Little Brother

By Cory Doctorow

Reviewed by Kelli Voltz

The novel, Little Brother, by Cory Doctorow was first published and released in April of 2008.  The novel debuted at No. 9 on the New York Times Bestseller List within the children’s chapter books.  Soon after it then rose to the No. 8 spot.  Cory Doctorow was born in Toronto on July 17, 1971.  As well as being a writer he is an activist, blogger, and a public speaker.  Along with Little Brother he also wrote some other science fiction novels which include Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom, Eastern Standard Tribe, and Someone Comes to Town, Someone Leaves Town.  Doctorow believes in the sharing of free information and allows much of his work to be freely accessible online.

Little Bother’s main protagonist is a teenage boy named Marcus Yallow.  He and his three teenage friends, Jolu, Daryll, and Van decide to skip school on day to play a game called Harajuku Fun Madness which is a game that’s a combination of real life and online exploration.  As Marcus describes the outing he states, “We struck out, four good friends, on our way to decode a clue, win the game – and lose everything we cared about, forever” (p.30).

During this time the bridge in the Bay area of San Francisco is attacked and blown up by terrorists.  Before they know it the Department of Homeland Security captures and arrests them by handcuffing them and putting covers over their heads to block their sight.  They were unfortunately in the wrong place at the wrong time and arrested in suspicion of the terrorist attacks.  They are then imprisoned and tortured. 

Throughout the novel Doctorow mentions a number of new technological advancements that manage to boggle your mind at times.  These references to technological advancements are reasons why this novel belongs in the science fiction genre of Cyberpunk.  Being a part of the Cyberpunk genre the novel focuses on technological developments and often in near future societies.  You will find that it also examines some social effects of computerized information.  Marcus describes the advancement of face recognition that is often used in toys when he states, “Gait-recognition software takes pictures of your motion, tries to isolate you in the pics as a silhouette, and then tries to match the silhouette to a database to see if it knows who you are” (p.18).  Not only was there face recognition devices but there were Radio Frequency ID tags glued into library books bindings “which makes it possible for the librarians to check out the books by waving them over a reader, and lets a library shelf tell you if any of the books on it are out of place” (p.21).  These are just two examples of Doctorow’s made up devices that places this novel into the Cyberpunk literature genre.

After Marcus, Jolu, and Van are released from Homeland Security and their many threats they realize that their fourth friend, Daryll, who was injured during the terrorist attacks is no where to be found.  This begins Marcus’s anger and hatred toward the government and its security.  He vows to fight back and sneak around them to create a way to find his lost and injured friend as well as put a stop to their extreme powering nature. 

Following the teens release things in San Francisco are far from normal.  Security is at its all time high, even more than it was after the 9/11 terrorist attacks due to the increase in technological advancements.  Marcus realizes that there are video surveillance cameras placed everywhere and people are being watched and tracked during their every move.  For some members of society this extra security makes them feel safer especially after such a massive terrorist attack.  For others, including Marcus, the extra security makes them feel as though they lost their American freedom that they are always promised to have.  Marcus explains it all when he states, “I was a prisoner of the United States of America” (p.47).  Doctorow has a way with words to make the reader feel Marcus’s sadness, anger, and fear about the United States government and their ability to diminish its people’s freedom.

Not only does Doctorow have a way with words to feel fear but also to make the reader feel some sarcasm.  That’s one reason why I loved this novel and found it hard to put down.  He adds in touches of laughter that takes some of the seriousness away for a moment at all the right times.  A couple examples of Doctorow’s slight sarcasm in this novel are when he states, “The word ‘no’ was on my lips, like a burp trying to come up, but it wouldn’t come” (p.54) and “There’s something really liberating about having some corner of your life that’s yours, that no one gets to see except you.  It’s a little like nudity or taking a dump” (p.57).  This sarcasm lets the reader step back and find some humor in such times when controversial issues like security and government have a hold of you and your emotions. 

As a whole, Little Brother is exciting, interesting, and even funny at times.  These qualities make this novel very hard to put down once it’s started. Doctorow uses this book to describe a possible future of the life that we are living now.  A life where security and government begin to take over our lives and control us.  The ending I will leave up to you but I definitely would recommend this novel to anyone who is up for a fantastic read.