Little Brother (Little Brother, 1)

In some ways, this book harks back to the juveniles of fifties as written by some of the great masters of sf, most especially Heinlein. Like those earlier books, it portrays teenagers that are intelligent, resourceful, game-loving, and confrontational, but are still at times prone to making stupid mistakes in the name of peer-group status. In other words, they are real teenagers.The setting is the near future, when some ill-defined terrorist group decides to blow up the San Francisco Bay Bridge. Marcus, our hero, and several of his friends are picked up in a rather wide sweep by Homeland Security forces as possible suspects. And therein lies the tale, as the actions of the security forces clash violently with Marcus's idea of what is right and proper in the supposed land-of-the-free America. What Marcus decides to do about this situation is an instructional manual to the reader in just how personal freedom and privacy have been restricted and what can be done about it in today's very high-tech world of security cameras, RFIDs, cryptography, computer databases, and the insidious insinuation of propaganda both at our schools and into everything we see and hear on the internet and our TVs and from the mouths of our political leaders.The story bubbles with suspense, and the actions that Marcus takes are very believable as something a seventeen-year old could actually do. It is very easy to identify with Marcus and become very sympathetic to his cause, while the situation itself is stark enough to frighten the daylights out of the reader as being all too possible. The info-dumps along the way not only impart some very necessary information to the reader, but are handled very much the way Heinlein did it, as things that are necessary for the hero to either know or learn about to accomplish his desires, making them easy to swallow. The techniques and technology presented are real, as some of the afterword material to this book details.The other characters of this book, while not presented with the detail that Marcus is (almost a given in any first-person narration), are both intriguing and in some cases frightening. Marcus's father is a major case in point, as a man with liberal leanings who nevertheless finds himself driven to support the majority view out of fear for his son, and Marcus's social studies teacher, who is very reminiscent of some of the `mentors' of Heinlein's books, as her willingness to engage her students in free-wheeling debate and attempts to get them to think for themselves leads to a very plausible and ugly fate. It is just such touches that make the whole situation ring with that touch of reality that marks excellent science fiction.The politics of this book are decidedly left-wing. The Patriot Act and the Department of Homeland Security come in for some merciless beatings, but the reasoning behind such depictions is carefully laid out and form a clarion call to all Americans to look carefully at just what we are giving up in the name of `security'. Perhaps it should be compared and contrasted (as one of those infamous school assignments I don't fondly remember) with something like Tom Clancy's  Executive Orders , which presents the right-wing rationale of why and when the government should be allowed to exceed the boundaries of the Constitution and its amendments.Unlike the YA material of the fifties, this book does not ignore an item of great concern to almost every teenager, namely sex. I found the presentation of this material both appropriate to the characters and handled realistically without being too graphic. However, it might make this book inappropriate for pre-teens.Teenagers should find this book a riveting read, with characters they can identify with, and like all really good YA books, adults should find this book just as riveting, with concepts and philosophies presented that require thought and contemplation. This is the best book I've read out of the 2008 crop so far, and I'd be very much surprised if it doesn't at least make the 2009 Hugo nomination list, if not take the award itself.--- Reviewed by Patrick Shepherd (hyperpat)

A very cool read with a look into what could easily happen to our great nation, as our bloated government continues to grow, under the justification of National Security. Set in the near future, a terrorist attack in San Francisco, results in a branch of Homeland Security stealthily bags and tags a number of American teens as they flee the bombing at the San Francisco Bay Bridge. The innocent teens are pretty much kidnapped and taken to Treasure Island, kind of a mini Gitmo and held there, interrogated and tortured for information in relation to the bombing.Marcus is our 17 year old protagonist, a techy kid and a gamer. Basically he spends a lot of his teenage energy beating "the system" with his above average knowledge of computers, coding and gaming. And by the system I mean mostly his high school's advanced security program, cameras, cell phone tracers, jammers, and The SchoolBooks, aka "free" laptops provided by the school that really just helped the system keep track of the kid's goings on online activity. Unfortunately for Marcus and a few of his pals, they happen to be near the bridge when the terrorist attack and although they don't actually get blown up themselves, that is pretty much where their luck runs out, when they get grabbed by DHS.I defiantly believe (for the most part anyhow) that LITTLE BROTHER's plot is plausible and something like this could easily happen in the not so far future (only I think it would be worse, more violent) with the threat of terrorism on everyone's radar and heighten security everywhere you turn and let's not forget how government takes every opportunity to have more of a say in our lives. That being said (and said by me, an ultra conservative and anti-big government someone) Cory Doctorow's pov through Marcus is clearly that of the left; The Patriot Act is bad and takes away our constitutional rights. We all have our opinions and feelings on this topic and it's not something that I really want to get into here, but what I will say is that although I might not agree fully with Doctorow's perceived political views within this story, I will give him credit creating a thought provoking story with believable character and situations. I didn't feel that a particular party was bashed or attacked. What I did find was a well written, well thought-out story with relatable characters written true to their age/gender and situation and a plot that very well could be a possible future occurrence if we as a people are not careful as to how much leeway we give to our government in the name of security. And i'd definitely say LITTLE BROTHER is an entertaining and gripping goodread and one that I'd highly recommend.

An entertaining read. Scary because the situations he lays out are plausible in today's world, but delivered with panache.

recibí el producto a mi entera satisfaccion

Just what my nephew wanted

Wow I couldn’t put it down- communication the new way- dangerous stuff to, a saving grace in the right hands- security wright and wrong, relationships and throughout young people with believes and morals - a must read

I never write reviews, but with this book - I just had to do it.“Little Brother”, on the surface, seems to be an enjoyable read about of a teenager living in today’s world of ubiquitous surveillance. Marcus tries to live a normal life, with his friends, family and a girlfriend. Then comes the twist - he gets caught in the aftermath of a terror attack. The young American is not arrested - as you would expect in sunny San Francisco, California. He is detained.That’s where the real story unfolds. From that moment on, you can’t stop reading and you can’t stop wondering. Why this fiction (about home) is so similar to reality (abroad)? Why is it so scary? Is it really that easy to change the land of freedom into a land of terror?This is a great book. If you have never been interested in civil liberties, didn't care about Guantanamo, secret prisons or torture – this book is precisely for you. It won’t bore you. The life of a young man with impressive computer skills is entertaining enough. But really, it’s a very important warning how fragile are liberties are. In unassuming, even light style, the story unfolds to shows surprisingly accurate parallels between fiction in the book and the real events we hear about, no so far from home.Someone said “if you’re going to read one book this year – this is the one”. I couldn't agree more.