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Review
Praise for Little Brother:
‘I’d recommend ‘Little Brother’ over pretty much any book I’ve read this year. Because I think it’ll change lives. It’s a wonderful, important book’ Neil Gaiman
‘Cory Doctorow’s novel could hardly be more relevant, scary and eye-opening … seriously entertaining.’ The Times
‘A cracking read’ Guardian
‘A well structured and superbly executed thriller with breakneck pacing and an emotional payoff to boot. Engaging, thought provoking, and at times harrowing.SciFi Now
‘An entertaining thriller and a thoughful polemic on Internet-era civil rights … a terrific read’ New York Times
‘A compulsive and chillingly credible read … would make a great discussion for any reading group’ New Books
‘A tale of struggle familiar to any teenager, about those moments when you choose what your life is going to mean.’ Steven Gould, author of ‘Jumper’
Product Description
What does the future look like? A brilliantly entertaining and original novel about the end of the economy from the visionary author of Little Brother.
Perry and Lester invent things. All sorts of things. Seashell robots that make toast, Boogie Woogie Elmo dolls that drive cars. They also invent an entirely new economic system. 'New Work' is a New Deal for the technological era. Soon barefoot bankers are criss-crossing the nation, microinvesting in high-tech communal start-ups like Perry and Lester's. Together they transform a country, and journalist Suzanne Church is there to document it.
But a new economic system requires a whole new belief system – and there are plenty of non-believers out there. The New Work bust puts the dot.com-bomb to shame and soon Perry and Lester are out of funds and out of business. Down but not out, they go back to what they do best - making stuff. But when a rogue Disney executive grows jealous of their once more soaring popularity and convinces the police that their amazing 3-D printers are being used to run off AK-47s, things get very dark very quickly…
This brilliantly entertaining and original novel from the visionary author of Little Brother fizzes with bold ideas about the future and how our lives will look as part of it. But at its heart are three characters, Perry, Lester and Suzanne, on an unforgettable journey that will bring them together only to break them apart as they each try to discover how to live meaningfully in an ever-changing world filled with both beauty and horror – where some things really are immutable…
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format: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.
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.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Vine™ Review
(What's this?)
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.
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.
6 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
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.
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.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
Good ideas, poorly written
It's full of interesting ideas and opinions but reads at a teenage level. I didn't care about any of the characters as they were all so stereotypical that they were unbelievable. Read more
Published 9 months ago by S. King
The Great American Novel he was always going to write
A social and economic history of the next forty years or so, this novel is an epic told through the lives of a pair of on-off partners, entrepreneurs in a series of new economies. Read more
Published 21 months ago by Ray Blake
Original but did not inspire me sadly
I won't dwell on the story as that is summarised well enough in the description above. This is a book full of interesting ideas but in my opinion there was not enough of a... Read more
Published on 20 May 2010 by K. Galvin
I really wanted to like this, but
Cory Doctorow is a difficult one for me. I always really want to like his fiction, so I keep trying it out (thus far, my favourite book of his has been Eastern Standard... Read more
Published on 30 April 2010 by R. Palmer
An intriguing novel of ideas
Makers is really a novel of ideas. The author, Cory Doctorow, extrapolates the future of commerce, entertainment and - in particular - manufacturing, and comes up with a variety of... Read more
Published on 27 April 2010 by Mr. N. Daws
In 50 words?
A vehicle for Doctorow's ideas about the near future rather than suffering from an excess of narrative plot. Read more
Published on 11 Feb 2010 by Stouters
The near future's not nice
The first thing you've got to ask yourself is how Cory Doctorow is not getting sued. Or if he is, how can he afford it? Read more
Published on 20 Jan 2010 by Mrs. R.
Innovative
Authors try to find new and inventive ways to make the world of tomorrow the reality of today, at least in books. Read more
Published on 29 Nov 2009 by Gareth Wilson - Falcata Times Blog
Tedious and 2 dimensional
I was looking forward to reading this book as I don't mind a bit of sci-fi when written well. Unfortunately this was not the case with this novel. Read more
Published on 19 Nov 2009 by P. Millar
Making a difference
I hadn't heard of Doctorow before being offered this book through Amazon Vine, but greatly liked the outline of the story, which made me think of some of Douglas Coupland's stories... Read more
Published on 16 Nov 2009 by Jeremy Walton
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