Little Brother by Cory Doctorow
Little Brother
Cory Doctorow
Readers of The Fantasy Times may be a little surprised at the following “inside the cover” synopsis and then the review. Little Brother draws very heavily from the left wing hysteria play-book about secret wiretaps, controlled movements, copyright militancy and the War on Terror. However, keep your mind open and you will hopefully see why this review is justified. (Hint – it’s a hell of a great story)
Marcus lived in a scary world filled with facial and gait recognition, tracked school computers and and RFID scanners. But he found a way to beat this system through ingenious little tricks and software to help him cut school to play games with his friends. These tricks spawn an entire underground movement built out of necessity as the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) turns San Francisco into a small military dictatorship after a terrorist attack. Little Brother tells the story of a group of kids who believed in freedom enough to take on the DHS to have privacy, freedom of movement and free speech.
It has been a long time since I have laughed out loud and cried when reading the same book. Last memory of such an event was reading the account of a pair of brothers fighting in the Civil War. Most likely this is due to the fact that Cory Doctorow (from here on out Cory) hit everything a geek loves about their life…technology, dry hacks, linux, DNS packaging, role playing, encryption, vampires and sex. The technology is spot on and explained in necessary detail but succinct enough to not interfere. Little Brother is written that way throughout; just the right amount of information to bring the reader into the story without boring them to death.
In fact, sex is generally so woefully written about in most young adult novels that I was shocked at how well it played during this book. Cory does an amazing job of capturing the passion and animal instinct in a tasteful way. It is awkward and base and part of the teenage psyche but it doesn’t take over the story and is often used to show the character’s priorities especially when they choose not to have sex.
The story exudes all those values I hold dear: freedom of speech, privacy, freedom of movement, the right to personal data and secrets, lawful protest, legal assembly and freedom of the press. The DHS agents in this story are the stereotypical “jack booted thugs” and the DHS is portrayed as the 4th Reich. Generally this works well to explore the issues Cory wants to discuss but there is an apparent move in Little Brother make sure everything lines up with the anti-Bush crowd tag lines: the evil chief of staff, the anti-gay/anti-brown Republican base, the use of off-shore (Gitmo-like) bases to torture people and the spite towards Fox News. This does cause a loss of some credibility. The Patriot Act parallel is not mentioned here because that is not just a leftist view that there are numerous privacy concerns that have all parties in America concerned.
On the other side, the use of the print (low tech) media is interesting, Marcus’s traditional family, and particularly the way Marcus takes responsibility (and must go to court) for his actions are very mainstream values and the use of the Microsoft XBOX is hysterical.
Overall, however, Little Brother tells a compelling story that will allow you to forgive the unnecessary use of stereotypical leftist viewpoints of Republicans. Every freedom loving American should read this book to remind them about what it means to be free and to have the Constitution. I imagine if you hate Bush and believe Republicans to be the source of all evil then you will love this book even more.
Fantasy Times Rating: 9.4
