The Resistance Will Be Wired

Cory Doctorow, Little Brother

This is a YA novel, but like so many recent YA novels its subject matter is dark and adult. It's really just the age of the protagonist that makes it YA. And the subject matter is timely and important.

A group of high school kids - nerds with 133t skilz - who have off school to complete the next stage of a game that involves geocaching, code breaking, and such, are caught up in the aftermath of a terrorist attack in San Francisco. Because they are in the wrong place, and because they are carrying sophisticated technical equipment, they are detained without access to parents or lawyers and brutally interrogated. One of these kids, Marcus, responds to this experience and the growing atmosphere of fascist control disguised as security concerns to organise resistance among other young, computer savvy kids.

Little Brother is simultaneously a dystopian novel of resistance to oppression, a well-argued defence of civil rights and a technical guide to keeping your electronic identity out of the hands of the overseers. The changes in tone required to pull this off are not always as seamless as they could be, but I found it quite engrossing. Pace, plot and characterisation were all strong.

My only complaint is that ultimately, the worst abuses of the post-terrorist regime are attributed to the personal inclinations of a few people instead of being part and parcel of the authoritarian and fear-based mode of response, and the resolution was too easy, too optimistic - but then, it is a YA and perhaps that is appropriate.

If I had my druthers, I'd have everyone, young adult or not, read it. Lots to think about.

Shorter Journeys with Diane Duane

Diane Duane, Lior and the Sea
Diane Duane, The Span
Diane Duane, Parting Gifts

Diane Duane, Not on My Patch
Diane Duane, Uptown Local and Other Interventions

I've always tended to think of Diane Duane as a "long-form" writer. I associate her with novels, unlike, say, James Tiptree Jr. or Eleanor Arnason, who i think of more as short-form writers (despite the fact that both have written novels that I've read and much enjoyed). But recently I have been reading a lot of the shorter fiction that is available on her website, and I am now aware, as I was not before, that her short-form work is every bit as compelling and enjoyable.

Of particular delight for me are three novellas set in Duane's Middle Kingdoms universe, the setting for her Tale of the Five. Part of what is so powerful for me about this particular universe, among all those that Duane has created or worked in, is the degree of integration of a spiritual or philosophical perspective that greatly appeals to me with the telling of profoundly engaging personal journeys that Duane achieves (not to say she doesn't do this elsewhere, of course, because she does, it's just that it is in the Middle Kingdom books that I feel it the most). The Span and Parting Gifts focus on the same character, Sirronde, a Rodmistress (the magic users of this particular universe) - the first tells us a key story of Sirronde's early career, the second takes place at the end of her journeys. Both are excellent. Duane plans to write a third novella set between these two, and I am much looking forward to it. Lior and the Sea ... is a beautiful love story, one in which the parties involved find both a deep sense of who they are, and a profound union with each other.

Not on My Patch is set in the Young Wizards universe, and it made me weep over the ultimate fate of a lopsided pumpkin. That's good storytelling.

Uptown Local and Other Interventions is a collection of short stories, some funny, some fascinating, some deeply moving. I laughed, I cried. You know how in most short story collections, here's a few stories that really hit the mark for you, some that are OK but nothing to write home about, and some that just miss the mark? Well, this collection wasn't like that - every single story got to me in one way or another. YMMV, and we have already established here and elsewhere that Duane generally manages to hit most if not all of my squee buttons, but I can whole-heartedly say that if you like Duane's work and haven't read these shorter pieces, then go visit her online bookstore and buy them. you won't regret it.