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3.56 AVERAGE
3.56 AVERAGE
I wish Cory Doctorow would write screenplays.
His ideas are really cool, but he doesn't let you close enough to them to fully appreciate the coolness -- instead, he keeps his (rather spindly) characters at a remove and gets hung up on minutiae. The first 50 pages hummed along, but all the main plot points are on the back cover blurb of the paperback, so you already know all the cool stuff going in (but get ready for that constantly reiterated minutiae).
His ideas are really cool, but he doesn't let you close enough to them to fully appreciate the coolness -- instead, he keeps his (rather spindly) characters at a remove and gets hung up on minutiae. The first 50 pages hummed along, but all the main plot points are on the back cover blurb of the paperback, so you already know all the cool stuff going in (but get ready for that constantly reiterated minutiae).
There were great moments in this book and a great idea behind it, but I just couldn't love it. There was also way too much in the book that wasn't really needed and just seemed (to me at least) to be there just to get the page count up. I am interested to read other things by Doctrow and see how they are.
What I like about Cory Doctorow is his idealism. The writing is okay, the characters are fun, and the plot always rambles a bit. But his ideas are really interesting and engaging. I imagine if I didn't like his views on intellectual property rights, digital rights management, and other societal views, I would hate this book, because his views are quite apparent.
His technique and his narrative are sometimes a little crude, but I recommend this book anyway. It is extremely original and entertaining.
[b:Makers|5719525|Makers|Cory Doctorow|http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51rL7cPT3RL._SL75_.jpg|6611457]
I took my time with this one because, although it's fiction, it's packed with big ideas. An excellent book projecting the near future of Maker culture, the economy, obesity, and a host of other ideas.
This was a very enjoyable yarn with a well-thought out mixture of tech, characterization, story arc, and humor. It rings even more true today, with the increasingly common use of 3-d printers.
This book had great characters, an interesting plot, fascinating inventions, and an uncomfortably plausible future. There were a few loose ends I wish had been addressed, but the fact that I care about them at all shows how the author was successful in creating a world ripe for reader buy in!
I love the three (or four) act structure with a time gap in between the parts of the story. Doctorow's characters grow during the interludes and the story does a real good job discussing what can be done by geeks with resources.
I'd read Little Brother and Homeland before this, and Makers is in the same theme. Doctorow definitely puts forth a proposed "Let the geeks at the free market" solution to a ton of what's happening today, even if the results aren't always the rosiest. Definitely an excellent book.
I'd read Little Brother and Homeland before this, and Makers is in the same theme. Doctorow definitely puts forth a proposed "Let the geeks at the free market" solution to a ton of what's happening today, even if the results aren't always the rosiest. Definitely an excellent book.
Reminding me (no doubt for a reason) of "Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom", this feels like another exploration of Doctorow's ideas on intellectual property and DIY/maker culture, with some intersection of a love/hate relationship with Florida.
The prose isn't inspired, and sometimes the characters are downright predictably cliche. Though the ideas presented are, as is normally the way with Doctorow's work, the point of the thing.
Are these explorations idealist? Certainly. But is it good to have idealists writing fiction? Certainly. I never feel like my life has been changed by reading a Cory Doctorow novel, but I always feel good about where humanity might go, and what we might be capable of. And optimism is no small thing in a world polluted by so much cynicism.
The prose isn't inspired, and sometimes the characters are downright predictably cliche. Though the ideas presented are, as is normally the way with Doctorow's work, the point of the thing.
Are these explorations idealist? Certainly. But is it good to have idealists writing fiction? Certainly. I never feel like my life has been changed by reading a Cory Doctorow novel, but I always feel good about where humanity might go, and what we might be capable of. And optimism is no small thing in a world polluted by so much cynicism.
The thing I like the most about Cory Doctorow books in general is that, while they are post-peak, and everyone seems to be worse off, there is still hope for humanity. Even though people are living in shanty towns, and abandoned buildings, there's still humanity to them, and they still believe in the future.
Read the full review here: http://www.yenooi.com/makers-of-fiction/