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A review by zer0faults
For the Win by Cory Doctorow
5.0
I absolutely loved this book. I don't know if its because I am a fan of unionization, rebellion, etc. but it struck all the right cords, with just a good balance of seriousness and fantastical. The book opens by dipping into a few different stories and slowly you start to see how each of these people from various corners of the world will soon intertwine. Well, I thought I got it, but I didn't really get it to the degree in which they did intertwine.
Some things that stood out to me:
Mala and Yasmin early battles, going from friends to enemies and back around again.
Connor letting it ride in the market to test his theories, being so devoted to the idea that he was eating scraps and going to ruin. As someone who spent many hours in a cave in Everquest buying and selling virtual goods, I can see the hope in trying to discern something in all those trades. Crack the code of the market.
I didn't like all of the chapters turned into economic lesson plans, especially one with Ashok and Mala, it seemed to heavy handed and lacked the grace of the later chapter on swords, which seemed considerably more graceful. Perhaps even because it came on the heels of such an emotional chapter where Jie has just lost Lu, and I basically almost lost my shit on the train at midnight reading it. That chapter really hit, it was so well executed, and again, the sword economic chapter following it was a good drop back down, a good release after such a heavy chapter.
Toward the end, maybe two thirds, you really start to see these guys as a youthful Oceans 11 cast of characters working at what they do best to hopefully change their future, even if its against all odds.
The ending was mixed for me, Mala got taken, got returned, and Prikkel shows up in India. Problem I had was that Prikkel showing up didn't really symbolize a possible hope in success after China was put down, largely because he wasn't there representing Coca-Cola. I really don't know what to make of that ending, they gained legitimacy, but lost so many people and didn't get any change in China. Earlier they talk about how they felt this was going to fail, but they will move forward slightly, so I guess they predicted it all along.
Spoiler
Some things that stood out to me:
Mala and Yasmin early battles, going from friends to enemies and back around again.
Connor letting it ride in the market to test his theories, being so devoted to the idea that he was eating scraps and going to ruin. As someone who spent many hours in a cave in Everquest buying and selling virtual goods, I can see the hope in trying to discern something in all those trades. Crack the code of the market.
I didn't like all of the chapters turned into economic lesson plans, especially one with Ashok and Mala, it seemed to heavy handed and lacked the grace of the later chapter on swords, which seemed considerably more graceful. Perhaps even because it came on the heels of such an emotional chapter where Jie has just lost Lu, and I basically almost lost my shit on the train at midnight reading it. That chapter really hit, it was so well executed, and again, the sword economic chapter following it was a good drop back down, a good release after such a heavy chapter.
Toward the end, maybe two thirds, you really start to see these guys as a youthful Oceans 11 cast of characters working at what they do best to hopefully change their future, even if its against all odds.
The ending was mixed for me, Mala got taken, got returned, and Prikkel shows up in India. Problem I had was that Prikkel showing up didn't really symbolize a possible hope in success after China was put down, largely because he wasn't there representing Coca-Cola. I really don't know what to make of that ending, they gained legitimacy, but lost so many people and didn't get any change in China. Earlier they talk about how they felt this was going to fail, but they will move forward slightly, so I guess they predicted it all along.