Reviews

Radicalized by Cory Doctorow

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angus_mckeogh's review against another edition

3.0

I wanted to love this book. The explanation sounded awesome. And with four novellas I had four chances. Oddly enough the first (about the programmable toaster) was my favorite. It was quirky and brilliant. I imagined from the description of the superhero novella that I’d love it; I hated it. The cancer terrorist novella had potential but fizzled and seemed to limp to an ending. Then lastly, the novella about the end of the world just seemed pointless and sad. Averaged together: one brilliant, one terrible, and two middling; I thought that garnered three out of five stars.

wormposting's review against another edition

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5.0

each of these stories hit incredibly close to home. it's thrilling to watch characters confront issues that seem insurmountable, and satisfying to read through to the end when we feel bogged down watching the reality unfold in our lives with no conclusions in sight

kaydot's review against another edition

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challenging dark hopeful medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

ariel1524's review against another edition

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dark reflective tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

inkdrinker6259's review against another edition

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challenging informative mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? N/A
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.75

ajmcwhinney's review against another edition

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4.0

An excellent set of 4 allegorical short stories tackling the political/cultural zeitgeist of our time, whether it be struggles against police brutality, big tech and capitalism, doomsdayism, or online radicalization.

Some have complained that the characters in these books are not fleshed out enough to tackle the issues that Doctorow does, but I strongly disagree. In fact, I think the allegorical nature of the stories helps us stand back a little bit from getting TOO bogged down in analysis that may end up paralyzing us into inaction. This is a great set of stories that serve as entry points into these issues and, to their credit, are very in-tune with a lot of the contemporary discourse surrounding these issues (internet culture and the twittersphere, and so on).

Will these stories teach you about the systemic workings of late capitalism, white supremacy, and surveillance ideology? Not really. But they will get you looking perhaps more deeply into your own awareness of these systems and how they relate to our moment.

Is there's anything this book is right about, it's the tagline "dystopia is now."