Attack Surface by Cory Doctorow

Abstract

Reviewed by: Attack Surface by Cory Doctorow April Spisak Doctorow, Cory Attack Surface. Tor, 2020 [384p] Trade ed. ISBN 9781250757531 $26.99 E-book ed. ISBN 9781250757524 $13.99 Reviewed from digital galleys R Gr. 9-12 Masha is well aware of her own value: almost no one knows their way around a computer, particularly surveillance tech, better than her. She's been used by a shady cybersecurity firm since her early adolescence for these skills, and she's [End Page 80] made peace with her objectively distasteful work for oppressive governments by sometimes using hacks against her own privacy-invading tools to help her friends. Of course, that's a temporary solution, and even piles of money can't keep Masha from realizing that she's helped to create a situation where legitimate protestors are now in danger no matter how she tries to help them keep off the grid. This is a standalone novel, but the setting is familiar from Little Brother (BCCB 11/08) and Homeland, and fans will revel in recognizing familiar details in this world that exists just a skip ahead of our own. This is Doctorow at his most technologically indulgent, and the lengthy passages of exuberant detail will especially please readers fascinated with tech and spyware. However, the core story is one of longing, isolation, and the ways we twist ourselves to survive, and any lingering confusion about Masha's tech is less important than the starkly told and elegant narrative of a young woman realizing that tossing good acts out to balance bad work is a poor alternative to being grounded and worthy in the world. Copyright © 2020 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois