For the Win

A fascinating novel of gaming, economics and unionisation. While I knew of the author, I didn't know much about him or his work and I was intrigued when I came upon this book in the library.

There's a lot of exposition and explanation about economics, the history and methods of unionisation, game design and manipulations of games for profit and even the behavioural psychology behind economic markets. A lot of theory. And yet, for all the time characters spend explaining things to each other, it didn't feel like they had swallowed an economics textbook unlike, say, in [a:Stieg Larsson|706255|Stieg Larsson|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1246466225p2/706255.jpg]'s [b:The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo|2429135|The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (Millennium, #1)|Stieg Larsson|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1293975922s/2429135.jpg|1708725] which I found very hard going at the beginning.

A large number of plot strands are drawn through the novel, drawing together characters in vividly-drawn locations across the world as they put into practice the economic theories they expound in the world of online gaming.

I really enjoyed (and learnt a lot from) this novel, and I'll be adding [b:Little Brother|954674|Little Brother|Cory Doctorow|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1289934046s/954674.jpg|939584] to my 'to read' list. ( )

I read this as a free download but am going to buy multiple copies of the book as presents. If you love collective bargaining, rousing tales of union struggles, and speculations about the near future, I think you will love this too. I'm not even a gamer and I loved the gaming aspects. My only question was is Doctorow serious when he dedicates chapters to chain bookstores. Does anyone know? I love the dedications to independent bookstores, but the chains confused me. ( )

Somewhere, Joe Hill is smiling. He's got tears in his eyes, too.

Doctorow is easily as preachy as Heinlein. I like that in an author I respect and admire, one who has obviously reasoned his way to his positions. This book is far more violent than most books I like, but the violence is never gratuitous. There is a cast of thousands here, and it took me several hundred pages to start sorting them out.

Well-written, tautly plotted, and only semi-incomprehensible in parts- to a non-gamer like me. I got the gist of the gaming parts with little trouble. And I learned some economics theory.

I'm going to have to read it again. ( )

A letdown after Little Brother. The disappointing thing about this book to me was that only the (highly unpleasantly stereotyped) corporate bad guys hacked. (In either the good or the bad sense.) So our gold farming / wage slave heroes were left with only quaint 20th century labor organizing. ( )

Wow what a crazy book. From a slow, sometimes confusing, start it just rolls on and on and you have to hold tight. A book about the working class and slave labour of the computer future it stars the poor of the world driven to work in crappy conditions for crappy pay just to make "gold" for rich Westerners.

Interspersed with their quest to throw off the shackles of oppression and very vivid and frightening lessons on economy and just how fragile the global financial system is and how based on shit it as. If you really want to save for the future it's not money you should be storing.

A thrilling book with so many real situations I highly recommend it. I just hope we can find true equality for all before it's too late. ( )