Makers (Hardcover)

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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. In this tour de force, Doctorow (Little Brother) uses the contradictions of two overused SF themes—the decline and fall of America and the boundless optimism of open source/hacker culture—to draw one of the most brilliant reimaginings of the near future since cyberpunk wore out its mirror shades. Perry Gibbons and Lester Banks, typical brilliant geeks in a garage, are trash-hackers who find inspiration in the growing pile of technical junk. Attracting the attention of suits and smart reporter Suzanne Church, the duo soon get involved with cheap and easy 3D printing, a cure for obesity and crowd-sourced theme parks. The result is bitingly realistic and miraculously avoids cliché or predictability. While dates and details occasionally contradict one another, Doctorow's combination of business strategy, brilliant product ideas and laugh-out-loud moments of insight will keep readers powering through this quick-moving tale. (Nov.)
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Review

“I know many science fiction writers engaged in the cyber-world, but Cory Doctorow is a native. We should all hope and trust that our culture has the guts and moxie to follow this guy. He’s got a lot to tell us.” —Bruce Sterling

“A rousing tale of techno-geek rebellion—as necessary and dangerous as file sharing, free speech, and bottled water on a plane.” —Scott Westerfeld on Little Brother

“A terrific read…. It claims a place in the tradition of polemical science-fiction novels like 1984 and Fahrenheit 451 (with a dash of Mr. Smith Goes to Washington).”

—The New York Times Book Review on Little Brother “Enthralling…. One of the year’s most important books.” —Chicago Tribune on Little Brother

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 416 pages
• Publisher: Tor Books; 1 edition (October 27, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0765312794
• ISBN-13: 978-0765312792
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.3 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #3,654 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Ever wonder what's possible?, October 28, 2009

By	C. Gruver "ferretlady" (Mesa, AZ) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I won an Advance Uncorrected Proof of this book. Just like everyone else, I love winning things, especially ARCs. So when I first started it, I didn't really have any expectations. Of course, the fact I only managed to read about twenty pages before setting the book down for the night led me to believe it would take a long time to finish it. Not so. The next night I managed about another twenty pages--not so hard to believe as small font, long pages and I only spent about an hour reading. The third night I read fifty pages and hated to stop. By that time, Cory Doctorow literally grabbed me and pulled into the story. I got so caught up in the lives of these five people that I hated to stop reading. First off, we have Suzanne Church, a journalist in a press conference given by Landon Kettlewell, new owner of Kodacell--a merging of Kodak and Duracell. A brilliant, manic man who's not happy unless he has some crisis to solve. Kettlewell ends up talking Suzanne into covering his idea of investing money in small groups of entrepreneurs. And so Suzanne ends up meeting Lester and Perry--two brilliant men with zany ideas who make things from garbage. Then Tjan joins them as the "suit" or management. This whole concept of "New Work" takes off. Suzanne ends up quitting the paper and blogging. When New Work tanks, Lester and Perry don't just sit around, they come up with newer and zanier ideas and Suzanne goes off to Russia--the new metropolis of cosmetic surgery.
I really loved MAKERS. The characters are all bigger than life and very easy to fall in love with. Of course, the villains are all easy to hate too, well, except for Sammy Page. Felt a bit ambivalent about him. The action is non-stop and the way Perry and Lester, and even Suzanne react to the world around them is awe-inspiring. Perry especially is determined to do things his own way and stays true to that throughout the book. And this futuristic world Cory Doctorow comes up with, well, don't really think I'd want to live there. With the way things are going now with the economy and all--very plausible. Start this story and you will have to finish it, if for no other reason than to find out what Lester and Perry come up with next.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Bridget's Review, October 27, 2009

By	bridget3420 - See all my reviews

Born to invent and create, Perry and Lester go together like peanut butter and jelly. When they invent a whole new world with someone taking notes of every move, life becomes a little hectic. Then, when their baby crumbles, the whole world is watching. These friends are draw to the limit and it's no surprise that the company and the friendship, may be doomed for ever. Will they be able to redeem themselves?

This is a witty novel that will appeal to nerds everywhere. I'm including myself in this nerd category. So to all you dorks out there, this is a book written just for you. (And me.)

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars For The Generation of Make & Wired/Hackers Everywhere, October 28, 2009

By	Ira Laefsky "Ira Laefsky" (Philadelphia, PA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Cory Doctorow's work is up to the minute (or perhaps 30 seconds into the future). It is the perfect science fiction and manifesto for Makers, Hackers, DIY'ers and Entrepreneurs. As an active member of the Philadelphia Hackerspace--Hive 76 I will recommend it as fiction that speaks to this generation of electronics, software, materials and economic hackers. Lester and Perry's adventures and misadventures speak to all of us who have our own dreams of building the next self-directed innovation, whether in the Physical, Virtual or Economic sphere. The ambivalence as to what and how successful the current generation's successors to yesterday's mega-corporations will be and for how long, and in what form is realistic and intriguing to its potential participants. This is the book of fiction and reality which meets, validates and invalidates the expectations of today's reader's of Make Magazine, Wired and Business Week, and is an exemplar of Speculative Fiction which more closely fits the unfolding of current reality than the textbooks I encountered in a Wharton School MBA program...

--Ira Laefsky
MS Engineering, MBA, Psychophysiology & HCI Hacker & Member of the Hive76 Philadelphia Hackerspace