Firstly fans of Little Brother will enjoy this direct sequel we have another diatribe against the current state of American society - instead of the War on Terror and the craziness of Homeland Security we have as slightly wider canvas as Doctorow takes on the American 2 party system and the Military Industrial complex that helps support it. With the main plotline inspired by Wikileaks we get another rattling chapter of Marcus' life.
So why the 3 stars? Effectively the novel loses 2 stars for the poorly constructed and plotted ending - most of it happens off screen at one hand removed so the story never reaches a satisfying conclusion. In fact my major complaint is that several plot lines are not tied off - we never find out about Joes senate bid for example.
So as a polemics this books works as well as Little Brother - as an example of the storytellers art not so much.
As another plus there are some small essays from key people involved in Wikileaks and Reddit.
Highlight of the bonuses is a Little Brother short story which lacks most of the flaws of the main novel as does work both as a polemic and a story.
A little more polish next time please Mr Doctorow.
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