Sex: At one point, it is referenced, but no description is given.

Parent’s guide: This book was marketed to young adults, but would be just as well read by older groups. The sequel to Little Brother is Homeland and came out Febru(and yes, I’m currently enjoying it). It’s a fascinating story, for geeks and nongeeks, and the message is still fresh today: how much privacy should we expect, and to what extent are we willing to give up privacy and freedom for security? As an added bonus, Doctorow explains in an addendum where he gets his technical material and what resources a reader could use to replicate what he describes in the book. Released, they fight back, using hacks and technical resources I didn’t know existed, but that Doctorow clearly explains and uses. They are caught up in the aftermath of a massive terrorist attack that kills thousands, literally caught at the wrong place at the wrong time, and end up in a secret prison as suspects.Īlso, did I mention that they happen to be more technically inclined than the average student?

One part thriller and two parts geek, Little Brother opens on a group of high school kids who play hooky from school to participate in a treasure hunt. Although published five years back when the politics of the Bush Administration and the post-9/11 expansion of government surveillance were still fresh in our minds, I found the novel fresh and relevant. It's also pretty good timing considering the upcoming election in case there is any doubt on which way Americans should vote on security vs civil rights issue.Few novels I have read recently have made me stop and think, reexamine my world, quite the same way that Cory Doctorow’s Little Brother does. It references a lot of real-life stuff like XBox hacks and ARGs and is classic Cory.Īnyway, it should be coming out soon and I would recommend it to people who like that kind of stuff as well as recommend recommending it to people who still think that fighting terrorism the way we currently are makes any sense at all. It's a great story about teenagers, net culture, security, activism and politics and was a lot of fun to read.

The hero of the story is a teenage hacker who decides to declare war on the DHS and take back his civil liberties. The book is about a future where there is a terrorist attack on San Francisco and DHS in the US gets overzealous and starts abusing their power. I read it mostly on the plane and while traveling through London, Hong Kong, Macao and Tokyo airport security. When I was in London, Cory gave me a copy of his new book Little Brother.

Little brother by cory doctorow