Little Brother

A very timely, and realistic portrayal of how our civil liberties are on their death bed - a 'what if' story that predicts, believably, what would happen after another 9/11 style attack, in a manner that should strike home with its readers. Our country doesn't have a problem with torture and secret prisons, this we have learned - what comes next?
Very like some of Scott Westerfeld's books, in theme, pacing and writing style.
The book started out like gangbusters - a 5(6!), but the pace slowed for me considerably. I felt that some repetition seemed sloppy.
I was distracted by whether or not the characters were trustworthy, not an inappropriate train of thought for the story - but one that didn't ultimately satisfy in my reading. Some of the characters didn't seem very dimensional.
These things not withstanding, the importance of this subject at this time in our nation's history is paramount - and I sincerely hope that many people are reading it and taking it to heart. Our future freedoms may well depend on it.

Little Brother is the '1984' and 'It Can't Happen Here' for the current generation. I'm 25, and juuust on the brink of "trustworthy," in that I still have hope that we can change the system to avoid this scary near-future. But I'm also just old enough to be terrified of what could happen to me if that near-future happens and someone finds this review and traces it back to me.

You see, Little Brother is a fun read, but it's also a chilling look at what can happen when a society blithely turns over its rights to privacy out of fear - fear of terrorists, fear of change, fear of losing our way of life.

The terrible irony of giving up your rights in the name of security is that you're not secure without those rights. Marcus Yallow discovered that, given the right circumstances, his own government, his own *family* was willing to give up freedom of speech, privacy, and due process, and that fear made those who should be his strongest allies into his most dangerous enemies.

But he fought back, and so should we all.

We don't have to blindly accept the canned truth that terrorists are going to get us, that the only way to stop them is to spy on our own population and hope to catch one of the "bad guys" saying something incriminating. We can look for better ways. We can use the technology available to us to not only devise better methods to protect ourselves from the things we fear, but also to protect ourselves from the (allegedly) well-intentioned snooping of our government. Marcus used technology as a tool - hacking his XBOX to run a fully-encrypted version of Linux, working with friends to keep those using that Linux distro safe from prying eyes, devising simple ways to detect and foil privacy intrusions and display to the world just how ineffectual Bayesian math can be when misapplied, starting a "web of trust" with double-encryption, and using media outlets to get the message out.

In the end, Marcus and those close to him go through hell to protect their freedom, and if that isn't patriotism, what is?

This book is important, timely, interesting, and exciting to read. Highly recommended for any teenaged, young adult, aging hippie, or veteran citizen.

I have a bright 11 year old son who can type faster than I on his computer but typically will NOT read books. After hearing of Little Brother on a Technology Podcast (I think TWIT.tv network) I bought it for him for Summer 08 reading.

He loved the book and is now hooked on reading.

I read the book and loved it as well.

Thank you Cory!

We are waiting for more!

Warren Tripp
Madison,WI

A worthy "little brother" to Orwell's Big Brother (as seen in his novel 1984 or, if you prefer, in your daily newspaper), Cory Doctorow's book is must reading for any teenager (and adult) who cares about the Constitution and individual freedoms. In fact, it'd make perfect summer reading leading to first-week-of-school discussions in either English OR social studies classes. It's that important.

LITTLE BROTHER's premise is a terrorist attack on San Francisco that takes down the Bay Bridge and the underwater section of the BART. Marcus and his friends Vanessa, Jolu, and Darryl find themselves in the wrong place at the wrong time and are swept up by a dragnet of DHS (Department of Homeland Security) officers. The rest, alas, is straight out of truth-is-stranger-than-Gitmo as they're hauled to Treasure Island in San Francisco bay and held illegally in the name of security.

With his escape, Marcus vows revenge. He is a computer geek, you see, and a hacker who is friends with many other young hackers. In this novel, the technology that teens are often vilified for (because they spend too much time on it) becomes their redeeming grace as they use technology, anger, and concern for the Constitution to do battle with the Feds. And although Doctorow occasionally explains too much about this hack or that, you don't have to be a computer geek to enjoy the book. In fact, the plot will carry you along quite nicely, as you see Marcus and friends try to outwit an enemy that has its share of computer network infiltrators, too.

Yes, you could argue that the writing is not stellar and has its share of cliches, but this book is not pretending to be something it isn't. It's fun reading with an engaging plot that seems fail safe for Grades 9 and up (alas, the mild sex scenes will keep it out of many middle school libraries). Just as good as the plot are the themes: what is legitimate in the name of national security? where do our civil rights begin and end in times of "national crisis"? who gets to define patriotism? do state's rights trump the Feds' if abuses take place? LITTLE BROTHER even treats us to a DHS-leading cameo by Kurt Rooney -- the President's special assistant with a name reminiscent of Karl Rove (with an echo of "Loony").

For a YA book, this is serious stuff packaged in fun circuitry. There's something to be learned for everyone -- curious Luddites, students of the Constitution, hacker wannabes, privacy advocates-in-training, journalists and media watchdogs, and even fans of the XBox and Internet (there -- THAT pads the numbers quite a bit). Recommended not only to read, but to discuss.

wow, a tutorial on modern digital life wrapped in a good story and an object lesson on the dangers of allowing the government to pull the bait and switch of protecting us from terrorism in the name of increasing their own power while stifling dissent. what's not to love? also, there are some really important technical ideas and concepts explained in this book in a really accessible way. An important book for kids finding their way in the world and adults trying to keep up. Plus, a revealing answer to the question of, if you have nothing to hide, why you should care about your privacy.