter for every citizen, implanted or placed in the card, infrared sensors, thermal imaging cameras and X-ray scanner. The monitoring is done also by the analysis of Internet traffic and telephone calls through to the present day has become known software of intelligence, for example by Carnivore. As for today's surveillance technology, the novel moves on very well recherchiertem terrain on the state of the current technology.

Opponents of this secret organization are a handful of people who have decided to escape the monitoring, by living " off the grid " and the Harlequins, a handful of fighters who are the bodyguards of the spiritual leaders of this people, the Traveler, .

The Travelers are people who are due to an inherited predisposition able to separate their soul, which is called the novel the light from the body. You can in some called a few parallel worlds, spheres after overcoming certain barriers ( water, air, earth, fire), about change.

The author wants to ostensibly use the plot of the novel, to discuss topics such as the free will of the individual, the rapid growth of public surveillance, the opinion of manipulation of the masses through the mass media by spreading fear, the nature of good and evil, etc., or to stimulate discussion.

Fiction and reality

Has control of humanity by the Brotherhood of the Tabula much of a conspiracy theory. On the other side as the Brotherhood ( Brotherhood ) actually exist secret organizations, but their approach is hardly described in the novel, their influence is currently difficult to estimate. The problem of the novel is ever that his action is although very exciting, yet very easy to knit and the complex circumstances and machinations, by which people can be monitored and influenced, can not do justice.

The control measures described

Monitoring radio telephone conversations: the technology and the possible effects are correctly described. The interception of cellular telephone calls and SMS by law enforcement is already legalized in Germany. The fact that satellite phones are safe, is limited to the data encryption. The only advantage of these devices is that the user is not to locate on a network access. The content of the conversations can be evaluated once the code is cracked.

Use of biometrics to identify a person: are the techniques described by the author, in use. The search of persons on public surveillance cameras is common practice. However, the author does not mention the high error rate of the technique (lack of good - statement ). In contrast, the techniques described to deceive corresponding scanner, not necessarily successful (wrong Well - statement ).

RFID tags and Skimmer: This technique is actually located in the middle of their introduction. This also applies to the tagging, planting of RFID chips under the skin of humans and animals. However, these chips do not need, as described in the novel, to be recharged regularly. It is now well known that companies, try the whereabouts of their employees using RFID tags ( so-called choke point locating ) monitor.

Locating balls: The use of mini- transmitters for tracking of people, animals and objects has long been common practice. The advance of technology makes the constant miniaturization of these stations.

Location of GPS receivers: Even a GPS receiver are compromising emanations. But this radiation is not used to track the receiver over long distances. Systems with which, for example, vehicles are localized, have except GPS receivers active transmitters which transmit the relevant data, for example, over the radio telephone networks. The remote control of vehicles using GPS is not technically possible, since no GPS addressing and no return channel is defined. Either accordingly have secured vehicles more receivers for telemetry signals or control, in which the position of the vehicle from the GPS receiver is transmitted and the location-dependent control pulses enables or disables.

Splicer: animals that have been genetically altered to combat machines and can repair damaged organs are pure fiction. The fact is that animals are bred and trained to fight purposes. The result might look like in the described splicers.

Software-based monitoring of Internet traffic: The monitoring of the mail and online behavior of Internet users is reality ( Echelon system ). This applies not only to the Internet, which is monitored by the Carnivore system of the FBI, but also for many corporate networks ( intranets ), which are monitored on behalf of the company management. In fact, texts with suspicious keywords are analyzed by these programs. The concealment of messages and the avoidance of certain keywords is a common countermeasure. The assignment of all data traffic to its transmitter should be largely possible by storing the data connection to the internet service provider.

Thermal imaging cameras: thermal radiation can not by massive walls provide an image that reproduces contours, as described in the novel. You can absorb the heat radiation from people and objects only when viewed directly and represent the traces of a person for a certain period of time even with line of sight. However, infrared radiation such as visible light is absorbed and scattered by massive walls.

Conclusion

The book is a well -researched, exciting adventure novel. The author shows realities of a police state and the influence of masses. It can be seen references to the world of Asian religions. The defense of the general monitoring by levitating heroes is unrelated to physics. It is a dystopian novel, the author warns against the possibility of a world of comprehensive surveillance.