Book Review: Little Brother

I was going to write that Little Brother was a great science fiction story … and then I started wondering whether it was really science fiction or not. It takes place a year or two in the future but I think all of the technology in it is possible today.

Little Brother reads like a science fiction story – Cory Doctorow’s got a bit of Robert Heinlein’s style – his characters even talk in the same way. I enjoyed the book – staying up past my normal bedtime to finish it.

I would have preferred a slightly more subtle style of explanation. The main character spends most of the book explaining everything from cryptography to churros to us. I think the story would have been more compelling if the character had just expected us to know what cryptography was and given us more subtle clues. That said, I understand that Cory is trying to educate readers and I appreciate that.

The book was possibly cooler because I’ve met Cory and I know all the technology in the book is possible.

(And for those that wonder, I ran across the Little Brother in some blog or another, checked it out on Amazon, and added it to my Paperbackswap wishlist at some point in the past. It arrived last week and as a hardback fiction book, it got add to my books to read "when I don’t have travel planned but I’m really busy pile." It will soon be shipped off to one of the 62 people waiting for it on Paperbackswap.)

3 Replies to “Book Review: Little Brother”

  1. Little Brother reads like a science fiction story – Cory Doctorow’s got a bit of Robert Heinlein’s style […]
    No no. See, Doctorow is readable and funny.

  2. Science Fiction is always about the present, as Cory says 🙂
    I think that he try to explain everything (as you say), is probably because the book is a kind of introduction to hackers culture to an young audience.
    That said, I really need to read the book 🙂

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