Customer Reviews

Makers

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Cory Doctorow's book Markers is a roller coaster ride (reference intended) of the ups and downs of the "New Work" era and beyond.

The main characters Lester Banks and Perry Gibbons have an infectious energy for the future and the creative process that is energizing and Suzanne Church's chronicles of Lester's and Perry's adventures gives this story an uncanny raised hair on the back of the neck vision of what our own future could hold.

Although the book is a SF novel, I often found myself thinking, this isn't science fiction, this is just around the corner technology.

I personally loved the laser translator. Imagine getting the job on the merits of your skills and talent rather than language requirements. And the earbuds, snitch-tags and the self-modifying robots were pretty mind-blowing too.

The story moves at a fast clip and when the characters crash, you crash right along with them, and when they pick themselves up, you dust yourself off too and move forward.

The only disturbing aspect of the story is the biotechnology angle. Oh, I hope that as a society we don't go down that path, but the temptation for some to become fatkins may just be too strong.

I enjoyed Markers thoroughly and recommend the book highly.

I heartily recommend this book from a person who usually puts a book down after chapter two. Mr.Doctorow's near future premise and eclectic characters drew me in from the first few sentences and didn't let me go. A thoroughly enjoyable trip into the world of Makers. It's not just for SciFi fans at all. Thanks.

Art Matters: The Art of Knowledge/The Knowledge of Art

As a previous reviewer said, this is a roller coaster of a book. In the near future when the economy is a mess various ideas are tried. The New Work projects should work but as its financier says, Wall Street does not know how to value such work so the enterprise collapses. But Perry and Lester use their ingenuity to create these virtual rides which then catch on.

The problem at the centre of the book is the relationship with Disney. Some of the things that Perry and Lester use were developed by Disney. But as we later find out, Disney uses some of Perry and Lester's stuff as well.

All kinds of law suits and counter suits go on. This part of the book is important because it shows how fossilized corporate structures are, especially in the light of technological developments on the net where everyone has access to information.

This is an important book and should be read by everyone interested in how technology impacts the economy and how ingenuity and creativity are killed by large structures.

In a way this book, tough a novel, reminds me of Alvin Toffler's Future Shock. The future is here but we deal with the future by trying to compress it into models from the past.

Cory Doctorow keeps surprising me with his work. this one keeps up to all the expectations and well surpasses them all, as it is usual with him. Fully recommended to everyone.

As Cory Doctorow points out: "It's the 21st century: Art will be copied. If you're making art not to be copied, you're not making contemporary art. It's lovely that someone wants to be the blacksmith at Pioneer Village, but that's not my job. I'ma science-fiction writer." Not only will things get copied, they'll be reused. 10K BoogieWoogieElmos. 100K garden gnomes. And just think what you can replicate with a 3D copier! This is a terrific novel taking place in the decaying parts of Florida and Silicon(e) Valley. You'll love Suzanne's reportage of sometime between yesterwhen and 2021.