Makers by Cory Doctorow

The first part of the book is the novella Themepunks which attacks the idea of a new economy, New Work as it is called. I say attacks, because it wades in with attitude describing a model in which small indie makers sell their wares and make a good living due to the support of large corporate companies. In the end it's boom and bust, but an intriguing idea, one I can't help thinking is not too far away.

I'd hoped that the Themepunks extrapolation would keep going and going, way out beyond now, but the rest of the book slows down in terms of it's time-frame and extrapolation and turns its attention to a ride that Lester and Perry make, and their conflict with Disney. It's a love letter to theme parks and Disney. And although Disney are portrayed as the evil corporation there's a lot of love for it too: loving descriptions of Disney World, explanations for the behaviour of large corporations, characters trying to do right from within. If you didn't know about Cory's obsession with Disney beforehand, you will after this.

The writing is clear and only really approaches poetic when describing some new piece of crazy technology or a portion of Disney World. At times I wished for something that wasn't so functional. But there are ideas, lots of ideas: distributed manufacturing, co-op lawsuits as an investment, Favela living in the US... and many, many more. Intriguing, funny, possible, ingenious...

The first half of the story has a lot of pace, towards the third quarter the impetus seemed to ebb away, lost in the intricacies of lawsuits and copyright. 

The epilogue is maybe the best part of the book, much in the same way that the epilogue to When Sysadmins Ruled the Earth surpasses what came before it. Returning to the characters, rather than the plot mechanics, it's touching and perhaps says more about the books intentions than the rest of the story. Of course it could be argued that this effect is only possible due to the rest of the story, but there's something more pure about the characters returning to their original aspirations.

Whilst there is a large element of optimism in the story the ending is a bit of a downer, because the story says that makers can't be happy within the corporate structures of capitalism, and the only answer is... well that's the real question isn't it. Can indie makers survive on their own? The novel doesn't definitively answer the question, it implies that people with some element of celebrity will be able to survive, like artists always have (/ haven't). But Perry and Lester gain their fame by making cool stuff whilst being supported by a corporate structure. It's as if the novel is saying that we can't escape capitalism no matter how hard we try.

Plenty to think about. Recommended.