You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.66 AVERAGE
3.66 AVERAGE
Picked this up at a comics expo after having it on my radar for a long time. I wasn't sure I'd be into a Cory Doctorow-written graphic novel. I love Cory's writing, and I love graphic novels, but it just struck me at the time it came out as - meh, it could wait. But, man! I should have read this sooner! A very charming, refreshing comix with gorgeous art by Jen Wang, and great storytelling by Cory. Very similar, thematically, to his YA book, For the Win, in that this also talks about economics and labor rights through the lens of gold farming and online RPGs.
We follow the story of Anda, a pretty awkward, pretty average young girl in Flagstaff, Arizona, who loves geeky things and is invited to play a cool new online game called Coarsegold. As in many of Cory's writings, the virtues of online gaming are sung to the high heavens: camaraderie! heroism! sacrifice! imagination! The art is lovely in expressing all this, since Anda's life in the game is immersive, finely-detailed, exotic and fun. Anda quickly teams up with Lucy/"Sarge", a fellow gamer who's on a mission to slay "gold farmers". They slay with relish, until Anda befriends one farmer, Raymond, and - using the power of Google Translate - they get chatting. Raymond is just a kid from China with no options and a love of online gaming.
I always kinda appreciate, kinda cringe when non-econ people start talking econ, but Cory mostly gets it right. And he's such a compelling speaker and pedant (and I say that with affection) that I appreciate his taking an interest in, say, development and globalization and what it means for everyone (say it, Gary!). So that's nice. I also appreciate the Good Values this comix exhibited: stuff about how nerds can be elitist and mean too (oh man, have I experienced that...), stuff about the barriers girls face in geekdom generally. I loved the homey realism of Anda's school and home scenes, and I loved - LOVED - the art in general, especially those splashes of watercolor and the wonderful, human expressiveness of them all. Very nice, and I definitely recommend.
We follow the story of Anda, a pretty awkward, pretty average young girl in Flagstaff, Arizona, who loves geeky things and is invited to play a cool new online game called Coarsegold. As in many of Cory's writings, the virtues of online gaming are sung to the high heavens: camaraderie! heroism! sacrifice! imagination! The art is lovely in expressing all this, since Anda's life in the game is immersive, finely-detailed, exotic and fun. Anda quickly teams up with Lucy/"Sarge", a fellow gamer who's on a mission to slay "gold farmers". They slay with relish, until Anda befriends one farmer, Raymond, and - using the power of Google Translate - they get chatting. Raymond is just a kid from China with no options and a love of online gaming.
I always kinda appreciate, kinda cringe when non-econ people start talking econ, but Cory mostly gets it right. And he's such a compelling speaker and pedant (and I say that with affection) that I appreciate his taking an interest in, say, development and globalization and what it means for everyone (say it, Gary!). So that's nice. I also appreciate the Good Values this comix exhibited: stuff about how nerds can be elitist and mean too (oh man, have I experienced that...), stuff about the barriers girls face in geekdom generally. I loved the homey realism of Anda's school and home scenes, and I loved - LOVED - the art in general, especially those splashes of watercolor and the wonderful, human expressiveness of them all. Very nice, and I definitely recommend.
Read this all in one go before work one morning last month and really, really liked it. If it had just been a story about a girl and her second gaming life I would have liked it anyway, but it also had some really unexpected stuff about economics and labor, which is not something you exepct to find in a book whose artwork makes you want to hug a pillow because it’s so adorable. You know pretty quickly, though. The book opens with an essay by the author explaining his motivations in writing it, and right away he starts throwing around big scary phrases that I haven’t heard since graduate school.
And I liked it.
I’ve heard before that Doctorow tends to get a bit didactic in his writing, but I thought this had a nice balance of character story and real life . . . stuff. The main character is Anda, a shy high school girl who has just moved with her family to Flagstaff. She jumps on the chance to join a guild in the online game Coarsegold Online. But her fun gaming turns into something different when she and a fellow guild-member start taking paying gigs to kill illegal gold farmers, who spend their whole gaming lives farming gold for other people to buy. This is the first indication of real world economics making its presence known in the fictional space of the game.
Anda feels righteous about stopping the gold farmers from breaking the rules of the game until she meets an actual gold farmer and realizes the true nature of the situation. Things escalate from there.
I’d never read anything by Cory Doctorow before but I liked this enough that I’m looking forward to checking out his other stuff in the future. Jen Wang’s artwork was positively delicious as well. I wanted to jump into the panels and swim in all the colors. In fact, I kind of wanted to start the whole thing over again as soon as I finished it.
[4.5 stars]
And I liked it.
I’ve heard before that Doctorow tends to get a bit didactic in his writing, but I thought this had a nice balance of character story and real life . . . stuff. The main character is Anda, a shy high school girl who has just moved with her family to Flagstaff. She jumps on the chance to join a guild in the online game Coarsegold Online. But her fun gaming turns into something different when she and a fellow guild-member start taking paying gigs to kill illegal gold farmers, who spend their whole gaming lives farming gold for other people to buy. This is the first indication of real world economics making its presence known in the fictional space of the game.
Anda feels righteous about stopping the gold farmers from breaking the rules of the game until she meets an actual gold farmer and realizes the true nature of the situation. Things escalate from there.
I’d never read anything by Cory Doctorow before but I liked this enough that I’m looking forward to checking out his other stuff in the future. Jen Wang’s artwork was positively delicious as well. I wanted to jump into the panels and swim in all the colors. In fact, I kind of wanted to start the whole thing over again as soon as I finished it.
[4.5 stars]
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
V cute, and a powerful message! A little too easy of a solution but I still think the point it makes stands. Jen Wang’s illustrations are phenomenal as always!
emotional
inspiring
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
hopeful
medium-paced
