Boing Boing co-editor and science fiction author Cory Doctorow explains the idea behind his novel Little Brother, which he describes as "related" to George Orwell's 1984 in that both explore similar themes technology and control. Although Doctorow says Orwell may have underestimated technology's ability to empower individuals, he warns that future technologies could allow governments more control over their citizens – and parents more control over their children – than ever before.
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Millions of people play multiplayer games online, battling to win virtual gold, jewels, and valuable artifacts. Meanwhile, others seek to exploit this vast underground economy, running electronic sweatshops in the world's poorest countries, where "gold farmers" harvest virtual treasures for their employers to sell to gamers. First World players who spend real money to access higher levels.
In rural India, Mala's leadership skills in virtual combat earned him the title "General Robotwalla". In Shenzen, Matthew builds his own gold farming team. Leonard lives in Southern California but spends his nights fighting virtual battles alongside his buddies in Asia. They will all be involved in Big Sister Nor, which will transform them into a movement capable of challenging the status quo.
The forces arrayed against them are prepared to use any means to protect their power, including blackmail, extortion, infiltration, violence and even murder. To survive, the people of Big Sister must rise above the system. This will lead them to come up with a plan to destroy the economies of all virtual worlds simultaneously – a plan that ends up being the most fun game of all. – Books Inc.
Cory Doctorow (craphound.com) is a science fiction novelist, blogger and technology activist. He is co-editor of the popular blog Boing Boing (boingboing.net) and a contributor to Wired, Popular Science, Make, the New York Times and many other newspapers, magazines and websites. A visiting lecturer at the Open University, he was previously director of European affairs at the Electronic Frontier Foundation (eff.org), a non-profit civil liberties group that advocates for freedom in law, politics , standards and technological treaties. In 2007, he served as Fulbright Chair at the Annenberg Center for Public Diplomacy at the University of Southern California.
His novels are published by HarperCollins UK and simulcast on the Internet under Creative Commons licenses that encourage their reuse and sharing, a move that increases his sales by encouraging his readers to help promote his work. It won the Locus and Sunburst Awards and was nominated for the Hugo, Nebula and British Science Fiction Awards.
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