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3.56 AVERAGE
3.56 AVERAGE
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This book takes place in the near-future during a tech boom called "New Work." The story weaves itself around several people: Perry and Lester, inventors, Suzanne, a tech writer, and Sammy, a sorta-psychopathic Disney executive.
The characters come in and out of each other's lives over the course of years, following the boom, bust, and revivial. I was unexpectedly gripped by this story. I read "Little Brother," a YA novel written by this author, but didn't expect to enjoy this as much as I did.
It's tough to explain, but it's a great story for people who think about making things, like making things, or are curious about where technological changes may take us.
The characters come in and out of each other's lives over the course of years, following the boom, bust, and revivial. I was unexpectedly gripped by this story. I read "Little Brother," a YA novel written by this author, but didn't expect to enjoy this as much as I did.
It's tough to explain, but it's a great story for people who think about making things, like making things, or are curious about where technological changes may take us.
This book has not aged well, and there are a lot of things that just rubs me the wrong way. Weird, because I am a fan of Doctorow's.
Finished a bit over half before I decided it's just not worth it.
Finished a bit over half before I decided it's just not worth it.
"Makers" isn't really a bad book, I was just totally indifferent to it. I listened to the audiobook as I was working, and I kept on thinking about how I was looking forward to getting to a different book. The writing isn't laugh out loud awful, but it is mediocre. Some of the characters have some dimension and change over the years, yet most of them seemed flat and underdeveloped. Others seemed totally unnecessary to the book, yet got a lot of page space. I didn't care about any of them, even the more developed ones. The basic idea of the plot is kind of interesting, but I wasn't engaged. Adding to that were the constant off-putting comments about how fat southerners and mid-westerners are, and the comments about the "fatkins" in general (the "fatkins" being people who had been obese who had got surgery to become trim), and I was pretty glad to be done with the book.
"Makers" may be a book for other people, but it isn't a book for me.
"Makers" may be a book for other people, but it isn't a book for me.
Not the most brilliant fiction ever written, but engaging and full of multifaceted characters and intriguing ideas. Definitely worth a read.
A story about a tinkerer revolution that comes to America. It eventually leads to questions over IP and general openness as the main characters side an international set of museum-like "rides". Some good ideas were present but the book is very long-winded.
While I am reading this book, I enjoy it...I just don't feel the urge to pick it back up after putting it down. It's not holding my interest at this time, but I may try it again someday.
Another Great Book
Cory Doctorow is an excellent writer. He writes about modern culture, technology interesting characters - all in a compelling well told story. It's current, slightly futuristic, science fictiony. Highly enjoyable, highly recommended.
Cory Doctorow is an excellent writer. He writes about modern culture, technology interesting characters - all in a compelling well told story. It's current, slightly futuristic, science fictiony. Highly enjoyable, highly recommended.
I loved Doctorow's YA novels, but I just couldn't get into this one. (I quit on page 200, if future Laura ever wants to get back to this.) I found the plot about the maker economy and subsequent crash unoriginal, and around a third of the plot was a truly awful plot line about a weight loss operation that characters become obsessed with. Maybe the ending redeems it, but for now I'm going to try something else.