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3.92 AVERAGE
3.92 AVERAGE
Attack Surface answers some possible questions that lingered during the events of its predecessors, Little Brother and Homeland. It is an adult novel, rather than a YA like the others, and this story benefits from it being so. It is complex, violent, but still bares the same fast-paced excitement as the previous Little Brother books. Our characters are older and their decisions represent this. The stakes feel higher while our main character is faced with the technological crimes of her past and how she plans to carry on from them into her present..
medium-paced
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
My notes: https://anaulin.org/blog/book-notes-attack-surface/
This book kind of scared me. I know I don't do enough, I know I should do more, but I live in this purposeful ignorance of trying to not think about it. While I liked both of the previous books in the series, I never really identified with much of Marcus. Done a lot of the same things, yes, but something about him just was nothing like me, and it's hard to get really into the feeling when that's the case.
Masha however. I see it written out, how she thinks, what she feels, her coping methods -- and it's almost the opposite. Part of me wants to look away because it's like watching a train wreck, starring ME, fictionalised (and a fair bit more knowledgable than I currently am in the books main areas.)
I especially loved the 'hopeful' ending, because, like Masha, I'm quick to assume that if Technology can't fix it, it can't be fixed; and also of having technology as the 'goal' not as the method.
Masha however. I see it written out, how she thinks, what she feels, her coping methods -- and it's almost the opposite. Part of me wants to look away because it's like watching a train wreck, starring ME, fictionalised (and a fair bit more knowledgable than I currently am in the books main areas.)
I especially loved the 'hopeful' ending, because, like Masha, I'm quick to assume that if Technology can't fix it, it can't be fixed; and also of having technology as the 'goal' not as the method.
I don’t know if this is a dystopia technological thriller or a fictionalise depiction of the world we’re living in, I just know it’s a very interesting and quite terrifying story. It’s hard to read and think “this is fiction” and assume you are reading about a parallel world where technology is used as a mean to control people behaviour and to repress dissent.
I work in high tech and I know what are the technologies being developed or already existing. All the technologies in this book are already existing and some cases when they were used to control political opponents appeared on papers in recent times.
But this is also the story of Masha, of her friend and of hope that comes from people joining forces and fighting for a better world.
Masha isn’t a likeable character and I found hard to warm up to her. She works for security companies that use the technology to monitor people. She’s an excellent technician but she’s also a damage person who must compartmentalize her life in order to survive.
I met some people like her, people who work to develop technologies that can be in a moral grey area. It’s not hard to see how they are considering their activities as business as usual and avoiding to reflect on the moral implication.
Even if I think it’s a bit unreal that a highly specialised tech guy have a Damascus moment and decides to take side with the good guy it was also a moment I loved because it was hope in quite bleak story.
There are good guys and there are bad guys in this story. At the end of the day all the main characters are women. They are brave and they fight and even Masha, who is morally grey, is able to change and grow.
The technical aspect is interesting and Doctorow did an excellent job in explaining the different technologies and helping people to understand what are the implications and how they can be used.
The plot is quite gripping even if it drags sometimes. It’s not heartwarming and I’m still quite terrified by what I read. I’m a bit paranoid about connected devices and this story did affected me as it made me wish to go back to a very simple phone with no internet connection.
There’s hope at the end to this story but there’s also the message that the power can affect the persons and the road to hell is paved with good intentions.
I don’t know if my review is logical or what else, I just know that this book should be read by a lot of persons as we need to know how technologies can be used to manipulate and control us.
I strongly recommend it because, even if it’s not a perfect book, it’s important to know.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine
I work in high tech and I know what are the technologies being developed or already existing. All the technologies in this book are already existing and some cases when they were used to control political opponents appeared on papers in recent times.
But this is also the story of Masha, of her friend and of hope that comes from people joining forces and fighting for a better world.
Masha isn’t a likeable character and I found hard to warm up to her. She works for security companies that use the technology to monitor people. She’s an excellent technician but she’s also a damage person who must compartmentalize her life in order to survive.
I met some people like her, people who work to develop technologies that can be in a moral grey area. It’s not hard to see how they are considering their activities as business as usual and avoiding to reflect on the moral implication.
Even if I think it’s a bit unreal that a highly specialised tech guy have a Damascus moment and decides to take side with the good guy it was also a moment I loved because it was hope in quite bleak story.
There are good guys and there are bad guys in this story. At the end of the day all the main characters are women. They are brave and they fight and even Masha, who is morally grey, is able to change and grow.
The technical aspect is interesting and Doctorow did an excellent job in explaining the different technologies and helping people to understand what are the implications and how they can be used.
The plot is quite gripping even if it drags sometimes. It’s not heartwarming and I’m still quite terrified by what I read. I’m a bit paranoid about connected devices and this story did affected me as it made me wish to go back to a very simple phone with no internet connection.
There’s hope at the end to this story but there’s also the message that the power can affect the persons and the road to hell is paved with good intentions.
I don’t know if my review is logical or what else, I just know that this book should be read by a lot of persons as we need to know how technologies can be used to manipulate and control us.
I strongly recommend it because, even if it’s not a perfect book, it’s important to know.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine
adventurous
informative
tense
medium-paced
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
A great book with a lot of relevance to our modern day struggles with digital privacy and mass surveillance. It loses a star for some glaring errors about the legal system, which some research or consultation by the author could have avoided. Otherwise, a fun read with lots of good info.
emotional
informative
reflective
slow-paced
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I feel like this book has a lot of valuable info in it. It feels like a time capsule. Very much representative of the political situations we're in today. But it's presented in a way that feels like someone trying to prove how woke they are. I don't think that was the author's intention, but it's how it came off. Very preachy in a way that's likely to turn off anyone who would learn anything from the book.
That said, I really enjoyed the character arc that Masha went through. I read the audiobook, and I enjoyed the narrator's voices. I felt like I really knew all the characters by the end of the story.
That said, I really enjoyed the character arc that Masha went through. I read the audiobook, and I enjoyed the narrator's voices. I felt like I really knew all the characters by the end of the story.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Police brutality
Ugh, this is one of worst, most directionless novels I've ever read!
challenging
medium-paced
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This is a book that preaches to the choir. If you understand everything Doctorow writes about here in terms of cybersecurity and government ops and private industry-as government, then it's a mostly fun ride through the chaos of modern warfare and political force while watching the narrator develop a conscience, or at least kind of a conscience. If you don't know much about this, then you might find this hard going. It could be educational, which I think is one of Doctorow's motives in publishing it, but you'll still need other sources on ethical hacking and related topics.