Makers [Hardcover]

My son gave me this for Christmas. It's a novel set in the near future, focussing mostly on the possible counter-corporate implications of hacking things up with 3D printers (these are the new and rather cool devices that allow you top print 3D objects), along with many other things such as a putative and backfiring solution to obesity in the US, and US squatter camps. Long a staple of sci-fi, replicators that can make anything you need to order are very cool, the dislocations they might bring are large, and I've not read much fiction about them - so I was looking forward to the book, and willing it to be good. I kept willing it to be good all the way through, but in the end it simply wasn't. Worth reading if you have a pretty high appetite for books, but if you only read a one or two books a month then there are far better ones to have on your list.

That's not to say that there weren't good bits. I loved the way the Disney replicators were described, with little mechanical imps doing the assembly - just like you might find in a Terry Pratchett book, and every bit as cool. I liked snatches of the characterizations where people came to grip with what being a leader meant. I loved that he waded into the way that Disney was viewed, and seems to have got himself comfortable with the legal exposure.

But, there the flow of the story was very staccato - with some parts glossed over wildly, and yet still managing to be rather too long. The end especially managed to dystopically peter out - almost like Cory ran out of ideas on plot and simply tried to tie the loose threads off somehow, but guarding against a happy ending. The thinking about how the economics and business side would work felt weak - I cannot imagine anyone not realising that large-scale copyright infringement was likely to be a legal issue for example. The obesity sub-plot just awkwardly got in the way. But, least forgiveable for me was the general lack of depth and development in the characters. It was obvious that this was thought about, but it seemed to be done in rough lumps. like a sculptors first mock-up of a statue. As an example of one of the better ones, the arch corporate villain sort of had a change of heart, but was forgiven by others for deeds that it had previously been clear they would never stand. I would almost have preferred that the characters were properly one dimensional rather than the occasional snatches that made you hope - the gulf from this to the Alexandria Quartet that I read a few months ago was stark.

Summing up, it felt like a book that could have been great, from an author with imagination in spades ... but a book that needed a lot more polishing.

Down in Florida, Lester and Perry are a couple of platinum rated inventive nerds who make things, sometimes using a 3D printer. Not just any old things. Things that sell for upwards of $10,000 each. Now, their talents have been sucked up by the Kodacell conglomerate (you work it out) to construct weird and wonderful stuff. After the dot com bust, the idea is to have thousands of small co-operatives churning out product for a high return; when others copy the idea and those margins decrease, they move onto the next thing. The scheme sounds workable even in the real world. Unfortunately, when others begin to manufacture their own 3D printers from a 3D printer, everyone ends up trying to sell to everyone else so it all collapses. A bit like pyramid selling.

Some years later, all the individuals meet up once more with the two original nerds now fronting a rollercoaster ride with a nostalgic theme, which has the public queuing round the block. Thing is, they've allowed anyone to copy and build their own version free and that pesky theme park up the road, the one fronted by a mouse, takes exception. Can the little entrepreneur beat a giant international corporation? Most of the characters exude empathy, except one nasty, rat-faced journalist who you want to strangle, and a smarmy executive who you wish would get what he deserves. That is the essence of a good writer.

Some of the inventions Doctorow has thought up could eventually come to fruition; the laser key ring that repeats what you say when shone onto a wall and translates any one of a dozen languages sounds cool, as does the toaster-making robot. In a world of disposable consumerism, something that is used repeatedly would certainly have its market. The worm robots that redesign kids' playground overnight makes for curious if fanciful reading, but that nostalgic theme park ride may get people thinking. It can be done; all it needs to produce something technologically useful is for those with the ability to get together, they just haven't done so yet. They have within the pages of this book.

Makers is an interesting and different read but the main problem to overcome is the use of everything American. Those here in the UK may not understand many of the terms and phrases and struggle to imagine the environs the author is describing - the tech speak also makes your eyes glaze over on occasions. Overall, the flitting between scenes ensures the reader wants to carry on finding out what happens.

In the not-too-distant future, conventional economics is no longer enough to keep big companies afloat. With that in mind, the newly formed Kodacell (Kodak+Duracell) decides that its best bet is to invest in individuals with vision- quirky inventors like Perry and Lester, who use the technology in discarded junk to come up with weird and wonderful creations. But can such a bold new model really turn a profit?

Although it lost steam towards the end, overall I was left with a good impression from Doctorow's earlier novel Little Brother, and so I decided to give him a chance to up his game in this second work. Unfortunately, this book proved to be a slog from start to finish, leaving me quite relieved when it was all over and I didn't have to read it anymore.

Lacking the flair of his previous novel, Makers proves to be something of a drag. The characters aren't particularly memorable or likable, and a lot of the time it seems as if their efforts amount to nothing- either they fail miserably, or they succeed and move onto the next thing. Doctorow's writing seems to be aimed at impressing the reader with technobabble, but it gives it a dry, clinical edge that lacks true depth and heart. A lot of time is spent on technical details at the expense of larger potholes, whilst incongruous sections such as a surprisingly detailed sex scene only add the jarring, disorientating feel of reading this novel.

Overall, I really can't remember this book- it drags on for far too long without really giving the reader any reason to continue other than the relief of being able to put it aside once and for all. Doctorow showed promise with Little Brother, but this has put me off reading any of his future novels.