Little Brother

Written by Cory Doctorow in 2008. Available for free, legal download here.

Thoughts

It's a fast-paced, reasonably entertaining read, and it contains a lot of good information on privacy and technology, summarized by Marcus (the protagonist) very nicely. However, there are a few non-trivial issues I have with the novel.

1. The novel is very plot-driven, to the point where characters do not receive any interesting development whatsoever. A good example: Marcus' ARG team? Let's see...Darryl is essentially a male damsel in distress for the whole story (although Marcus forgets about him most of the time since he's too busy with Ange, lol), while Vanessa and Jolu are useless and off-screen except for maybe one minor portion of the story. Marcus basically takes down the DHS regime single-handedly, which, while not necessarily unrealistic, is a lot less interesting than team-oriented efforts. With friends.
2. The novel is anvilicious and does not give us a ton of sympathy for Marcus, or at least, not as much as Doctorow probably wants. I agree with Doctorow in basic principle; privacy rights are a real concern in our day and age. But see, Marcus doesn't suffer any personal consequences from the terrorist attack; he, his family, his friends, their families - they're all ok, and essentially the hundreds of deaths are treated as a mere statistic. (Not to mention, the Bay Bridge got blown up? Hey, no problem, he lives in SF proper! No need to worry about commuting issues like those East Bay residents.) The message would be more powerful if, for instance, Marcus lost a dear friend in the attack, and still fought the DHS.
3. Ange is an absolutely pointless character, basically the perfect designated love interest we see way too often in movies.

I still recommend the novel as a nice introduction to some of the privacy issues and technologies surrounding them in our modern world. But, again, if you're looking for anything resembling decent plot and characterization, that won't be found here.