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aoosterwyk's review against another edition
4.0
I enjoyed this book immensely! It was perfect as a high school introductory text to economics and labor. The characters and situations weave through each other's plots and connect the labor stuggles of the past and present with the unique issues of an internet gaming world. Doctorow's explanations of money and finance are clear and thought provoking and his story offers some hope for the workers of the world, virtual or not.
misterjay's review against another edition
4.0
For the Win looks at a near future where games have taken over everything. They're immersive and massive and owned entirely by giant corporations who spend fortunes hunting down gold farmers in third world countries. The gold farmers are kids, usually working in near-slave labor conditions for unscrupulous bosses in sweatshops and factories in the third world. This, then, is the story of what happens when they unionize.
FTW is the second of Cory Doctorow's juveniles, and like with Little Brother before it, Doctorow seems to have found his niche as a story-teller, right there in that intersection between teacher, librarian, yarn-spinner, and social activist. Parts of the novel are pure action and story, parts are educational diversions that, while informing the story, also teach the reader about economic theory and unions. Then there are the parts that seem less like a story and more like a call to action. When the whole is taken together, it adds up to a book that is captivating for adults and a must read for any kids you might know.
Highly recommended, especially to precocious proto-geeks and gamer kids everywhere.
FTW is the second of Cory Doctorow's juveniles, and like with Little Brother before it, Doctorow seems to have found his niche as a story-teller, right there in that intersection between teacher, librarian, yarn-spinner, and social activist. Parts of the novel are pure action and story, parts are educational diversions that, while informing the story, also teach the reader about economic theory and unions. Then there are the parts that seem less like a story and more like a call to action. When the whole is taken together, it adds up to a book that is captivating for adults and a must read for any kids you might know.
Highly recommended, especially to precocious proto-geeks and gamer kids everywhere.
patti_pinguin's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
informative
medium-paced
3.5
kidclamp's review against another edition
5.0
I listened to the book on CD version and despite mixed feelings about the narrator (he grew on me to be sure) this book was excellent. Much like Little Brother this book doesn't pull any punches despite its YA classification. Examining the seedy side of online gaming and the world of gold farming Doctorow takes the reader around the world and shows snippets of life for working gamers in Asia. The book also does a good job of stopping to explain many of the economic terms it uses and describes how they work in real life. This book is not for the queasy, as he doesn't shy away from describing violence and gore, but the story is so rewarding I would highly recommend this book for anyone who has ever enjoyed video games. I liked it so much I can't wait to actually read it in text form too.
casktapper's review against another edition
5.0
An excellent book that shines a light on the future (and present) of the intersection of virtual worlds and reality. Brilliant.
saidtheraina's review against another edition
3.0
This took me FOREVER to read. Over a month. Really. It's long - the ARC is 475 pages. But it's also dense. Intense lingo to learn, narrator sections. And no chapters! There are three (if I remember right) parts, and then breaks between switches in narrator. Which makes the whole book seem breathless. Which I suppose is supposed to create dramatic tension but the effect on me was just to seem overwhelmingly endless. It was one of those books I felt the need to put down after a section to think about the ideas brought up. Which is rich and cool and deep and impressive for a YA, but that combined with a crazy complicated compendium of subplots just made it kinda frustrating.
Other than that, I liked it a lot. Doctorow weaves together predictions about future evolution of gaming culture (people of all ages in all countries working to create fake revenue in online games), economics, and union issues. All things I'm fascinated by. We meet a US kid who has given himself a Chinese name, a band of street kids in India, a bunch of professional gamers in China, and a covert radio broadcaster. Oh, and an adult economist high up in Coke (who owns several of the games involved). I loved reading the individual stories, and I feel like he could have pulled out each story as part of a series of shorter volumes to greater effect.
Good. Intense. Educational. Too rich for booktalking, but great for handselling to my most voracious readers.
Other than that, I liked it a lot. Doctorow weaves together predictions about future evolution of gaming culture (people of all ages in all countries working to create fake revenue in online games), economics, and union issues. All things I'm fascinated by. We meet a US kid who has given himself a Chinese name, a band of street kids in India, a bunch of professional gamers in China, and a covert radio broadcaster. Oh, and an adult economist high up in Coke (who owns several of the games involved). I loved reading the individual stories, and I feel like he could have pulled out each story as part of a series of shorter volumes to greater effect.
Good. Intense. Educational. Too rich for booktalking, but great for handselling to my most voracious readers.
daffz's review against another edition
5.0
This book was amazing in so many ways that I'm not sure how to even write this review. It's different from what I usually read in the way it was built up and the subject matter, but I know it's going to be one of my favorite books I read this year.
I'm going to list the things I really liked about this book.
- The sense of unity you got simply from reading. As a reader, you were rooting for the main characters. For every gamer and factory worker and Big Sister Nor. Seeing them all come together and work together was really satisfying.
- The things you learn in between chapters. There is so much information in this book and some of it isn't shown from a character's point of view but is explained to the reader in small chapters in between. This information was always relevant to the story and never boring.
- The games. I felt like the games in this story were very realistic, it's really annoying to read about games in books that don't sound like actual games people would play. It helped that the book didn't shy away from using real names for the gaming companies, it was easy to imagine them being real.
- The characters. This is what did it for me. For a book that has a lot of different characters and different POV's, it's really amazing how likeable and real every single one of them was. You could understand their motivation and they each had a unique background situation. Despite the fact that many of the characters led similar lives and wanted the same thing, they never felt repetitive.
I really, really loved this book and I would recommend it to anyone who likes video games even a little bit.
I'm going to list the things I really liked about this book.
- The sense of unity you got simply from reading. As a reader, you were rooting for the main characters. For every gamer and factory worker and Big Sister Nor. Seeing them all come together and work together was really satisfying.
- The things you learn in between chapters. There is so much information in this book and some of it isn't shown from a character's point of view but is explained to the reader in small chapters in between. This information was always relevant to the story and never boring.
- The games. I felt like the games in this story were very realistic, it's really annoying to read about games in books that don't sound like actual games people would play. It helped that the book didn't shy away from using real names for the gaming companies, it was easy to imagine them being real.
- The characters. This is what did it for me. For a book that has a lot of different characters and different POV's, it's really amazing how likeable and real every single one of them was. You could understand their motivation and they each had a unique background situation. Despite the fact that many of the characters led similar lives and wanted the same thing, they never felt repetitive.
I really, really loved this book and I would recommend it to anyone who likes video games even a little bit.
jelundberg's review against another edition
4.0
For the Win is told as a narrative tapestry, switching points of view between key characters to present a global tale of workers’ rights and economic gamesmanship. It is a big ambitious novel that delivers on its promise: an action-packed (pun intended) suspenseful narrative and a well-explained lesson in both in-game and IRL economics and labor. Doctorow’s writing has never been more passionate and concise, nor his intellectual abilities more fully on display.
(P.S. The only reason I didn't get the book 5 stars is that the intrusions of the didactic lessons on economics, both in the mouths of his characters and from author directly to reader, got tiring at times; although it must be said that these interruptions come far less than the book’s predecessor, Little Brother, lessening the feel of polemic and focusing more on the workers’ revolution in the narrative itself. There are also a few tiny incorrect details with regards to Singapore, but anyone other than a resident will just gloss right over them.)
(P.S. The only reason I didn't get the book 5 stars is that the intrusions of the didactic lessons on economics, both in the mouths of his characters and from author directly to reader, got tiring at times; although it must be said that these interruptions come far less than the book’s predecessor, Little Brother, lessening the feel of polemic and focusing more on the workers’ revolution in the narrative itself. There are also a few tiny incorrect details with regards to Singapore, but anyone other than a resident will just gloss right over them.)
gordcampbell's review against another edition
3.0
Generally as interesting as anything Doctorow's written, I had a hard time sticking it out. Possibly, I'm just too old to be really concerned about the plight of young gold farmers, but once Ashok showed up and started proselytizing, I was done.
dave_white's review against another edition
3.0
I have mixed opinion on this. It has interesting bits, but loads of filler and bland, rushed characters in between.
Virtual worlds was main attraction here, thought what author really expands upon is economics of it all. Despite being by far the most enjoyable bit of the book it feels that one side of the games described is oversimplified in sake of gaining more weight on the other.
Maybe if it was shorter I would have enjoyed it more.
Virtual worlds was main attraction here, thought what author really expands upon is economics of it all. Despite being by far the most enjoyable bit of the book it feels that one side of the games described is oversimplified in sake of gaining more weight on the other.
Maybe if it was shorter I would have enjoyed it more.