Comments: 5 Comments (Go to Comments)
Categories: Books
Tags: Cory Doctorow, Harajuku Fun Madness, little brother
Little Brother
Author: Cory Doctorow
Publisher: Tor Teen
Released: April 2008Ditching class to play the ARG Harajuku Fun Madness (“the best game ever made”) means beating Cesar Chavez High School’s gait-recognition software and RFID tags – but trouncing security is an everyday occurrence for Marcus Yallow, the main character of Little Brother. However, the wifi hotspot containing Harajuku Fun Madness’s first clue puts Marcus and his four-person team close to a terrorist attack which takes out San Francisco’s Bay Bridge. In the aftermath, one of Marcus’s friends is stabbed and all four are taken into custody by the Department of Homeland Security.
After a few cruel days of detention in a secret prison, Marcus is released with the warning that he will be under constant surveillance and he must never tell people what happened unless he wants to go back to jail. Marcus’s fear turns to anger as DHS steps up security: using E-Z Pass toll paying devices to track drivers and question those who have abnormal driving patterns, placing cameras in every classroom, and instituting a new educational curriculum which promotes homeland security while making inalienable rights malleable. This, combined with the fact that one of his friends still hasn’t been released, leads Marcus to take action.
Over Xnet, a network of Xboxes running ParanoidXbox, Marcus uses the alias M1k3y to spread ideas for dissention – people are encouraged to spoof and jam DHS’s RFID trackers, embarrassing info about DHS is shared through pirate servers, and 1960s inspired demonstrations are orchestrated flashmob style. But DHS is ready to counter resistance with force. As stakes escalate, Marcus is forced to consider what he’s truly fighting for and what (and who) he’s willing to lose along the way.
The world of Little Brother is one where technology is ubiquitous and the masses have traded privacy for convenience. Students have free laptops, updated daily with new reading and assignments, but also filled with snoopware. Microsoft hands out free Xboxes, knowing that they’ll make all their money in licensing. It’s a cautionary near-future tale, in the traditional “If this goes on…” vein, but Little Brother isn’t sci-fi. Cory Doctorow has grounded his story in the here and now.
It’s hard to recommend this book enough. It may not be the best book you read this year, but it’s certainly one of the most important.
Bluraven79:
Wow. Now I have to go the library asap! This looks too good to let slip by…thanks for the heads up!
Aucifen:
I’ve just bought this book, and it is 3 steps above every other book I have read.
I can’t really explain it…
It draws you in…and doesn’t let you go. Even after you have finished reading it.
This book is possibly the best book I have ever read.
Kit:
you can read this book for free at:
http://craphound.com/littlebrother/Cory_Doctorow_-_Little_Brother.htm
andrew:
This book is really good and tells about how bad things could get. This book really influenced me about how I think and I would recommend this book to anyone.
Jenna:
This book is on wattpad: http://www.wattpad.com/82430-Little-Brother-by-Cory-Doctorow
its very good