Little Brother

A terrorist attack on San Francisco kicks off this Young Adult novel by Cory Doctorow. Marcus Yallow and his friends are playing an interactive scavenger hunt game and end up in the wrong place at the wrong time. One of their number is injured and when they flag down the police, they find themselves under arrest and taken to a secret prison where they're interrogated by the Department of Homeland Security. Once released, Marcus uses his technology skills to become and activist, which makes him Public Enemy Number One, as he attempts to regain the city and the freedom that he used to know.

This novel is particularly compelling because it isn't far-fetched. When a government and its people gives terrorists the power to disrupt their lives, the changes that a governing body can institute and the people will tolerate in the name of safety can become shocking. The majority of the technology in the novel already exists in some form, even if it isn't yet as sophisticated or widely-used as in the book. The leaps for the techonolgy in the book aren't unreasonable and have probably already been developed, but haven't been released to the general public. Interestingly enough, the chief tool for the subversion of the government are xBoxes that have been hacked.

Marcus is a compelling character because if he hadn't been so mistreated, he wouldn't have become so active in attempting to bring down the Department of Homeland Security. He isn't stupid, nor does he seem particularly lazy, he's just a kid, doing the kind of things expected from a typical teenaged geek with free time on his hands. He's a little selfish and a bit vindictive, but he's a highly realistic character. Many very significant social movements were founded on a similar vindictive dissident basis.

Cory Doctorow also provides afterwords and a bibliography for those who want to learn more about the technology involved in the book and the ideas presented. The book mentions Abbie Hoffman and the Yippie movement, as well as civil rights groups, and some very poignant quotes from the Constitution. The book never become preachy, it has a point and the author is never shy about reminding the reader what that point is, but there is still so much action, reaction, and character growth that it doesn't feel as if it's an adamant statement. This is the kind of book meant to get people thinking and talking, and it certainly offers a great deal of food for thought.

Technology can sometimes be off-putting in fiction. If an author has to take a long tangent in order to explain how things work or how and why the technology was developed, the plot and characterizatino can often suffer. Sometimes, techno-babble can cause readers to lose interest, especially if they're unfamiliar with slang or jargon that is being used. "Little Brother" doesn't suffer from these problems. The technology isn't inacessible and through various plot devices it's easily and neatly explained enough to help the reader understand what is happening.

The bigger point, though, is at what point trading privacy for safety needs to be stopped. "Little Brother" is being marketed as Young Adult, but I believe that adult readers would gain just as much, if not more, benefit from reading this book. Anyone who has concerns over the amount of power the Department of Homeland Security has been granted or about the Patriot Act should definitely get a hold of a copy of "Little Brother" and then start sharing it with their friends. Some adults are certainly part of the problem in the book, but not all adults are the issue. There are very specific villains in this book, which gives it a more balanced view than it might have had.

It's an excellent, thought-provoking read, and I would recommend it to just about everyone.

Other Reviews of works by Cory Doctorow

Eastern Standard Tribe - Aug 13, 2006

Someone Comes To Town, Someone Leaves Town - Jun 22, 2006

Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom - Apr 26, 2006