Sean the Blogonaut» Book Reviews

Little Brother by Cory Doctorow

Blogonaut — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 02:08:32 +0000

I am no longer an e-book virgin.

I have just finished reading Cory Doctorow’s Little Brother, which you can purchase through your local bookstore or if you have an e-reader or Kindle for PC you can download it here legally and for free in multiple formats. Cory does this with all of his novels – that’s right all for FREE.

If you have trouble understanding this concept check out his explanation here.

I have been sceptical about e-readers. I thought I was destined to be the one of the last of a dying breed of people – those brought up on paper books. Indeed I struggle at reading long pdf’s and in the past if even if a book existed free or in text/ html I much preferred to read it in paper format.

E-readers and e-reading software I think has changed that, especially for me. I am now considering the Kindle (one of my greatest frustrations with reading Little Brother was that I had to lug the laptop around, not as I expected, eye strain from reading off the computer screen)or if possible a cheaper reader that can handle multiple formats.

But about Little Brother

You might have guessed by the title that the book is a riff off Orwell’s 1984 and you’d be right. The story is one of resistance against the state but set in very near future ( it’s set after 9/11 , but the technology used is I think very current)it’s what might happen to American freedoms if another attack were to occur on American soil.

As far as I can tell Little Brother is Doctorow’s first young adult novel, the protagonist is Marcus, a 17 year old computer and tech geek. While playing an ARG(Alternate Reality Game) with school mates Marcus is caught in a DHS (Department of Homeland Security) dragnet, after a terrorist attack in his city. Marcus is smart and has a good understanding of his constitutional rights, it’s his defence of these rights that really propels the story:

“What have you got to hide?”

“I’ve got the right to my privacy,” I said. “And I want to speak to an attorney.”

“This is your last chance, kid. Honest people don’t have anything to hide.”

“I want to speak to an attorney.” My parents would pay for it. All the FAQs on getting arrested were clear on this point. Just keep asking to see an attorney, no matter what they say or do. There’s no good that comes of talking to the cops without your lawyer present. These two said they weren’t cops, but if this wasn’t an arrest, what was it?

In hindsight, maybe I should have unlocked my phone for them.

Source: Little Brother, end of chapter 3

Marcus ends up being interred in a Guantanamo bay like facility an action that propels him into becoming a rebel with a cause.

What did I like?

The story plays to my left leaning liberal sensibilities. It highlights everything that is worrying about western society’s quick turn to the right, to the climate of fear promoted by governments that see fear and security as election winning platforms. The book may be set in an American context, but it has applications for a far wider audience. Take cc camera surveillance in the UK or indeed the railroading of the Internet Filter in Australia ( or even more sinister, the Ozlog affair).

Doctorow’s writing was fast paced, exciting and easy to read. Like other Young Adult novels I have read, this one didn’t strike me as being any less of a rollicking good read for that fact. There’s a bit of violence, a sex scene and description of torture so it’s not Alice in Wonderland, but it is pitched at 15 to 17 year olds. I found some of the info dumps distracting from the flow of the book, but these were both interesting and necessary in there own right, especially considering what the book is intended to be, beyond just an action packed tale.

There’s more to this book than the story

While both 1984 and Little brother can be described as a fight for justice, and liberty against the oppressive state, Little Brother is also something different. 1984 is a warning, a parable about what might occur (indeed some may say Orwell was almost prescient in some of his storytelling). Little brother is simultaneously a story, a manual for resistance against an oppressive state and an attempt to get teens to look at the double edge nature of new technology. Contained within it pages are references to real world resources and technologies for guarding your privacy or avoiding electronic surveillance. Indeed the book has been most recently translated into Persian by Iranian activists in the hope that it might inspire a response in Iranian youth. The book contains wealth of historical information on civil disobedience, enough hopefully to whet the young adolescent thirst for knowledge.

Skeptics and fans of reality will, I think enjoy Cory’s tone, here’s an example-my emphasis:

Which is why I prefer to inject a little randomness into my attacks on gait-recognition: I put a handful of gravel into each shoe. Cheap and effective, and no two steps are the same. Plus you get a great reflexology foot massage in the process (I kid. Reflexology is about as scientifically useful as gait-recognition).

Little Brother, Chapter 1

So do yourself a favour, buy the book and/or download it for free.

Just read it, I don’t think you’ll be sorry.

Edit: Please find the link (right, save as) to copyright free (Australia)version of George Orwell’s 1984 in .prc format for Kindle

Blind Faith by Ben Elton

Blogonaut — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 07:43:41 +0000

I have had Blind Faith on my bookshelf for about 2 years – a gift from an acquaintance after I had bored them with my love of all things atheist and skeptical. “I think you’ll like this”, she’d said.

She was right.

Why did it take me so long to read? Well, while I am a fan of Elton’s work for television, i.e. Black Adder and the Young Ones. I had attempted to read Stark a number of years earlier and it had put me off his novels – not perhaps the fault of the writer.

I think, there can be a “right time” for books and their readers to meet. I can’t help but think that if I had come across Blind Faith earlier that it might not have resonated with me in quite the way it has.

Blind Faith is every Skeptics/Humanists nightmare come true – a dark comedic comment on a possible future. Elton has taken elements of modern society, stretched them for comedic value but left enough truth in them to ensure that any laugh the reader makes is tinged with nervousness…

Read the whole review at Embiggen Books, Australia’s number 1 skeptical bookstore.

Saturday Steampunk – Book Review Scott Westerfeld’s Leviathan

Blogonaut — Sat, 02 Jan 2010 02:16:50 +0000

First, an explanation -

You may skip this bit if you are just after the review

This post marks the first of my Saturday Steampunk entries. As recent readers will know I have changed my wordpress theme to a neo-victorian one and tweaked it to make it a little more Steampunkish. Now, I have considered that not everyone who reads my blog is a fan of Steampunk(I know, hard to believe is it not?), some may not even have any idea of what I am talking about (in that case click here). My objective then is to limit my love of all things Steampunkish to a regular Saturday posting.

Now the reason I plan to write about Steampunk is that my love of it is part of my personality and taking a cue from some things my friend Bruce has said I want this blog to be a representation of a person not just an advocate for Science Reason and Atheism. I think there are plenty of blogs out there, some original and some not so, that cover each of those areas to the exclusion of other things, particularly in regard to Atheism. Atheism does not really define atheists as people, meaning there is much more to our lives than our non acceptance of supernatural creator beings, this is part of my attempt to show that Atheists (just like everyone else) are interesting and quirky individuals.

The Review – Scott Westerfeld’s Leviathan

I have only recently discovered Scott Westerfeld, despite him being a New York Times best selling author. Why might this be? Well probably because of late he has been writing Young Adult/Adolescent fiction (okay, just wait, those of you who flicked the “not interested” switch in your head. Don’t be so hasty.) One of my bugbears about the labelling of books in this regard is that it does turn off adult readers, turn them off from perfectly well written, exciting and interesting work.

And so it would have been for me if I had not spotted the book in Target rather than in a traditional dedicated bookstore. In this case the retail staff’s casual indifference toward organised shelf stacking paid off. The cover (seen in the Amazon ad below) by Sammy Yuen Jr. “screamed” Steampunk at me and intrigued me enough to pick up the book. By the time had cracked the cover and seen Keith Thompson’s fantastic poetic map of 1914 alternate history Europe, I was going to buy this book.

The Story

The backdrop of the novel and ensuing trilogy is an alternate history, a history where the Clankers (nickname for the German/Austrian powers) build great war machines of iron and steam. From 8 legged scout walkers (faintly reminiscent of Star Wars scout troopers) to behemoth land ships and swift Zeppelin airships. Soon to be pitted against these are the Darwinists(France & England) who have access to an accelerated understanding of evolutionary theory (Darwin apparently discovered genetics). The Darwinists use genetically enhanced “fabrications” from great hulking tiger-wolf hybrids that pull carriages to Hydrogen filled living airships in the shape of whales.

The book begins just before the outbreak of hostilities between the major powers in 1914 and at least one of the main characters is central to those affairs Alek, the son of the assassinated Arch Duke. Alek’s story is one of privileged prince thrown into a life on the run where he must escape to Switzerland, to save his own life and crown.

Running parallel to this is the story of Deryn Sharp, an English girl that masquerades as a boy so that she can join the air service. She is a midshipman on the Leviathan(hydrogen filled whale airship), despite her obvious skills, she is constantly in fear of being discovered(there are still strong Victorian ideals in Darwinist society) and dismissed.

Their paths collide as the airship sets of to Constantinople on a secret mission, under the direction of a female boffin( Darwinist slang for scientist) Dr Nora Barlow-Darwin.

It’s an adventure story with a hint at coming of age set against a wonderfully rendered background. Westerfeld has given us a 1914 that is wildly different in many respects but hauntingly familiar in others, balancing well the need to construct an engaging, altered world with that of not straying too far from the laws of physics or the understandings of science as we currently know them.

I for one am interested in how the opposing technologies in the war will further alter Westerfeld’s altered history. I can also see a relationship developing between Alek and Deryn which is fraught with conflict- between love and friendship, love and loyalty.

Why would I recommend the book to adult readers?

Why would I not? I find Scott’s writing to be honest and plain(plain only in the sense that its easy to read) with a hint of flavour in the dialogue and slang used by the characters. The writing is not “dumbed down” there may not be gratuitous sex or violence, but Scott doesn’t hold back on action or the facts of war i.e. people die and often not in the nicest of circumstances.

It is quite simply a nice entertaining read…

and it’s Steampunk

PS It contains possibly the first and only example of a Thylacine kept as a pet in fiction.

Book Review – God Hates You, Hate Him Back

Blogonaut — Thu, 24 Dec 2009 08:36:12 +0000

Disclaimer: This is a review copy provided by Dangerous Little Books.

I remember somewhat fondly my formative years where I was given the “gift” of a solid Catholic Education. We studied the bible regularly, we had the bible read to us at weekly mass. Yet I don’t seem to remember the bits about God’s suggested punishment for rape – CJ enlightens us:

If a man happens to meet a virgin who is not pledged to be married and rapes her and they are discovered,he shall pay the girl’s father fifty shekels of silver. He must marry the girl, for he has violated her. He can never divorce her as long as he lives.

Deuteronomy 22:28-20 NIV

There’s the slam dunk. How fortunate for the poor young lass that is brutally raped by a male attacker that she gains a husband out of it – the guy who raped her. Furthermore what of the penalty for the rapist? Fifty shekels, that’s all? God commands in Leviticus that a mean must be put to death for fucking a goat, but a payment of only a couple of dollars for raping a young girl?…

Page 72, God Hates You, Hate Him Back

The quote above is a fair representation of the tone of the book. CJ Werleman gives us an everyman’s guide to the Bible. He readily admits upfront that he’s no biblical scholar (one could argue that you don’t need to be). This is the everyday bloke having a look at the bible and finding it’s “fuller than a Labradors lunch box” with rape, incest, violence and stupidity. Now while it’s written by the layman for the layman, don’t think that Werleman has just cobbled together some contradictions found on the Skeptics Annotated Bible and started laying the boot in. No, Werleman spent the better part of 18 months reading the bible, researching and finally writing this book.

CJ, has read the entire bible(give the man a beer), and given us a rather irreverent “cliff notes” version of it. The book is sure to offend the deeply religious, the moderately religious will opine that, “you must read the bible with a view to its historical context”, or mention something about metaphors and Atheists will have a good old snicker. If there is one danger with this book, it’s that the sheer stupidity of the source material could make Werleman’s wit and irreverence seem like the flogging of a dead horse.

I think Werleman’s wit manages to keep the reader reasonably well engaged, though I found myself dipping in and out of the book, and I’d recommend that to readers. I think it better to savour the stupidity and evaluate CJ’s commentary than to try and finish it in one sitting indeed the way the book is written makes it easy to do so.

The first part of the book deals with the Old testament, here CJ deals with a book at a time summarising the story, pointing out oddities, contradictions and commenting as he goes along. His handling of the New Testament differs in that the plagiarism amongst the gospel writers forces CJ to compile the narrative or risk being overly repetitive.

Not sure about the title. I think its intention was to capture attention, but I have already read some Christian commentary on the dreadful “Atheist hatred of Christians” and the title really does not do the book justice. It’s certainly more entertaining than reading the original, and it illustrates well the ridiculous notion that Bible is divinely inspired.

Recommended for atheists and those without a biblical background(much of modern Christendom?).