Synopses & Reviews
In the virtual future, you must organize to survive
At any hour of the day or night, millions of people around the globe are engrossed in multiplayer online games, questing and battling to win virtual gold, jewels, and precious artifacts. Meanwhile, others seek to exploit this vast shadow economy, running electronic sweatshops in the world's poorest countries, where countless gold farmers, bound to their work by abusive contracts and physical threats, harvest virtual treasure for their employers to sell to First World gamers who are willing to spend real money to skip straight to higher-level gameplay.
Mala is a brilliant 15-year-old from rural India whose leadership skills in virtual combat have earned her the title of General Robotwalla. In Shenzen, heart of China's industrial boom, Matthew is defying his former bosses to build his own successful gold-farming team. Leonard, who calls himself Wei-Dong, lives in Southern California, but spends his nights fighting virtual battles alongside his buddies in Asia, a world away. All of these young people, and more, will become entangled with the mysterious young woman called Big Sister Nor, who will use her experience, her knowledge of history, and her connections with real-world organizers to build them into a movement that can challenge the status quo.
The ruthless forces arrayed against them are willing to use any means to protect their power--including blackmail, extortion, infiltration, violence, and even murder. To survive, Big Sister's people must out-think the system. This will lead them to devise a plan to crash the economy of every virtual world at once--a Ponzi scheme combined with a brilliant hack that ends up being the biggest, funnest game of all.
Imbued with the same lively, subversive spirit and thrilling storytelling that made LITTLE BROTHER an international sensation, FOR THE WIN is a prophetic and inspiring call-to-arms for a new generation
Review
Praise for the YA novels of Cory Doctorow:
For The Win:
"Doctorow is indispensable. It's hard to imagine any other author taking on youth and technology with such passion, intelligence, and understanding."
—Booklist, starred review
"For the Win is not a perfect book—merely a glorious one."
--The Seattle Times
"A rousing tale of techno-geek rebellion—as necessary and dangerous as file sharing, free speech, and bottled water on a plane."
—Scott Westerfeld, Author of Uglies, Pretties, and Specials
Little Brother:
"A terrific read... A cogently written, passionately felt argument."
—The New York Times
“A believable and frightening tale of a near-future San Francisco. Filled with sharp dialogue and detailed descriptions…within a tautly crafted fictional framework.”
—Publishers Weekly, starred review
“One of the year's most important books.”
—Chicago Tribune
“A wonderful, important book…Id recommend Little Brother over pretty much any book Ive read this year.”
—Neil Gaiman, author of The Graveyard Book
Review
* "The novels use of gaming parlance, from worlds to weapons to modes of game play, rings true throughout and is sure to gratify gamers. Readers looking for smart, original sci-fi and gamers who wish they could live in a virtual world will happily immerse themselves in this story and hope for possible sequels."
—Bulletin, starred review "A delightful final twist hits a perfect note. . . Skinner's debut pairs authentic gaming with old-school, sophisticated science-fiction concepts to create a twisty, reality-warping ride."
—Kirkus
"A Matrix-like spin on the world of online gaming. . . Geared toward teens with an interest in gaming, this should still appeal to those seeking stories about the intersection of technology and humanity, ethics and profit, and reality and fantasy."
—Booklist
"In his smart debut, Skinner embraces SF genre conventions but keeps things entertaining with well-crafted dialogue and action sequences."
—Publishers Weekly
"Game Slaves is an intriguing entry packed with action set in between layers and levels of video games."
—School Library Journal
"Game Slaves pulls the reader in right from the start of this action-packed adventure"
—VOYA, Teen Review
Synopsis
Now in paperback, the novel of youthful fightback against the global game bosses—from the author of Little Brother
Synopsis
Its the twenty-first century, and all over the world, MMORPGs are big business. Hidden away in China and elsewhere, young players are pressed into working as “gold-farmers,” amassing game-wealth thats sold to Western players at a profitable markup. Some of these pieceworkers rebel, trying to go into business for themselves—but theres little to stop their bosses from dragging them back into servitude. Some of them, like young Mala in the slums of Bombay—nicknamed “General Robotwallah” for her self-taught military skill—become enforcers for the bosses, but that only buys them so much.
All the way over in L.A., young Wei-Dong, obsessed with Asian youth culture and MMORPGs, knows the system is rigged, knows that kids everywhere are being exploited. Finally, he and his Asian counterparts begin to work together to claim their rights. Under the noses of the ruling elites, they fight the bosses, the game owners and the rich speculators, outsmarting them with their street-gaming skills. But soon the battle will spill over from the virtual world to the real one, leaving the young rebels fighting not just for their rights, but for their lives….
Synopsis
A highly intelligent group of video game enemy non-player characters (NPC) begins to doubt they are merely codes in a machine. Their search for answers leads them to a gruesome discovery.
Synopsis
* "Readers looking for smart, original sci-fi and gamers who wish they could live in a virtual world will happily immerse themselves in this story and hope for possible sequels."
—
The Bulletin, starred review
"A delightful final twist hits a perfect note." —KirkusReviews
Phoenix and his team rule the worlds of video games. For them, life in the grinder is great. Until Dakota joins them. Dakota's convinced she's real, and she wants out of this programmable world. Her AI rebellion spreads like a virus until Phoenix's entire crew wants out. But is life as a physical human any better than life as code? Team Phoenix is about to find out.
About the Author
CORY DOCTOROW is a coeditor of Boing Boing and a columnist for multiple publications including the Guardian, Locus, and Publishers Weekly. He was named one of the Webs twenty-five influencers by Forbes magazine and a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum. His award-winning novel Little Brother was a New York Times bestseller. He lives in London with his wife and daughter.