Lose yourself in the visionary fiction of Cory Doctorow, the celebrated author and digital rights activist known for his masterful explorations of the intersection of tech and society. And help support the Electronic Frontier Foundation with your purchase.
Anyone read them? How are they?
I don’t read many books, but I’ve read both “Little Brother” and “Homeland” quite some time back and they were honestly some of my favourites. Though in my opinion it can suffer slightly from the main character being too technically capable than most people today. I believe at one point in one book they go through their computers entire kernel to find some backdoor or rootkit, which I found to be probably the most unbelievable part of it all.
Other than that minor gripe, I actually really appreciate the stories for how engaged I was and their warnings of what could quite easily happen. Also I appreciate the technical level that Cory engages the stories with. I’m a developer, so I appreciate those technical explanations a little more than just ‘hackerman does a hacker on the keyboard to gain access’ type dialogue.
I don’t really follow specific authors but with Cory’s “enshittification” article combined with his recent publicity, some of his stories and messages are quite relevant still today with the implementation of our primitive AI.
I’m quite tempted to get a copy of this bundle because I didn’t know there was a third/related book but I am honestly a little sad they are not physical copies.
They’re pretty good. He has a very clear, very technically detailed style. Good solid mystery writing. Kind of like a poor man’s William Gibson. After reading a two page segment of red team blues where Doctorow explains keypair encryption I described him to my wife as “Tom Clancy level detail for computers and the internet” not that Clancy is good, but his stuff is that detailed.
So should I read William Gibson instead?
I can’t tell you if you should read William Gibson instead, but I can definitely tell you that you should read William Gibson
I would advise anyone who likes sci-fi to read both of these authors.
Count Zero and Neuromancer are fundamental books for the cyberpunk ethos.
William Gibson wrote Neuromancer, and it had an incredible cultural impact. But everything else he wrote hasn’t come close. I’ve read the Bigend trilogy. Can’t really remember anything that happened in those books.
On the other hand, Cory Doctorow is the writer I wish I was. He does high tech thrillers the way they’re supposed to be. Attack Surface is excellent, a master class in a flawed but sympathetic main character. Just read Red Team Blues. Doctorow reveals how interesting forensic accounting really is.
His “Burning chrome” short story collection is great too. It has “Johnny Mnemonic” in it, an amazing short story turned into a terrible movie. Just having more Molly is worth the ride.
I’d like to know as well
The short answer is, yes, his work is very good.
They’re FOSS competence porn and wish fulfillment fantasy. I’m 100% on board with his politics and ideas, but the stories are a bit weak.
They’re fun though.
Exactly the kind of porn youngsters leading to become adults should read, IMO.