Reviews and Comments

Great collection of short stories. I like the last one (Masque of the Red Death) best, it was the most pointed and vicious and felt like it was a bit of catharsis on Doctorow's part. The main character in the first (Unauthorized Bread) was a little too much of an author proxy to be believable but I appreciated the world building. It's a solid dystopian read with left wing leanings, and there's nothing wrong with that.

I wanted to like this book, I'm currently working on a software product with a strong ethical component so am really interested in the area, but this has been a bit of a let down.

My main complaint is that the structure of this book and writing style both need a lot of work, it feels like an early draft and I wonder whether this has gone through an editor. Some sections start on one area or topic and veer off wildly into semi-related ideas without really resolving the original point or coming to a satisfactory conclusion about what was presented.

Some of the ideas presented are interesting and warrant further research, but overall I found this is a pretty superficial introduction. Its not a particularly difficult read, but I dont think I can recommend it.

A mostly feel good (if you're an EFF supporting technoutopian) very near future fantasy about maker culture and its intersection with big business. Tails off towards the end, and has a lot of ideas that aren't fully fleshed out. Not Doctorow's best, and not an essential read but enjoyable if you're in the target demographic.