Monday, November 30, 2009

Little Brother

Title: Little Brother
Author: Cory Doctorow
Genre: YA Science Fiction
Got it from: Library
Why I read it: Sounded interesting
Grade: A

Synopsis:
Marcus, a.k.a w1n5t0n, is only seventeen years old, but he figures he already knows how the system works, and how to work the system. Smart, fast, and wise to the ways of the networked world, he has no trouble outwitting his high school's intrusive but clumsy surveillance systems.

But his whole world changes when he and his friends find themselves caught in the aftermath of a major terrorist attack on San Francisco. In the wrong place at the wrong time, Marcus and his crew are apprehended by the Department of Homeland Security and whisked away to a secret prison where they are mercilessly interrogated for days.

When the DHS finally releases them, Marcus discovers that his city has become a police state where every citizen is treated like a potential terrorist. He knows that no one will believe his story, which leaves him only one option: to take down the DHS himself.


My review:
I really loved this book.  Yes, it's science fiction, but it's also scary how easily a lot of the things that happened in this book could happen today, or have happened to some extent.  As a person whose political leanings tend towards anarchy (or at least lots smaller government), this book really hit home with me. 

There were parts where the author start explaining the technical aspects, how things work, etc., that I didn't care for and I felt like it jerked me right out of the story.  For that reason I give the book an A instead of an A+.  There were also minor editing issues, that even though they were few and far between, were glaringly obvious.  Like writing the wrong persons name.  Or changing a persons name a paragraph after introducing them. 

Still, I would highly recommend this book to almost anyone, but especially liberty loving libertarians (try saying that three times fast) like myself.

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