Homeland

Pretty standard YA Cory Doctorow. Which is to say, I was inspired to do everything in this book: build a frankenlaptop running Linux, visit cyberpunk hackerspaces on the weekend, fight for digital civil liberties, read Aaron Swartz (RIP) and Larry Lessig, go to Burning Man with a 3D solar-powerered laser printer, and drink tons and tons of cold brew. Cory, man. He always GETS ME GOIN. I'm just like, LEAD ON, LEADER, THAT ALL SOUNDS GREAT.

His books are always wonderfully imbued with anarchic resourcefulness, programming, art, civic engagement, and hackering. And an abiding adoration of the pre-venture capital, pre-capitalist distortion San Francisco scene. It's great. So good.

That said: book-wise, it's not as well-put together as the prequel, Little Brother. Cory can be kinda hit and miss: some of his books hit the mark SO WELL (Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom, that one short story about future advertising, Little Brother, In Real Life), and others are just meh fine (For the Win, Pirate Cinema, Rapture of the Nerds). That said, the meh ones are never terrible, they're just kinda clunky in their pedantry. But fine! I still like to learn. Now that I think of it, he's like a young person's Neal Stephenson. Sort of. I like Cory more. Cory is just so much more ENGAGED.

Anyway. Yeah. I mean, Cory Doctorow has deeply influenced my life for the past ~10 years - much of my computer-related opinions are derived from his books, talks, BoingBoing (pre that awful store). This book felt - meh - fine. The narrative arc felt super contrived. Everyone also felt a little one-dimensional. And Marcus Yallow AKA M1k3y is a Mary Sue/Marty Stu. Fine. I can't stay mad achoo. I'm so pumped for Walkaway (his first non-YA book in a loong while).