Little Brother a great story conveying the uses and abuses of technology

Little Brother, by Cory Doctorow, is a novel about dodging security systems and hacking the internet as well as the devices that use it. It was published in 2008. Doctorow is co-editor of “Boing Boing” and a columnist for multiple publications including The Guardian, Lacus and Publisher Weekly, he was also named one of the Web’s twenty-five influencers by Forbes magazine and a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum.

In the novel, a character named Marcus  likes to be anonymous by using web handles upon when people ask who he is. He dodges security systems at his school to prevent himself from being tracked.

The characters are realistic and interesting because most of them know about the security systems around town. They are built up around technology-based aspects: some are built-in risk takers and some are town watchmen. I feel attached to the characters because I have similar interests as they have.

The plot flows with fast-paced action without lagging. It is suspenseful and dark since all the security in the town does not function properly and causes issues for unexpected people to get targeted as well as also damaging the economy. Tension is created in the plot due to all the risks the characters have to take in order to succeed.

The novel has something to say about taking risks for possible rewards but also creating trouble, and it shows us that when most characters take actions they also may have to face those risks. The author expresses his emotion toward the themes by making the characters react to situations and their possible risks. An example would be the characters were extremely happy upon bypassing the school security system and its solutions.

The genre of the story is action and adventure. This book compares to others of the same kind by both having threats and technology hacks that others have only one of those factors or none at all. For example, this story has the use of both threats and technology hacks in a single story where other purely technical books only talk about the technology without showing their potential threats.

The novel is very detailed and significant. It mixes both the government and technology hacks that others never combined. I would recommend this book to other people who like technology, fiction and recovering their civil rights.

The novel’s overall quality is great. I enjoyed all the details about new forms of security and protecting privacy. I would rate the book about 4 out of 5 stars since I was especially interested in the topic of using technology to overthrow the government and their security checks. There were a few sad points like the government’s faulty security system that declared everyone a terrorist, even innocent people. Upon the reading this great technology story, people may want to make sure that life is equal for everyone again.