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More NerdCore Science Fiction From Cory Doctorow
Andrew Leonard writes "Cory Doctorow has published a new short story in Salon. This time around, he's imagined a cyberpunk wi-fi future, with spectrum cops, a mobile multinational startup, and guerilla warfare on Indian reservations. Readers who liked his previous story, "0wnz0red" will undoubtedly savor this one." We've posted things about Cory before, but I personally enjoy his writing, so here's more!
You're being generous.
I couldn't even get through a few paragraphs.
Why anyone would compare his stuff to the likes of HHGTTG or Snow Crash is beyond me.
This guy's a hack. But he wrote a story about Wi-Fi, buzzword of the new millenium.
I don't need no instructions to know how to rock!!!!
It's the semi-poser wannabe writing that gets me. The use of familiar words in vaguely correct arrangements doesn't make good writing:
Crap, man. That's worse than Thomas Wolfe.Why does everyone with a computer think they're a critic? =P
like most sci-fi, crappy drama with some flashing lights thrown it.
Salon has a bunch of good content. Maybe you agree that this story is good. Subscribe!
He may be average, but it's always funny for someone to criticize writing in a post that gets gets plural and singular tenses messed up and uses all caps.
Personally, I find him an above average fiction writer. Hardly my favorite, and his characters are not well developed, but head and shoulders above a lot of stuff that gets published. Perhaps head, shoulders, and bellybutton above the web average.
Everybody who has more than a couple (dozen?) stories started who are going to finish them "one of these days" please raise your hand. (Ouch, I can't count that high.)
I would argue that the details DO matter. What makes these stories interesting are the technical / political / social concepts each story explores. To better express these concepts, a certain degree of detail is needed.
The trouble is, this detail ends up highlighting a lack of detail elsewhere. There are attempts at fleshing out the world in which these concepts are playing out. But these attempts ultimately fall flat. One example, as has been pointed out, is the commonly underdeveloped character.
Doctorow has a good start. Enough to be kind of interesting now. I hope he improves with time. Then he may be worthy of the breathless praise his critics currently scoff at.
I know, personally, two guys who front as nobodies so they can participate in online discussions without being flooded with fanmail, job applications and gee gosh wow bullshit.
There's also the Maxim girl who chimes in on a certain jokey-newsie site every once in a while. It's funny to watch jackoff artists ignore her posts and two hours later carry on the running gag about how much they lust her.
Penn (as in 'n' Teller) is right, being ignored is the most desirable leisure good. Not that he's Mr. Wonderful. Comparisons to Michael Moore are unstoppable and inevitable.