I'll be honest, I'm not a huge fan of cyberpunk-style science fiction. I find that the overwhelming attention to detail regarding the technological aspects of the writing will often distract the both the writer and reader from the story. But Cory Doctorow is a philosopher at heart, and that shines through the gleaming technobabble of The Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow.

What I mean by Doctorow being a philosopher at heart is that his fiction doesn't strive to give us answers, but rather to present questions. The Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow is a first-person perspective of a frightening and alien future in which "progress" has projected mankind exponentially beyond nature as we know it, from the mutating landscape of the ruins of the past littered with remnants of past "progress."

This contemplation of the double-edged realities of technological "progress" is reflected in the companion piece included with this short fiction, a transcript of a speech Doctorow gave back in 2010 regarding the negative repercussions of the publishing industry's obsession with DRM, and the interview included at the end touches on these topics as well.

There's a lot to think about in this short volume, give it a read. ( )

Eh, not going to lie. Don't think the ending on the title story worked, and it took up 75% of the book. Gotta stick the landing. ( )

Unusual and interesting story. ( )

You don't get to see, in some of Doctorow's better known books, how amazing he is at world building. I would call this more of a long 'short story' but I can really imagine this being a longer novel. Otherwise the end, like so many other SF novels, is odd but thought provoking.

If you in any way liked this, Rapture of the Nerds is a full length book that is on a similar vein

Haven't read any SF in a long time and this short was pretty fun. Utopian and dystopian at the same time. I also appreciated the essay/speech about copyright after the story. ( )