Makers by Cory Doctorow

I don’t often review books on here, and I review fiction books even less, but Makers is definitely a worthwhile exception, as Cory Doctorow is well-known both as an author, and for his views and work on copyright and open rights. Although Makers might be a work of fiction, it’s very much written as a parable based on his views.

Before I go into the book itself, it’s worthwhile noting that you can download it for free in almost every conceivable e-format and licensed under Creative Commons from Cory’s site, as well as buying the print version in the normal manner from the usual retailers ( such as Amazon – Makers
aff link). As he has often documented (Including in his non-fiction essay collection, Content), the evidence he has points towards this approach helping him towards increased print sales.

Makers:

Makers follows the progress of a handful of key characters in a near future world, where technology has continued to progress, business strategies have remained the same, but the economy has gotten worse for many people.

Following the fictional merger of Kodak and Duracell, the new boss of Kodacell, Kettlewell, introduces a new scheme to support micro-business, and the first of these are two creative hacker-types, Perry and Lester, working out of a disused Florida mall next to a shantytown, and creating tech and art out of salvaged junk and 3D printers. They’re joined by Suzanne Church, a journalist encouraged to document the story, and Tjan, a business manager flown in by Kettlewell.

The book follows the story of their project, and their lives, as they have an effect on the community around them, and indeed the American country – and the effect on them when big business perceives them as a threat.

It’s a great book for anyone with enthusiasm for technology, whether it’s about geek tech, DIY or Steampunk – and it’s also great to pass onto those in your life who might not get your enthusiasm for tech, open source and microbusiness.

But it’s not Open Source propaganda – quite often Lester and Perry can infuriate those around them – and readers – by clinging to their desire to ‘just make things’, and not to embrace the events happening around them, despite the publicity they get from Suzanne’s journalism – which itself develops into a successful self-published business of its own.

A work of fiction and the suspension of disbelief is the reason you don’t see imitators with more of a business angle take over from the pair, until Disney figures late in the story.

The characters in the story are all based within recognisable stereotypes – the overweight geek, the mature female reporter, the youthful CEO and the efficient business manager – but just as in meeting people in real life, they contain personality and character much beyond this.

Overall, it’s an excellent book and page-turner. I downloaded it as a free PDF and ended up forsaking my RSS feed (and this blog), for a couple of days until I’d finished it. If you’re the geeky sort, you’re love the mix of tech invention and the recognisable possible future of the current tech ideals and businesses (and there are plenty of geek jokes in there). And if you’re trying to kickstart some enthusiasm amongst non-geek friends, it’s the perfect fictional introduction – it’s even useful for business owners and managers as a guide to a possible future and a spark for ideas which may work successfully.

Only two negatives (spoiler alert):

Only two short sections left me cold – one was a detailed sex scene (as forewarned in Cory’s introduction to the PDF copy). It wasn’t the sex itself, or the detailed descriptions – it was the fact that it seemed so out of place and jarred with the rest of the book. Maybe the point is that the physical relationships between Perry, Lester and the other characters was so hard for the two hacker geeks to maintain compared to their relationship with technology and their creations, but it really felt as if the 2 or so pages detailing the carnal act were forced in there (pardon the single entendre).

The only other disappointment was the ending, which was a major issue considering the quality of the rest of the book, but it left me somewhat underwhelmed. Not because it was a less than triumphant finish for the people involved, but because the way it was delivered – particularly the ‘hadn’t seen each over in years’ mechanic. Technology has removed this from being as plausible in the modern world, and the events leading up to their separation never seem quite enough to cause an active attempt by the pair to avoid each other (in real life people do drift apart without any effort, but for fiction to make this interesting would take a far longer book and a different angle). It made for an ending which felt more like it a conclusion was needed, than naturally followed the events so far.

Overall? Download it and Buy it!

Minor gripes aside, I really loved Makers, and it’s good enough that the minor gripes are an extremely small price to pay for the rest of the book. If you download the free version from the main Makers website, I’m willing to bet you’ll be buying at least a couple of the print editions for yourself, and for friends and family (Makers
Amazon affiliate link).