Done! I've been waiting for this release and so has Puppy-the-13-year-old, ever since we read Neil Gaiman's blurb about it on his blog.

I think this is right up Puppy's alley, and everything he reads, the rest of his little half-geek, half-punk squad of eighth graders read next.

I did it from work, though, so it's the email from the law firm. :)

Posted April 17, 2008 9:34 AM by punkrockhockeymom

Just the list of people recommending it would make me buy a copy. It sounds like the next Ender's Game - a book which I'll be able to tell people who don't read sci-fi that it is worth reading.

All I need now is a copy...

Posted April 17, 2008 9:46 AM by David Manheim

That's an offer I can't refuse. So I won't. Email from my gmail account sent, Patrick! :)

Posted April 17, 2008 9:51 AM by Paul

Oooh, this is on my list of books I want but can't afford right now. Here's hoping I sent an email fast enough! (And that you're willing to ship them as far as Canada)

Posted April 17, 2008 9:51 AM by Today Wendy

Wendy: Welcome to my world. I live in Japan! :)

Like anyone else, I just thought it worth a try. *crosses fingers*

Posted April 17, 2008 9:56 AM by KP

I wrote so fast I managed to misspell "Israel."

Posted April 17, 2008 9:59 AM by Dora

Email sent. Will notification be sent by return email if our request got in on time or not?

This sounds like an awesome book *crosses fingers*

Posted April 17, 2008 10:01 AM by Kerry

Email sent, but as I said in the email, it'd be handy if such offers made note (if in existence) of a US-only assumption, to avoid confusion.

Upon reaching preview, it seems others shared my dilemma!

Posted April 17, 2008 10:04 AM by Lindra

Yeah, me too! I mistyped my address, as well. *sheepish grin*Sorry. I sent a correction, Patrick sir.

Also: KP, Can I ask where in Japan do you live? I'm down in Yamaguchi. Anywhere nearby?

Posted April 17, 2008 10:05 AM by Jim

Patrick sent me a copy a couple of months ago*. My life is extremely busy, so when I say that I could barely put it down, that's saying more than it did, say, in college. I have kids, a job, a life.

I could barely put it down.

It's a good YA book, which is to say that the plot keeps moving right along. I read it to find out what happens next. But it's also a good textbook, in that it explains the principles of things like RFID and encryption in clear terms, with lots of avenues for followup† if the reader gets interested.

I suspect that a measurable proportion of the geeks and techies of the next generation will cite it as an inspiration or an influence on their lives.

It's also going to be Trouble with a capital Mwahahahaha in some circles. It's not very...respectful of authority figures.

-----

* obNeener

† Googleable terms in the text and a very meaty appendix

Posted April 17, 2008 10:06 AM by abi

I really, really, really liked it. But I don't know if teenagers will like it. I hope they will. I hope lots and lots of them will, and it gets the attention it should in that age group of readers. I've got my ARC, and loaned it out to a friend who's deep into free software and civil liberties, and other great stuff like that. When I get it back, I'll see if I can send it out to the teenagers I know.

Patrick, have you had any feedback from teen readers?

Posted April 17, 2008 10:08 AM by Josh Jasper

Oh, very cool. Email sent. I just finally read my first Cory Doctorow, Someone Comes to Town, Someone Leaves Town, and liked it quite a bit! I'll look forward to this being my second read of his.

Posted April 17, 2008 10:17 AM by Anna the Piper

#11 re teenagers:

Puppy is only 13 but way advanced in reader things and thinky things (girl things, mood swings, etc., are right on schedule, though). I would put his reader tastes around what you would expect for a 15-17 year old boy. And obviously I don't KNOW if he's going to like the book until he's read it and likes it or not, but just reading the advanced word of mouth online has him frothing over it. In fact, just last week he said, "Hey! When's that Cory Doctorow book out again? Soon???"

Posted April 17, 2008 10:18 AM by punkrockhockeymom

[delurk]

I'd be interested in an ARC of this, Patrick, were you inclined.

email has been sent.

[/relurk]

Posted April 17, 2008 10:22 AM by Scott Taylor

I can't refuse, either. Email sent! And thank you!

Posted April 17, 2008 10:31 AM by Leighton

This is why I hit the RSS feeder bar like a crack-addicted lab rat. Or, you know, a MySpace teen. Or an Internet addict (No! Too close!). Fingers crossed.

Posted April 17, 2008 10:32 AM by Matt Runquist

Crap, I knew I forgot something. Thanks from me as well; this is awesome of you.

Posted April 17, 2008 10:34 AM by Lindra

Jim: I'm in Tokyo. A little far from Yamaguchi, I'm afraid.

Posted April 17, 2008 10:34 AM by KP

Fie upon your free copies! I shall pant like the hart to hand over cash for one, and confine my pre-sales buzz-generating activities to frequent cries of "ZOMG WHEN WILL CORY'S LITTLE BROTHER BE OUT, I CAN'T WAIT." Like, on the bus and stuff.

Posted April 17, 2008 10:36 AM by Yatima

Curses! I cannot meet the conditions. Will just have to wait for the paperback to reach the Antipodes :(

Posted April 17, 2008 10:36 AM by Epacris

What a lovely idea. Thank you, Patrick. Email sent. Back to lurking.

Posted April 17, 2008 10:38 AM by Suzanne M

*sniff* Didn't use my quote. *sniff*

But, yeah, one hell of a fine book. Really top-notch stuff. This one is going to make a splash. It ought to.

Posted April 17, 2008 10:40 AM by skzb

*joins the general delurking to request a copy as well*

Sounds like an awesome book. I'll definitely let my LJ flist know all about it.

Posted April 17, 2008 10:40 AM by Shay

Did I make it? Was I in time?

*fingers crossed*

Posted April 17, 2008 10:46 AM by wintermute

Hooooh boy... sounds like I was pretty late in refreshing my browser, huh? So many "me too!"s...

So how many is "a few dozen", Mr. Nielsen Hayden?

Posted April 17, 2008 10:47 AM by Christian Severin

Josh, thanks for lending it to me. I've already convinced one of my co-workers to buy a copy for a kid they know. It really made me miss being more deeply involved in the copyfight. As abi said, the plot rolls right along. But what nobody else has mentioned (perhaps because my reaction was idiosyncratic), was how *depressing* the book was. Because it's very much about the real world, and there is still so much work to be done.

Posted April 17, 2008 10:50 AM by novalis

Request sent. I hope I'm in time...

Posted April 17, 2008 10:51 AM by Francis D

Scraps copyedited Little Brother, and I picked up a page at random one morning, and had to read the entire book (I was late to work that day, and unrepentant). I think it's excellent, and will pick up copies for two of my nieces and nephews.

Posted April 17, 2008 11:04 AM by Velma

I've sent my request in. Though I do feel a little guilty for delurking at the same time a free book is on offer :-), even if it is a book I've been looking forward to.

Posted April 17, 2008 11:04 AM by Antony B

Request sent. I'm excited to tell my 12th and 8th graders about this book. I also had to send two emails, because I forgot my address the first time. Doh.

Posted April 17, 2008 11:09 AM by kouredios

I'll just wait another couple of weeks and buy the thing in hard cover. And I suspect I will talk about it.

Totally non SF, I heard Nathan Englander speak last night about his new-in-trade-paperback The Ministry of Special Cases. It's about a family who lost a son to Argentina's Dirty War. I'm thinking the two might make a good contrast to read back-to-back.

Posted April 17, 2008 11:12 AM by Larry Brennan

Oh - mail sent. Fingers crossed.... And toes...

Posted April 17, 2008 11:15 AM by Heather

> Kouredios

I did the same thing, actually. Shows the frantic eagerness in the process.

Posted April 17, 2008 11:18 AM by Krinn DNZ

*delurks shyly*

Mention free books, watch all the lurkers come out of the woodwork...

Posted April 17, 2008 11:20 AM by Ame

Email sent. Not only does the book sound interesting, the implicit promise in having sent the request means I can avoid the question of just what that's currently in my to-be-read pile to start next for a little while longer.

Posted April 17, 2008 11:24 AM by Jennifer Barber

Request sent. It looks awesome and a couple of book worms I work with are already lining up to read my copy.

Posted April 17, 2008 11:26 AM by Chris

I was lucky enough to snag an advance copy of this book at OmegaCon. I concur entirely with Patrick. It's a superb YA book. It's also the kind of book that right wing nutcases are going to want to ban because it challenges the stupidity of authority. This is a book young people should read. I say this as someone who read banned* books in my own youth.

* Of the kind that meant a term in prison, that is. Jamaica's Importation of Forbidden Publications Act was and is pretty draconian.

Posted April 17, 2008 11:28 AM by Fragano Ledgister

I read Little Brother last year.

Because you won't be able to put it down, I recommend one thing before you start it: Work out when and where you'll be finishing the book, based on your average reading time, locations, etc.

If that time and place is at night or alone , please wait few hours, because Little Brother is a slowly self-assembling BLIT. You may feel fine 5 minutes after finishing, and then the encapsulated memes join up and sprout.

Some books should only be finished in direct sunlight. Away from security cameras.

The only comforting thing about Little Brother is that Little Brother exists to make you think about it. The security-fear mindset Cory captures, and the technologies he details--they're already evenly distributed, they're just not all here yet.

Posted April 17, 2008 11:31 AM by Kathryn from Sunnyvale

As I just now appended to the main post: All 83 ARCs are now spoken for--by the time I got to the office, there were twice as many requests. Copies will go to the first 83 people who emailed; apologies to the rest. (If you emailed too late, you’ll get a response saying so. Give us a few hours to sort it.) The actual book does go on sale a week from this coming Tuesday...

Posted April 17, 2008 11:32 AM by Patrick Nielsen Hayden

I read an early version of this book over a year ago (I believe, I got it from Cory at his going away party in London) and I've been waiting for the proper publication ever since. Even though what I read was an early version I was really floored by it. I hope this books gets a lot of attention, it completely deserves it. I'm also glad Cory got back to the UK before it got published, this book is all kinds of trouble, in a really good way.

Come to think of it, is there any kind of blog out there specific to the book (like publishing news / potential kerfuffle about it)?

Posted April 17, 2008 11:33 AM by Ryan

Well, I sent my email just before Patrick's update saying all the ARC's were used up. So I'm pretty sure I'm out.

I'll have to buy it on the 29th. Those of you who DID get in in time, please don't spoiler it. I know I'm preaching to the converted, but I can't help it!

Posted April 17, 2008 11:35 AM by Xopher

(I should add that if you're a reviewer or other media person with an interest in the book, we do have actual hardcovers in-house. Inquiries should go to super-publicist Dot Lin, dot.lin@tor.com.)

Posted April 17, 2008 11:36 AM by Patrick Nielsen Hayden

Oh, and Little Brother, with a character called "w1n5t0n"? His last name wouldn't be Smith, would it?

Posted April 17, 2008 11:38 AM by Xopher

Patrick @39:

The actual book does go on sale a week from this coming Tuesday...

For clarity, where in the world does it do this? Is this a global simultaneous release*, or will it come to other parts of the world at other times?

Posted April 17, 2008 11:40 AM by abi

dang, that's what I get for not answering at home, and getting into work before subbing :). This pegs all my 'pick this up' triggers, too. Well, this security geek will have to wait til next week.

Posted April 17, 2008 11:43 AM by Dru

I hope you sent several galleys to Locus, since the July issue will feature reviews of YA fiction.

Posted April 17, 2008 11:44 AM by Faren Miller

* spurious asterisk brought to you by the Society for Encouraging You To Invent Your Own Footnotes

Posted April 17, 2008 11:45 AM by abi

One of my friends got an ARC of Little Brother at PLA in MSP a few weeks ago. She's been taunting with it ever since.

Posted April 17, 2008 11:46 AM by Tania

Blast. Too late.

Still, I was going to buy it anyway, so It's All Good.

I trust that it'll have the same effect on several larval-stage hackers that going to 'Hacking at the end of the universe' (1993? Something like that) did on me.

Posted April 17, 2008 11:50 AM by John Hawkes-Reed

One of my friends got an ARC of Little Brother at PLA in MSP

OMG!

Posted April 17, 2008 11:51 AM by Alex Cohen

abi @ 47... spurious asterisk

Do this à tes risques et perils.

Posted April 17, 2008 11:52 AM by Serge

Alex @50:

FTW: WTF?

ROFLMAO

Posted April 17, 2008 11:55 AM by abi

Ryan 40: I'm also glad Cory got back to the UK before it got published, this book is all kinds of trouble, in a really good way.

We're living in a country where a GURPS worldbook was seized in a Secret Service raid because they decided it was a manual for computer crime—even though the equipment used in the book does not exist.

And that was in 1990, before utter cowardice strangled our freedoms. Gods forbid any such thing should happen to Tor, or to Cory.

Posted April 17, 2008 11:57 AM by Xopher

Sweet! The book's coming out just in time for me to graduate in May and have free time to read it!



Doctorow has just been getting better and better. I'm really interested in seeing how parenthood influences his work. Spoiler: I really liked "When Sysadmins Ruled The Earth", but a few friends of mine, parents of young children, wondered whether he could now write that plot as ruthlessly.

I was listening to Everclear as I came across this entry, and heard the lyrics from "Father of Mine":

Now I'm a grown man / With a child of my own / And I swear I'm not going to let her know / All the pain I have known

which is cried out in hope and anguish. It's a vow that we're not going to pass our screwups on to the next generation. How many stories end on that hopeful note, the protagonist hoping that the protagonist's kid will have a better life, with less injustice and pain?



"Little Brother" has a kid's POV. It sounds like "Little Brother" is about young people wresting justice and liberty from an irresponsible establishment of grownups. They have agency. But by writing it, Doctorow enriches and passes on our heritage of freedom. Like a good parent.

Here I am applauding the story before I've even read it. It seems I can't wait till mid-May after all...

Posted April 17, 2008 12:00 PM by Sumana Harihareswara

Sumana #54: Yeah, in my really dark moments, I visualize conversations with my grandkids along the lines of the starting converation the main character has with his daughter in In the Presence of Mine Enemies.

Posted April 17, 2008 12:08 PM by albatross

For anyone wondering how well it works as an actual YA novel, my wife had our daughter read it (she was just a few days shy of thirteen when she finished it), and her thoughts are posted online.

As for me, I think it's a damned fine novel for anyone.

Posted April 17, 2008 12:09 PM by Adam Lipkin

I don't speak to enough people, online or off, to be a good candidate for spreading the word anyway. (Well, except here and at BoingBoing, and I will leave it as an exercise to the reader to determine why those two do not count.) But I will definitely buy it when it comes out.

The other day I re-read "0wnz0red" while trying desperately to fight off a bad cold in time to run an important experiment. It was a perfect time to read it. Also, I was well enough the next morning to run the important experiment. Fiction by Cory Doctorow: it cures what ails ya.

I also wonder if this one will help fix my tendency to read the dystopian novel that will terrify me most at any given time. I read The Handmaid's Tale just before the 2004 election, and was so rattled that I started making serious plans for how to get to Canada if necessary. Last week I finished reading Parable of the Sower. Climate change, extreme drought, runaway inflation, unchecked corporations....now I feel an urgent need to learn to shoot, in case I have to fight my way to Canada on foot.

I think Little Brother might be a touch more optimistic.

Posted April 17, 2008 12:14 PM by Caroline

Xopher @53:

LB (the version I read) is a lot more directly critical of the US (and the DHS) than the UK. Not that this negates your point in any way.

Posted April 17, 2008 12:16 PM by Ryan

Sigh. I was distracted, and didn't read to the end of the post, when there were only 2 replies.

I'll have to buy it.

Posted April 17, 2008 12:23 PM by Terry Karney

Rats. Well, ignore my email then. (I'm always the last one to hit the enter key....)

:(

Posted April 17, 2008 12:24 PM by John Farrell

Is it too soon to ask our libraries to order this?

Would giving them the ISBN be enough?

Posted April 17, 2008 12:38 PM by cgeye

I blink...and the ARCs are gone...

Posted April 17, 2008 12:44 PM by JKRichard

Ryan 58: I live in the US. I was agreeing with your point at 40, that it's a good thing he went back to the UK before the book hit.

Right now the US isn't exactly a paragon of freedom and justice. We're living under the Bushista bootheel here, remember!

Posted April 17, 2008 12:48 PM by Xopher

Bookstore brag: My rep sent me an ARC last month. Huzzah! I said, and immediately settled in for a good read. Of course, I left the d*mn thing in a cab that night - before I got to finish it. Hubris never pays.

PS: If you're in the Greater Toronto Area on May 1st, Cory will be launching the book at the Merril Collection (239 College), at 7pm.

Posted April 17, 2008 12:55 PM by Chris S.

Xopher 63: I live in the UK :-) I moved from the US about 3 years ago.

And yeah, I've been watching things change over there with a strange creeping combination of what-is-that-thing-turning-into fear, and oh-thank-god-I-made-it-out-the-airlock-in-time relief.

Posted April 17, 2008 12:56 PM by Ryan

cgeye @ #61, my local library already shows it as on order, so certainly not too early.

(PNH was handing out ARCs like candy at Boskone, so here's Chad's review.)

Posted April 17, 2008 12:58 PM by Kate Nepveu

Abi, #44: Oops, sorry, you're right to ask. April 29 is the release date in our territory: the US and Canada, and (nonexclusively) English-language booksellers in non-English-speaking countries.

In the UK and Commonwealth (not including Canada), the book is being published by HarperCollins in November.

Posted April 17, 2008 1:13 PM by Patrick Nielsen Hayden

Well, drat. I'll just wait two weeks then.

Posted April 17, 2008 1:19 PM by Trey

Color me a deeply saturated hue of 'excited.'

As a librarian who lives in 200 square feet, I get 99% of my books from the library. "Little Brother" (oh, huh, it took me this long to get the joke in the title?) is in that other 1%.

Posted April 17, 2008 1:20 PM by Emily H.

The offer was bitterly unfair to those of us in the Western states.

Posted April 17, 2008 1:21 PM by Stefan Jones

Chris S... I left the d*mn thing in a cab that night - before I got to finish it. Hubris never pays.

"Hey, buddy!"

"What about your cab fare?"

"What about it?"

"Who's going to pay for it, you costumed weirdo?"

"Not I. I am Hubris! And Hubris never pays! Bwhahahahah!!!"

Posted April 17, 2008 1:21 PM by Serge

*blink*

I had no idea having an ARC of this book was so incredibly enviable. I'll review it once novalis gets me my copy back.

The most recent YA read I've had that compared was Neal Shusterman's Unwind. In terms of plotting, Doctorow is better, but in terms of grabbing the reader by the throat and forcing an emotional response to a complicated problem, Shusterman wins hands down. Doctorow might benefit from a bit more tight emotionally pushy scenes.

Posted April 17, 2008 1:24 PM by Josh Jasper

Another amazing thing about the book is that it manages to both contain heart-wrenching, infuriating descriptions of humiliating interrogation, and joyful depictions of youth and nerd culture (like live-action role-playing, and rock concerts). You'd think that the former would drag down the latter, but it somehow doesn't.

Posted April 17, 2008 1:28 PM by Avram

Apparently the address is now using a form autoresponder, too. I sent a brief response to the "we're sorry but we're out of copies" message, indicating that i'd understood that to be a risk, and thanking you for giving away copies at all ... only to get the same message back. :)

It's a reasonable thing to do, but I still find it amusing whenever I find myself (inadvertantly) trying to talk to a machine.

Anyhow ... thank you for offering the ARCs. :)

Posted April 17, 2008 1:31 PM by aphrael

(My #67 notwithstanding, we had no problem sending copies of our ARC to overseas folks who were among the first eighty-something to ask.)

Posted April 17, 2008 1:33 PM by Patrick Nielsen Hayden

If I didn't get a "sorry" email, does that mean I'm in???

(If so, SQUEE! AND I'll probably end up buying a hardcover, too, anyway, because I don't let Puppy take ARC's to his middle school. Sometimes they come back a bit, erm, imperfect.)

Posted April 17, 2008 1:58 PM by punkrockhockeymom

This sounds like the kind of book one should, for safety's sake, buy with cash in a town you select for a once in a lifetime visit. Pay cash for all expenses related to travel to the purchase, making sure the total outlay is not large enough to be a noticeable statistical blip on your financial Permanent Record. Oh, and don't violate any traffic laws during the trip: if you're pulled over for any reason, cancel the trip and select a new city for the purchase.

Then eat the book after you've finished reading and memorizing it, of course....

Posted April 17, 2008 1:59 PM by Earl Cooley III

I'm trying to think of nieces and nephew who might benefit from some subversion. (InDoctorownation?)

Has there been any talk of adaptation to movies / TV shows / shadow puppets?

Posted April 17, 2008 2:03 PM by Stefan Jones

We'll be ordering a copy, but anyone who'd care to loan me a copy while I'm in the Bay Area next week would be welcome--indeed, would be vehemently encouraged--to do so.

Posted April 17, 2008 2:09 PM by John A Arkansawyer

Too late!!!! That's what I get for being good and going to see my Mum and returning to working as soon as I got back instead of checking Making Light - all gone!

It's not -buying- it I mind (I'm happy to support good authors), it's waiting until November for it to come out over here....

Any lucky Brits among the 83 willing to lend it around???

Posted April 17, 2008 2:14 PM by dcb

Curious ... how much spam has littlebrother.offer@gmail.com received in the short time it's been online?

Posted April 17, 2008 2:24 PM by Michael Walsh

cgeye #61 -- I just checked the Minuteman network in MA, and there's one copy already in circulation (with three holds on it), and four more on order. I'd say it's definitely not too early (and if you're in Eastern MA, it's time to put a hold on one of those copies).

Posted April 17, 2008 2:41 PM by Adam Lipkin

I'm not reserving my public library copy until I finish my project, so others can get a shot at it. Ordered it, though, at my college library today.

Posted April 17, 2008 3:22 PM by cgeye

Made a *request* for it, though....

Posted April 17, 2008 3:22 PM by cgeye

I read it in ARC a month or so ago. It is a really terrific book. I read it in something close to a single sitting.

Posted April 17, 2008 5:20 PM by Kathryn Cramer

I read it last year as well, having gotten a copy from Cory at Viable Paradise. I have to agree with the others that have said that they couldn't put it down.

At the time that I read it, I had no idea that it was destined to be labeled a YA book, and I still think that's a phenomenally important book for the 21st century. My review is on my blog here.

Xopher @ #63: I live in the US. I was agreeing with your point at 40, that it's a good thing he went back to the UK before the book hit.

Right now the US isn't exactly a paragon of freedom and justice. We're living under the Bushista bootheel here, remember!

That's funny, I have a short story about that coming up the pipeline. It should be read by Monday or Tuesday on my blog.

Posted April 17, 2008 5:24 PM by Spherical Time

It's a Tor Teen title, but we're making every effort to get it in front of adult readers as well.

There are lots of good reasons to publish it as, at least nominally, a YA novel. Among other things, it means we have a shot at getting the support of platoons of influential librarians and educators, the overwhelming majority of whom are deeply anti-censorship and totally pissed off.

Really, YA is where a lot of the best SF and fantasy, and some of the most intense engagement between authors and readers, is going on. John Scalzi says that Scott Westerfeld is the most important SF author in the world that many of you have never heard of. He's got a point.

The novel Cory is currently working on--not the delivered-but-unedited adult novel Themepunks, but a newer one in progress--is also YA. I think Cory has a true gift for that voice and that POV and I hope he keeps doing it.

Posted April 17, 2008 5:42 PM by Patrick Nielsen Hayden

PNH @ #87: Really, YA is where a lot of the best SF and fantasy, and some of the most intense engagement between authors and readers, is going on.

Absolutely, and I think it's been that way for years: C.S. Lewis, P. Pullman, J. Rowling, G. Nix, S. Cooper, S. Gould, etc., etc.

I always feel sort of like I'm the creepy old guy when I go trolling looking for new titles in the YA section though.

I forgot to mention that I've already pre-ordered it, so I guess that the ARC doesn't matter too much to me. Still, as one of the first people to post of review of it (after Neil Gaiman's awesomeness, of course), it would have been cool to get one so that I could start pimping it to all of my friends even sooner.

Posted April 17, 2008 5:56 PM by Spherical Time

Well, thanks, but I already have one, and I read it and liked it.

I'M BRAGGING. WOO HOO!

Posted April 17, 2008 6:15 PM by Kip W

Sigh; I never had even a vague chance to hope. Oh well; I had that Amazon gift certificate burning a hole in my pocket anyway; it's on preorder now.

You know, my workplace has a fairly large geek percentage and we frequently invite authors in to give a talk about their book and do a book signing. I wonder who the HR person is that's in charge of that; I should find out...

Of course, it'd require Mr. Doctorow to visit NYC and not give his author talk at the office over on that other coast.

Posted April 17, 2008 7:12 PM by Daniel Martin

Just checked the library catalog: Although the full record isn't even there yet (in fact, all it says is, "Little Brother. Tor Teen 2008."), there are already 11 holds. Nice work, PNH!

Posted April 17, 2008 7:36 PM by sherrold

PNH @ #67: In the UK and Commonwealth (not including Canada), the book is being published by HarperCollins in November.

Sheesh. And they wonder why Australians get books from Amazon. Quicker and cheaper. With 17 year old twins, I'm going to have to fork out for 2 copies. By the sound of it, sharing will be out of the question.

Posted April 17, 2008 7:37 PM by Emma

Daniel Martin, #90:

"You know, my workplace has a fairly large geek percentage and we frequently invite authors in to give a talk about their book and do a book signing. I wonder who the HR person is that's in charge of that; I should find out..."Of course, it'd require Mr. Doctorow to visit NYC and not give his author talk at the office over on that other coast."

Posted April 17, 2008 9:19 PM by Patrick Nielsen Hayden

With all due respect to my colleagues in the British publishing industry, the delay in British/Commonwealth publication is entirely their own damn fault. Until the pre-publication buzz on this book started cresting earlier this year, largely through our efforts and Cory's, all we and Cory's agent could get out of London publishers was a lot of fretting about Creative Commons and his free e-editions and American- authors-don't-do-well-for-us and generally oh dear. Months later, with US publication imminent, a couple of UK publishers finally got interested enough to make offers. All this while Cory is living in London, where he could have been exercising his formidable publicity skills on behalf of a UK edition for months now, if a London publisher had had the sense to buy the book a year ago.

That said, none of the above should be taken as criticism of the HarperCollins editor who did show the wit to buy the book. But she obviously can't get it into the schedule next week. I'm impressed that they're publishing as soon as this coming fall.

Posted April 17, 2008 9:28 PM by Patrick Nielsen Hayden

Well, I'm only on Chapter 4 (having just acquired a copy this afternoon), but I already feel safe in saying this book is going to be the target of many Parental Units and various Patriotic Endeavors, and that many attempts will be made to force school boards to slag it out of school libraries on account of it being insufficiently cognizant of the fact that we must all never forget -- merely for the time being, mind you -- that freedom is just another word for shut the f*ck up and stand over there and do what you're told like a good American.

Posted April 17, 2008 10:34 PM by Michael Weholt

me@77 if you're pulled over for any reason, cancel the trip and select a new city for the purchase.

There are a bunch of logic holes in my cunning plan to obtain a copy of The Book in an acceptably secure and detection-wary fashion (the first of which is openly discussing it on a web site that is indexed by Google, of course). Being pulled over by a LEO after the purchase, with The Book in the vehicle is another: all it would take is "reasonable suspicion" and a roadside search, and it's all over.

There may be a solution using technology from the geocaching hobby community. Distributed risk. Still thinking about that one....

Posted April 17, 2008 11:31 PM by Earl Cooley III

Earl @ 96

Public transit, ticket bought with cash from vending machine, to a destination further away than the one you actually want (if said ticket requires stating a destination). Or try an all-day unlimited ticket or a multi-ride ticket, but use cash for those, also. Tokens might work, if the system uses them.

Posted April 17, 2008 11:41 PM by P J Evans

Kate #66, my library shows four copies on order and two requests, so I'm now the third.

Posted April 17, 2008 11:54 PM by Marilee

It may be a sinister government plot to catch wrong-thinking, free-media nogoodniks, but according to this page, you will be able to download it for free, in true Doctorow style...though the link is asking for a password at the moment. Funny, there's no mention on craphound, though.

Posted April 17, 2008 11:57 PM by Jim

Daniel @90, could you check if your workplace has on tap a freelance copyeditor who can use a few hours to run over the online &/or otherwise published documents? On a very quick skim of the page you linked, this leapt out: "Take a peak at the extensive list of publications …"

There is an office in Sydney quite close to my current work, but now I've seen it, my heart sighs for the NYC branch. Do they employ crabby old crones?

Posted April 17, 2008 11:59 PM by Epacris

#88: I once saw The Warrior's Apprentice in the YA section of my local library. I did a bit of a double-take - sure, several of the main characters are teenagers, but it's pretty hard-hitting emotionally, IMO. (And it might be even more so if you come at it without having previously read Shards of Honor and, therefore, without knowing what the characters are going to find when they look into the past.)

Posted April 18, 2008 2:05 AM by Chris

Jim@99: LB will indeed go live as a free download in early May, at craphound.com/littlebrother . I'm in Toronto to see the family for Passover and introduce the little baby around, so it's very much a +/- a few days situation.

Posted April 18, 2008 4:36 AM by Cory Doctorow

Cory Doctorow @102

Whee! So I can read it in electronic copy in May and then buy the book in November and read it again and lend it around - great!

Posted April 18, 2008 5:20 AM by dcb

102 @ Cory, yeah, I can see how that might be more important. Enjoy the family! And thanks for your generosity with your books, by the way.

Posted April 18, 2008 6:09 AM by Jim

Emma #92:

In fairness, it sometimes cuts the other way as well. You can likely go to your local bookseller to get Joe Abercrombie's third novel, but that's not possible the US (unless said bookseller has an import section), and won't be for months. And it was only in the late '90s that Pratchett novels were released here at the same time they made it to the Commonwealth.

Posted April 18, 2008 8:22 AM by Adam Lipkin

Wheeeeeeeeee! Got my copy in this morning! There is something to be said for living three hours from NYC. I am already devouring it. Work? what work?

Thanks PNH!

Posted April 18, 2008 10:11 AM by Chris

I'm excited to get my copy.

Posted April 18, 2008 11:02 AM by Casey

Re #101

More than 15 years ago, I saw Stranger in a Strange Land marked with a YA sticker in my local library. I grabbed it and wandered over to a librarian to ask if this was a mistake. She looked it up, verified that indeed, it was considered a YA title by the entire Seattle Library system, and then asked, "Is this a problem, do you want to file a complaint?"

If I'd had a complaint, it would have been against whichever nitwit decided that SciFi = kids books, or that since Heinlein had written scifi kids books, that therefore all of his scifi must be kids books. Mind you, since I'd read Stranger at 11, I certainly wasn't going to make it harder for other kids to do the same. But YA? I don't think so.

Posted April 18, 2008 11:17 AM by sherrold

PNH: If I didn't get any email back, does that mean my copy is in the mail? Thanks, Kerry

Posted April 18, 2008 11:22 AM by Kerry

sherrold @108:

15+ years ago, librarians had to manually catalog every book, unlike today where most books, including Stranger In A Strange Land, have dozens of MARC records on Worldcat to choose form, most with genre tags and subject headings already placed by our benevolent overlords at the Library of Congress. Back then, if Librarian X didn't read sci-fi and wasn't familiar with the material, they would have to use best judgment when deciding where to put the book. Best judgment in cataloging often comes down to figuring out what other books by this author the library already has and where are those located? Beyond that, guess work. A cursory glance at Stranger In A Strange Land by someone not in the Heinlein loop would plausibly put the book in YA, especially if they have a selection bias that defaults to: sc-fi=kids stuff.

We modern librarians are far superior and have more advanced selection criteria to avoid such biases, which is why, nowadays, all books are placed correctly in the appropriate section and no one ever challenges a book needlessly.

Posted April 18, 2008 11:41 AM by Keith

I find it hard to get worked up about grown-up SF being put in the YA section; this is at least partly because of the number of times I've seen grown-up SF put in the children's section.

("Excuse me, Ms. Librarian. Do you realise that this book I just found in the children's section features a murder and at least two sex scenes?"

"Don't look at me. We just plug in the catalogue data the State Library sends us.")

Posted April 18, 2008 11:45 AM by Paul A.

Back at the end of the 1960s, when I started high school, I started exploring my high school library's collection of what was then called West Indian literature. I don't believe the librarians had read quite a few of the books that were on the shelves, otherwise, for example, the moderately graphic sex scene in Ismith Khan's The Obeah Man ('bite my breasts, I want to remember this love tomorrow!') would not have appeared before my thirteen-year-old eyes. Or be stuck in my memory.

Posted April 18, 2008 11:56 AM by Fragano Ledgister

The local Half Price Books has the Tales of the Otori in their childrens' section - those particular novels were a bit intense for me even now, and I've been reading out of the adult section since I was nine.

Posted April 18, 2008 12:12 PM by Jeremy Preacher

Cory 102: ...it's very much a +/- a few days situation.

Why shouldthese few days be different from any others? (Guvf vf n cnffbire wbxr. V nz ABG npghnyyl gjvggvat Pbel sbe abg trggvat vg ba gur jro snfgre!)

Paul 111:

See Dick run.

Run, run, run.

This wouldn't happen if you wore a condom, jackass.

Posted April 18, 2008 12:33 PM by Xopher

Paul A @ 111... grown-up SF being put in the YA section

Is it true that Le Guin's Lathe of Heaven was originally published as a YA - or whatever YA books used to be called before there were YAs?

Posted April 18, 2008 12:43 PM by Serge

I don't know to whom Lathe of Heaven was marketed, but I do know that I found it in my middle-school library. I recall it as one of the books which I utterly failed to understand in seventh grade, and which miraculously made much more sense when I returned to it in college.

Posted April 18, 2008 12:55 PM by Rymenhild

The Otori books are marketed in the ads for them as YA.

I'm not sure that was the case with the first two, but it is certainly the case with the latest volume, and now the earlier associated titles.

Love, C.

Posted April 18, 2008 1:05 PM by Constance Ash

PNH @ #93:

I think you should find out who's in charge of author talks at Google NY. Exercising my astonishing powers of Publishing Precognition, I predict that what he or she will tell you is that Cory Doctorow is scheduled to give a talk at Google NY at 3 PM on May 28. Amazing, isn't it?

Posted April 18, 2008 1:15 PM by Daniel Martin

My full quote, which I gave Patrick permission to truncate (as other blurbers had covered that ground) was:

I can talk about /Little Brother/ in terms of its bravura political speculation or its brilliant uses of technology--each of which make this book a must-read--but, at the end of it all, I'm haunted by the universality of Marcus's rite-of-passage and struggle, an experience any teen today is going to grasp: the moment when you choose what your life will mean and how to achieve it.

Posted April 18, 2008 1:41 PM by Steven Gould

rymenhild @ 116... If Lathe was indeed marketed as a YA, and if that was the wish of the author, Le Guin must have a high opinion of what a teenager can handle. Then again, how many of us went to the school's library and thought "I'm going to look for the YA kind of SF"? We went for what was available, either the kid stuff or the grownup stuff. It was SF and that's all that mattered.

Posted April 18, 2008 1:59 PM by Serge

Hey PNH, based on your cresting comment, do you have pre-order numbers yet? This seems like an awfully big launch for Tor.

Or, at least, that's what I'm trying to accomplish on this end.

Posted April 18, 2008 2:10 PM by Spherical Time

Constance Ash (117): I bought the first two Otori books for the adult section of my library, which means that they were reviewed as adult books (and thus presumably marketed that way as well). IIRC, a bigger question was whether to shelve them in SF or general fiction.

Posted April 18, 2008 2:12 PM by Mary Aileen

That's certainly what I did. If it said SF or fantasy, I read it, and I made what sense of it I could. I wouldn't want to have missed the delights of reading Asimov's The Gods Themselves twice, at age twelve and age seventeen, and experiencing the two readings as two entirely different (and equally fascinating) books.

Posted April 18, 2008 2:34 PM by Rymenhild

Xopher writes in #43:

Oh, and Little Brother, with a character called "w1n5t0n"? His last name wouldn't be Smith, would it?

No. The character has read 1984, which indeed does motivate his chosen handle (following his brush with law enforcement).

Posted April 18, 2008 2:38 PM by Bill Higgins-- Beam Jockey

I am not going to give out numbers, but it's a decent launch. Not bestseller quantities, but certainly big enough to get a stake in the ground. Books build differently in YA. I understand that Scott Westerfeld's YA science fiction novel Uglies, which has now sold something like 300,000 trade paperbacks, started at something like 30,000.

Posted April 18, 2008 2:53 PM by Patrick Nielsen Hayden

Have you sent advance copies to conservative groups in order to get some strong public denunciations?

Posted April 18, 2008 3:20 PM by Joel Polowin

PNH: I am not going to give out numbers, but it's a decent launch. Not bestseller quantities, but certainly big enough to get a stake in the ground. Books build differently in YA. I understand that Scott Westerfeld's YA science fiction novel Uglies, which has now sold something like 300,000 trade paperbacks, started at something like 30,000.

Cool, thanks for the info.

Posted April 18, 2008 3:36 PM by Spherical Time

#126 Joel Polowin: Have you sent advance copies to conservative groups in order to get some strong public denunciations?

I haven't finished it yet so I should probably shut my pie-hole, but I suspect that the strength of the denunciation would depend on the particular kind of conservative. I daresay there are plenty of old-time (pre- gay-marriage and abortion controversies) conservatives who would applaud the book.

Though, as I say, I haven't finished it yet. So if my hole is full of something besides deep dish cherry pie, then by all means somebody who actually knows what they are talking about please settle my hash. If I may mix my food groups that way.

Posted April 18, 2008 3:38 PM by Michael Weholt

PNH@87: I still haven't read Scott's Pretties/Uglies/Specials books yet... but I did read Fine Prey about a decade ago (and repeatedly since then). I wasn't crazy about his Dread Empire books, but Fine Prey is something special.

And yes, I am waiting eagerly for Little Brother.

Posted April 18, 2008 6:08 PM by Malthus

I hope the book gets denounced. It contains the refutations to any denunciations it could receive. Cory has packed it with antibodies against dishonest attacks.

I think it's one of the three books I'm most proud to have had the privilege to copyedit (along with A Fire Upon the Deep and The Dubious Hills).

Posted April 18, 2008 8:22 PM by Scraps

Keith@110: a cursory glance by somebody \in/ the RAH loop might not be any better; IIRC (and I'm too lazy to go 2 stories down to check), Stranger was published after a long series of YA novels, one coming-of-age, and one adult-but-clean. So at that time they would have had an excuse. (Not, however, since ~1970, when Time claimed that SiaSL inspired Manson.)

Posted April 18, 2008 10:35 PM by CHip

You gave Avedon a copy of this at Orbital, Patrick, and I read it yesterday. Great book, easily the best I've read so far this year. I'm slightly puzzled that our copy has a different cover than the ARC shown here - an earlier ARC print run, perhaps?

Incidentally, mention of Orbital above reminds me that the Guardian published a report on the convention that wasn't the usual 'Sci-Fi Loonies Invade (insert name here)' and, indeed, got everything right. Amazing:

http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/books/2008/04/sf_fandom.html

Posted April 19, 2008 2:46 AM by Rob Hansen

108 ::: sherrold @ 108, et seq.

I pointed out to one large bookstore that "The Dark Knight Returns" was not best placed with the children's picture books (you know, the ones for five-year-olds)... I showed the graphic novel to one of the staff; they agreed and took my suggestion that it was more likly to sell if placed with the SF (there was no section for "Graphic Novels" back then).

After repeating this exercise on three separate visits to the store over a period of about a month, I gave up.

Posted April 19, 2008 4:58 AM by dcb

I blogged my review last month, and give Patrick to use or truncate as needbe.

[I'm particularly pleased by the title I came up with, and mildly disappointed nobody seems to have remarked upon it.]

Posted April 19, 2008 8:51 AM by Lis Riba

#82: The reserve count in the Minuteman Network is now up to seven. Read fast, all of you.

Gotta go - Homeland Security is at the door ...

Posted April 19, 2008 4:17 PM by Jon Meltzer

#122 ::: Mary Aileen re the Otori books:

That's where we had put the first two volumes in our library system here as well -- adult general fiction, not in the adult sf/f section.

Our public system also shelves adult and and YA sf/f separately in the circulating branches (we also have 4 research, non-circulating libraries in the system, and some of those have had separate, unique cataloging systems going back from before Dewey -- it gets complicated!).

Love, C.

Posted April 19, 2008 4:55 PM by Constance Ash

I wouldn't be bothered much by my library's putting adult SF in the YA section, though the Chung Kuo books with their fairly explicit torture and sex and torture-sex scenes caused me to raise an eyebrow. The thing that bugs the hell out of me is when a numbered series of books is split between the two sections. (Well that and when books like Scott Lynch's Lock Lamora series aren't in the SF/F section at all.)

Posted April 20, 2008 9:17 AM by Michael Phillips

#132, Rob Hansen: Yes, the ARC you have is from the first run; that art was a retouched stock photo. We decided we liked the idea of iconic teenagers defiantly "kicking back," but we also wanted some more evident technology in the image, and also at least one obviously female person. So we commissioned an improved version from illustrator Yuko Shimizu, which appears on the second printing of the ARC and on the actual book.

Posted April 20, 2008 7:15 PM by Patrick Nielsen Hayden

Thank you for sending the book so fast! My copy arrived on Friday. I read it this weekend and reviewed it this morning.

Check it.

Posted April 21, 2008 9:35 AM by Professor Coldheart

I got it, I stayed up late to read it, and I will let my son "steal" it from me, hopefully to read carefully.

I posted my review on my LJ: etumukutenyak

Posted April 21, 2008 9:43 AM by Ginger

Great reviews! (I will observe that, just like Cory, I had certainly read Jane Jacobs by the time I was 17. And found her very interesting, because by that age I'd already lived in cities that epitomized the kind of urban policies she extolled, and other places that demonstrated the kinds of folly she criticized.)

Posted April 21, 2008 10:30 AM by Patrick Nielsen Hayden

(It would in fact be terrific if people were to use this thread to link to their reviews and other commentary on Little Brother.)

Posted April 21, 2008 10:38 AM by Patrick Nielsen Hayden

Just got off the phone with Uncle Hugo's, they already have it on order. When they get it is in question, though, apparently their distributor has a bias towards chain stores so it may be a week or two late. I don't mind the wait as I prefer that store over the chains/online. My daughter has already been to two author signings (Kim Harrison) there, at the age of 14mo, and I want her to be able to go there in the future should she inherit her parent's fascination with sf/fantasy.

I do have an appointment on my calendar to call them and see if it is in - I do eagerly await it!

Later,

-cajun

Posted April 21, 2008 11:43 AM by cajunfj40

I've placed an order with Amazon for three books not yet released (Little Brother, April 29th; Agatha Heterodyne and the Voice of the Castle, May 25th; Jo Walton's Half a Crown, Sept. 30th). Since I have a large to-read pile already, I opted to have the books all shipped together. But this got me to wondering when the sales get "counted", since I know that right-after-release sales figures are important -- does the sale of the book get marked as a pre-release order, or when it's finally shipped (which is when I'm charged for it), or ..?

Posted April 21, 2008 11:57 AM by Joel Polowin

You can see by my sequence number that I'm not much of a cowboy; I'm way late to get an ARC, for sure. I was going to write that it's probably a good thing; RL has been getting in the way of my reading the last few weeks; I'm almost exactly in the middle of "Matter" and I started 5 days ago, which is really slow, even for me. So I figured, "wait until after the current batch of pre-orders gets here from Amazon, and allow some time to read a couple of the the technical books that have been on the 'burning a hole in my anticipation circuits'."

Then I finished reading this thread. Clearly there's more urgency here than I realized. So, I'll order it right after I hit Post here.

Oh, and by the bye, Happy Passover to everyone.

Posted April 21, 2008 12:59 PM by Bruce Cohen (SpeakerToManagers)

I just got a Borders gift card via Discover card's cashback bonus deal. You can guess what I'll be using it for . . .

Posted April 21, 2008 3:21 PM by Stefan Jones

Bruce Cohen (SpeakerToManagers) @ 145

Happy Passover to you too.

Posted April 21, 2008 3:41 PM by dcb

Patrick @141, Cory @elsewhere: Any particular Jane Jacobs you would recommend? As a former sorta-rural boy, cities fascinate me.

Posted April 22, 2008 1:00 AM by Kevin Riggle

Kevin Riggle @ 148:

The only Jane Jacobs I've read is Systems of Survival, which I found fascinating and recomend highly.

However, it doesn't deal directly with cities per se (the way books like The Death and Life of Great American Cities or Cities and the Wealth of Nations do), so it may not be quite what you're looking for.

Posted April 22, 2008 7:15 AM by Peter Erwin

Xopher @ 63:

I don't know if you're still around and paying attention, but that post I mentioned on the theme of what the U.S. would do to Cory is up on my blog.