Cory Doctorow

A provocative and exhilarating tale of teen rebellion against global corporations from the New York Times bestselling author of Little Brother -- a call to arms for a new generation.

For the Win

A provocative and exhilarating tale of teen rebellion against global corporations from the New York Times bestselling author of Little Brother. Not far in the future... In the twenty-first century, it's not just capital that's globalized: labour is too. Workers in special economic zones are trapped in lives of poverty with no trade unions to represent their rights. But a group of teenagers from across the world are set to fight this injustice using the most surprising of tools - their online video games. In Industrial South China Matthew and his friends labour day and night as gold-farmers, amassing virtual wealth that's sold on to rich Western players, while in the slums of Mumbai 'General Robotwallah' Mala marshalls her team of online thugs on behalf of the local gang-boss, who in turn works for the game-owners. They're all being exploited, as their friend Wei-Dong, all the way over in LA, knows, but can do little about. Until they begin to realize that their similarities outweigh their differences, and agree to work together to claim their rights to fair working conditions. Under the noses of the ruling elites in China and the rest of Asia, they fight their bosses, the owners of the games and rich speculators, outsmarting them all with their gaming skills. But soon the battle will spill over from the virtual world to the real one, leaving Mala, Matthew and even Wei-Dong fighting not just for their rights, but for their lives...

I.m. ruzz

I half ass ran in the same circles of cory a decade ago. Then worked with a guy who wouldn't shut up about him but still had never read any of his stuff. When i saw this hardcover for $2 in clearance at Chapters I grabbed it up. 

475 pages so at points it was a bit of a slog but his writing is pretty quick to read and he kept the action moving despite describing entirely random imagined online game worlds. 

I don't see how this qualifies as a YA title beyond most the characters are teens or YA and has a strong taste of the gamer world in it. That would normally be enough but it's economics focus and little sidebars about economic theory probably won't interest a 15 year old very much. 

that said, as a light, geek driven read it works. the ending was a bit unsatisfying but i still enjoyed the book on the whole. I'll read more of him.

A provocative and exhilarating tale of teen rebellion against global corporations from the New York Times bestselling author of Little Brother - a call to arms for a new generation. Not far in the future... In the twenty-first century, it's not just capital that's globalized: labour is too. Workers in special economic zones are trapped in lives of poverty with no trade unions to represent their rights. But a group of teenagers from across the world are set to fight this injustice using the most surprising of tools - their online video games. In Industrial South China Matthew and his friends labour day and night as gold-farmers, amassing virtual wealth that's sold on to rich Western players, while in the slums of Mumbai 'General Robotwallah' Mala marshalls her team of online thugs on behalf of the local gang-boss, who in turn works for the game-owners. They're all being exploited, as their friend Wei-Dong, all the way over in LA, knows, but can do little about. Until they begin to realize that their similarities outweigh their differences, and agree to work together to claim their rights to fair working conditions. Under the noses of the ruling elites in China and the rest of Asia, they fight their bosses, the owners of the games and rich speculators, outsmarting them all with their unbeatable gaming skills. But soon the battle will spill over from the virtual world to the real one, leaving Mala, Matthew and even Wei-Dong fighting not just for their rights, but for their lives...

Magnus Dahl

Ian Marchant 

Katie Day

Steven O'Toole

John Philpin

It's the twenty-first century, and all over the world, MMORPGs are big business. Hidden away in China and elsewhere, young players are pressed into working as "gold-farmers," amassing game-wealth that's sold to Western players at a profitable markup. Some of these pieceworkers rebel, trying to go into business for themselves--but there's little to stop their bosses from dragging them back into servitude. Some of them, like young Mala in the slums of Bombay--nicknamed "General Robotwallah" for her self-taught military skill--become enforcers for the bosses, but that only buys them so much. All the way over in L.A., young Wei-Dong, obsessed with Asian youth culture and MMORPGs, knows the system is rigged, knows that kids everywhere are being exploited. Finally, he and his Asian counterparts begin to work together to claim their rights. Under the noses of the ruling elites, they fight the bosses, the game owners and the rich speculators, outsmarting them with their street-gaming skills. But soon the battle will spill over from the virtual world to the real one, leaving the young rebels fighting not just for their rights, but for their lives....

For the Win

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