It’s the near future and online labour is globalised: millions work in virtual sweatshops with no rights and no union representation. Gamers Matthew from China, and Mumbai slum-dwellers Mala and Yasmin, among others, labour online to amass millions for exploitative global corporations, until they realise that by overcoming their differences and working together they can defeat their oppressors. Doctorow isn’t afraid of taking on big ideas and difficult themes. Here he mixes online gaming, trades union politics and economics in a realistic near-contemporary setting. In lesser hands, this might make for a dull read, but Doctorow is a fine stylist. In For the Win he has produced an exhilarating, unputdownable novel that’s likely to be nominated for the genre’s top awards.
Lorcav used Wordle to create this great graphic showing word usage and frequency in For the Win. I love these things.
Hey, Chicagoans! I’m headed your way this week for the kick-off of the tour for my new young adult novel, For the Win. I’ll be at Anderson’s Books in Naperville on Weds, May 12 at 7PM and at the Chicago Public Library Harold Washington Library Center on Thurs, May 13 at 5PM.
My next city is Portland, OR, where I’ll be at the Powell’s Location in Beaverton on May 15. From there, I head to San Francisco (EFF benefit!), Austin, Raleigh and NYC. Hope I get a chance to see you!
Today is the launch for For the Win, my latest YA novel. For the Win is an adventure story about kids around the world who work as “gold farmers” (people who do repetitive tasks in games like World of Warcraft to amass virtual fortunes that are sold on to lazier players) who use the video games and other networked systems to organize a global trade union, called the Industrial Workers of the World Wide Web (or “Webblies”). It’s a kind of novel-length expansion of the ideas in my short story Anda’s Game, and it’s full of technical details about economics (classical and behavioral), global politics, the labor movement, and the theory and practice of games.
As with all of my novels, For the Win is a free download, licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike. Basically, that means you can give it to your friends or strangers, and make cool new stuff with it (so long as you’re not making money from it). I hope you do!
I’ve just kicked off my US tour with the Tor edition of the book, but before I left London, I made sure to sign a mountain of HarperVoyager copies at Forbidden Planet in London, and they’ll be delighted to sell you a copy in person or by post.
For that matter, most of the bookstores I’m signing at will gladly take pre-orders for signed/inscribed copies, so if you want to get a copy signed to a friend (or yourself), reach out to them and they’ll help you out.
If you’ve loved the ebook and want to compensate me for it, but don’t want a printed book, then have a look at the donation program: I’m listing libraries and schools and other institutions that need free copies, and you can buy a copy for one of them at your favorite bookseller: you get to pay me back, they get a book, I get a sale, and everyone’s happy. (If you’re an educator or librarian and need a copy, email freeftwbook@gmail.com with your details.)
Once again, Random House Audio has turned out a superb unabridged audio edition, and once again, I’m selling it (along with other electronic retailers) as a DRM-free, EULA-free download from my site (click here for a sample).
That’s it! I’ll be posting updates about the tour as it progresses: I really hope you enjoy the book and that I get a chance to run into you and sign it for you, somewhere along the way!
Lorcav used Wordle to create this great graphic showing word usage and frequency in For the Win. I love these things.
Hey, Chicagoans! I’m headed your way this week for the kick-off of the tour for my new young adult novel, For the Win. I’ll be at Anderson’s Books in Naperville on Weds, May 12 at 7PM and at the Chicago Public Library Harold Washington Library Center on Thurs, May 13 at 5PM.
My next city is Portland, OR, where I’ll be at the Powell’s Location in Beaverton on May 15. From there, I head to San Francisco (EFF benefit!), Austin, Raleigh and NYC. Hope I get a chance to see you!
For the Win, published in May 2010 by Tor (US) and HarperVoyager (UK) is my second young adult novel: a game about workers who toil in virtual sweatshops, “gold farming” wealth in video games for sale to rich western players. They form a trade union called the Industrial Workers of the World Wide Web, using the games to organize under their bosses’ noses. It’s an action-adventure story about games, economics and labor politics.
Are you a teacher, librarian, youth worker, or someone else who could use a copy of my new young adult novel FOR THE WIN?
As I’ve done with my previous three books, I’ve set up a matchmaking service for people who need copies of my books and people who want to buy copies of my printed books as a way of paying me back for the free, downloadable versions I make available on my site.
If you work at an institution that could use a free copy, please send your details to freeftwbook@gmail.com. The book launches tomorrow, and the website and free ebook editions direct potential donors to the list of institutions that need copies. Previous donation programs have resulted in hundreds of hardcovers being donated to worthy institutions by generous readers.
Please pass the word!
In the virtual future, you must organize to survive
At any hour of the day or night, millions of people around the globe are engrossed in multiplayer online games, questing and battling to win virtual “gold,” jewels, and precious artifacts. Meanwhile, others seek to exploit this vast shadow economy, running electronic sweatshops in the world’s poorest countries, where countless “gold farmers,” bound to their work by abusive contracts and physical threats, harvest virtual treasure for their employers to sell to First World gamers who are willing to spend real money to skip straight to higher-level gameplay.
Mala is a brilliant 15-year-old from rural India whose leadership skills in virtual combat have earned her the title of “General Robotwalla.” In Shenzen, heart of China’s industrial boom, Matthew is defying his former bosses to build his own successful gold-farming team. Leonard, who calls himself Wei-Dong, lives in Southern California, but spends his nights fighting virtual battles alongside his buddies in Asia, a world away. All of these young people, and more, will become entangled with the mysterious young woman called Big Sister Nor, who will use her experience, her knowledge of history, and her connections with real-world organizers to build them into a movement that can challenge the status quo.
The ruthless forces arrayed against them are willing to use any means to protect their power—including blackmail, extortion, infiltration, violence, and even murder. To survive, Big Sister’s people must out-think the system. This will lead them to devise a plan to crash the economy of every virtual world at once—a Ponzi scheme combined with a brilliant hack that ends up being the biggest, funnest game of all.
Imbued with the same lively, subversive spirit and thrilling storytelling that made LITTLE BROTHER an international sensation, FOR THE WIN is a prophetic and inspiring call-to-arms for a new generation
PopMatters
Doctorow keeps up a driving pace, full of action and violence both inside the games and in the real world as the union efforts heat up. With the popularity of online gaming today, it’s certainly easy to believe that the stakes are high for the players and companies, as well as the workers. Access to information, net neutrality, and fair use of the work of others are all issues that come into play in For the Win, set in the game context and mixed up with a global labor movement. It just might be that the author is describing a not-so-distant future.
Are you a teacher, librarian, youth worker, or someone else who could use a copy of my new young adult novel FOR THE WIN?
As I’ve done with my previous three books, I’ve set up a matchmaking service for people who need copies of my books and people who want to buy copies of my printed books as a way of paying me back for the free, downloadable versions I make available on my site.
If you work at an institution that could use a free copy, please send your details to freeftwbook@gmail.com. The book launches tomorrow, and the website and free ebook editions direct potential donors to the list of institutions that need copies. Previous donation programs have resulted in hundreds of hardcovers being donated to worthy institutions by generous readers.
Please pass the word!
In the virtual future, you must organize to survive
At any hour of the day or night, millions of people around the globe are engrossed in multiplayer online games, questing and battling to win virtual “gold,” jewels, and precious artifacts. Meanwhile, others seek to exploit this vast shadow economy, running electronic sweatshops in the world’s poorest countries, where countless “gold farmers,” bound to their work by abusive contracts and physical threats, harvest virtual treasure for their employers to sell to First World gamers who are willing to spend real money to skip straight to higher-level gameplay.
Mala is a brilliant 15-year-old from rural India whose leadership skills in virtual combat have earned her the title of “General Robotwalla.” In Shenzen, heart of China’s industrial boom, Matthew is defying his former bosses to build his own successful gold-farming team. Leonard, who calls himself Wei-Dong, lives in Southern California, but spends his nights fighting virtual battles alongside his buddies in Asia, a world away. All of these young people, and more, will become entangled with the mysterious young woman called Big Sister Nor, who will use her experience, her knowledge of history, and her connections with real-world organizers to build them into a movement that can challenge the status quo.
The ruthless forces arrayed against them are willing to use any means to protect their power—including blackmail, extortion, infiltration, violence, and even murder. To survive, Big Sister’s people must out-think the system. This will lead them to devise a plan to crash the economy of every virtual world at once—a Ponzi scheme combined with a brilliant hack that ends up being the biggest, funnest game of all.
Imbued with the same lively, subversive spirit and thrilling storytelling that made LITTLE BROTHER an international sensation, FOR THE WIN is a prophetic and inspiring call-to-arms for a new generation
