Little Brother: Volume 1

Cory Doctorow

Apr 2010 · Little Brother Book 1 · Sold by Tor Teen

About this ebook

The first in Cory Doctorow’s New York Times bestselling YA series about a youthful rebellion against the torture-and-surveillance state.

“A wonderful, important book ... I’d recommend Little Brother over pretty much any book I’ve read this year.” –Neil Gaiman

Marcus, a.k.a "w1n5t0n," is only seventeen years old, but he figures he already knows how the system works–and how to work the system. Smart, fast, and wise to the ways of the networked world, he has no trouble outwitting his high school's intrusive but clumsy surveillance systems.

But his whole world changes when he and his friends find themselves caught in the aftermath of a major terrorist attack on San Francisco. In the wrong place at the wrong time, Marcus and his crew are apprehended by the Department of Homeland Security and whisked away to a secret prison where they're mercilessly interrogated for days.

When the DHS finally releases them, Marcus discovers that his city has become a police state where every citizen is treated like a potential terrorist. He knows that no one will believe his story, which leaves him only one option: to take down the DHS himself.

At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

Ratings and reviews

Excellent bit of counter culture, well thought out, well written, well told. I loved that the author took the time and effort to, make this a relatively believable near-future story with no set date stamp, educating the reader of current useful and/or misused technical tools, while still keeping a fantastic pacing that evoked an engrossing emotional response. This is what that waste of time book "catcher in the rye" should have been. contains non gratuitous/in fiction sexual elements, still well worth the read if thats a problem for you, but will probably be a deal breaker for many people and well worth the warning. The DRM on this book is stupid given that the author gives it away for free and makes me rethink buying it on google play, however I don't regret spending money on it, and would have done so if I had read the free copy first.

The book follows Marcus and his conquest to harass the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), prove that their invasive presence is useless to their "protection", drive them out of San Fransisco, and to exact revenge on the people who have kidnapped, and depraved him and his friends. All this is done using information technology that we all use today. The book also does a great job illustrating the stresses of being a sort-of figure head, and having the actions of his followers on his hands. While Marcus was willing and determined to overthrow DHS, he wasn't emotionally prepared. The book does try to inform readers of how I.T. works. Although a lot of the stuff in the book is possible to carry out, some of the nouns mentioned (like software names) aren't real. The book did have a URL left behind by Cory Doctorow that links how you can do some of the hacks and stuff pulled off in the book, but it was a dead link. If you're interested in the how-tos, and would use Google to look into some of the things, like cryptography, thats mentioned in the book.

Firstly: Little Brother is available free on the Internet at request of the author. However, I personally recommend buying it to show financial and symbolic for the author. This book was published 6 years ago now, and looking back, it's a lot more shocking how close it is to reality. The advances in technology and software are extremely similar to today's innovations, and the overbearing government depicted is uncomfortably close to what we're experiencing today. Mikey, the lead character, gives a realistic and juvenile look at how all of this impacts social and societal interactions. Overall, a great read.

About the author

Cory Doctorow is a science fiction author, activist and journalist. He is the author of many books, including THE LOST CAUSE, a solarpunk science fiction novel of hope amidst the climate emergency. His recent nonfiction THE INTERNET CON: HOW TO SEIZE THE MEANS OF COMPUTATION is a Big Tech disassembly manual. Other recent books include RED TEAM BLUES, a science fiction crime thriller; CHOKEPOINT CAPITALISM, nonfiction about monopoly and creative labor markets; the LITTLE BROTHER series for young adults; IN REAL LIFE, a graphic novel; and the picture book POESY THE MONSTER SLAYER. In 2020, he was inducted into the Canadian Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame.