Cory Doctorow NONCONSENSUAL BLUE TICK Profile picture
Dec 8, 2021 36 tweets 21 min read Read on X
This is more-or-less my last blogging day of 2021 (I may sneak a post or two in before the New Year, but I might not), so it's time for my annual roundup of my book reviews from the year gone by.

1/ A vast library.
I've sorted this year's books by genre (sf/f, other novels, graphic novels, YA, nonfic) a

nd summarized the reviews with links to the full review.

2/
As ever, casting my eye over the year's reading fills me with delight (at how much I enjoyed these books) and shame (at all the excellent books I was sent or recommended that I did *not* get a chance to read). 2021 was a hard year for all of us and I'm no exception.

3/
I ended up whiffing on *so many* astonishingly great and highly desirable books this year and I feel awful about it, to be honest.

4/
I know what it's like to launch a book in a pandemic (I had *four* books out in 2020, ugh), and I so want to get those writers' and publishers' books into your hands. I might actually start an aspirational "books I wish I was reading" monthly or quarterly list for 2022.

5/
On the subject of book publishing a pandemic: last year saw the publication of the paperback of my novel *Attack Surface*, the third Little Brother book:

craphound.com/homeland/2021/…

6/
There's still signed stock at @darkdel, and depending on the postal service, it's possible that if you order one (or the other signed books of mine they have on hand) that you'll get it in time for the Christmas break.

darkdel.com/store/p1840/Co…

7/
And speaking of 2022, I'll be publishing the first of *seven* planned books for 2022/3/4 in September: "Culture Heist: The Rise of Chokepoint Capitalism and How Workers Can Defeat It," comes out from @BeaconPressBks in September.

8/
It's a book on monopoly and creative labor exploitation that I co-wrote with @rgibli and it's *excellent*.

Now, onto the reviews!

* Science fiction/fantasy novels

9/
I. Situation Normal, by @leonardr

Richardson's second novel is a droll, weird, fast-moving space-opera with a gigantic cast, myriad subplots, and fascinating premises – a novel so brilliantly conceived that it runs like precision clockwork.

pluralistic.net/2020/12/14/sit…

10/
II. Rabbits, by @tkmiles

Mile's debut novel is a taut, conspiratorial thriller with overtones of PK Dick by way of Qanon and Dark City, a supernatural tale that illuminates the thrill and terror of ARG-like groups.

pluralistic.net/2021/06/08/leo…

11/
III. The City We Became, by @NKJemisin

A magic realist novel of New York City that is both a fantastic contemporary fantasy novel and a scorching commentary on the infantile nature of the racist dogma of HP Lovecraft and his ilk.

pluralistic.net/2021/01/09/the…

12/ The cover of The City We Became
IV. When the Sparrow Falls, by @unshavedmouse

A tense dystopia about the unraveling of a paranoid hermit kingdom established as a final redoubt against humanity's ascent to the cloud. A claustrophobic nightmare of authoritarian antitranshumanism.

pluralistic.net/2021/07/01/bas…

13/ The cover of When the Sparrow Falls
V. King Bullet, by @Richard_Kadrey

The final #SandmanSlim novel - more than a decade in the making, and a triumphant capstone to a supernatural noir series that transcended the tropes of noir and the supernatural with a tale of transformation, redemption, revenge and sacrifice.
VI. Hench, by @NatalieZed

This debut novel is fantastic, funny, furious and fucking amazing. It is a profound and moving story about justice wrapped up in a gag about superheroes, sneaky and sharp.

pluralistic.net/2021/08/19/fai…

15/
VII. The Every, by Dave Eggers

The sequel to Eggers' 2013 techno-dystopian satire "The Circle," and it's a deeply discomfiting, darkly hilarious, keen-edged tale of paternalism and its discontents.

pluralistic.net/2021/10/05/mas…

16/ The cover of The Every
* Novels (not sf/f)

I. Scholars of the Night, by John M Ford

The first in a long-awaited, storied and fraught reissues of the works of the brilliant and versatile Mike Ford, a cold war thirller without match.

pluralistic.net/2021/09/26/mik…

17/ The cover of Scholars of the Night
II. This Thing Between Us, by @Uhhgus

Gus Moreno's debut novel, "This Thing Between Us," is a genuinely creepy supernatural horror novel, a book that made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up and got me to turn on the nightlight at bedtime.

pluralistic.net/2021/10/12/no-…

18/ The cover of This Thing Between Us
III. LaserWriter II, by Tamara Shopson

Tamara Shopsin's fictionalized history of Tekserve, NYC's legendary Apple repair store: a vivid, loving portrait of an heroic wea when computers transformed lives and captured hearts.

pluralistic.net/2021/10/29/nor…

19/ The cover of LaserWriter II
* Graphic Novels

I. Streamliner, by Fane

The story of a secret outlaw jalopy hotrod race that plays out with so much fucking noir it's practically vantablack,. It's clear why STREAMLINER and its creator Fane are giants of the French comics scene.

pluralistic.net/2021/03/15/fre…

20/ The cover of Streamliner
II. Cyclopedia Exotica, by @aminder_d

An alternate world shared with cylcopes (one eye/one breast). Told as a series of lighthearted gags that made me cry with laughter - an admirably sneaky and profound story about race, gender and class.

pluralistic.net/2021/05/11/uni…

21/ The cover of Cyclopedia Exotica
III. Bubble, by @Jordan_Morris et al

Comedy/sf story about outposts on a hostile planet where human colonists live under armored domes, protection against overpowered alien critters. An improbable artifact that turns podcasting into a visual medium.

pluralistic.net/2021/08/21/pod…

22/ The cover of Bubble
* YA

I. Permanent Record, by @Snowden

Snowden's sprightly prose, deep tech, superb explanations of complex matters, and ability to articulate principled action come together in a book that is, if anything, better than the adult version.

pluralistic.net/2021/02/09/per…

23/ The cover of Permanent Record
II. The Halloween Moon, by @PlanetofFinks

Welcome to Nightvale co-creator Joseph Fink brings his superb, unmatchable gift for balancing the weird and the real to a spooky middle-grades novel that echoes such classics as @NeilHimself's Coraline.

pluralistic.net/2021/09/23/rem…

24/ The cover of Halloween Moon
III. Victories Greater Than Death, by @CharlieJane

An exciting, engrossing tale with all that's great about YA tropes while deftly subverting the their problems. Full of majesty and sweep, good and evil, bravery and sacrifice, treachery and danger.

pluralistic.net/2021/11/08/tin…

25/ The cover of Victories Greater Than Death
* Nonfiction

I. The Data Detective, by @TimHarford

Could have been called HOW TO TRUTH WITH STATISTICS. Journey beyond debunking bad stats and learn how stats can be part of how we discover truth.

pluralistic.net/2021/01/04/how…

26/ The cover of The Data Detective
II. Food and Climate Change Without the Hot Air, by @sarahbridle

Clear, nonthreatening, technical language, brilliant data visualizations, and examples grounded in our daily experience make a powerful read.

pluralistic.net/2021/01/06/met…

27/ The cover of Food and Climate Change Without the Hot Air
III. Competition is Killing Us, by @MichMeagher

A smart, fast-moving history of the neutering of monopoly law, by the Chicago School of neoliberal economists. The Chicago School put competition enforcement in chains. Meagher shatters them.

pluralistic.net/2021/01/08/com…

28/ The cover of Competition is Killing Us
IV. Monopolized, by @DDayen

Unpicks knots of bullshit and laying them straight to reveal them for the turds they are; showing how we're all drowning in crap. Pharma, aviation, newspapers, Big Tech, Big Funeral, all the scams that pick our pockets.

pluralistic.net/2021/01/29/fra…

29/ The cover of Monopolized
V. Broad Band, by @TheUniverse

More than a celebration of the hidden woman heroes of the computing revolution – an epitaph for all the people whose talent, aptitude, dreams and contributions were squandered.

pluralistic.net/2021/02/13/dat…

30/
VI. Prisoners' Inventions, by Angelo

A carceral version of neo-neolithic Youtubers who bootstrap tools from raw materials. Prisoners treat the environment as a challenge, to be reconfigured, overcoming user-hostile designs and armed enforcers.

pluralistic.net/2021/06/09/kin…

31/
VII. Jackpot, by @MichaelMechanic

A pitiless, empathic look at the lives of the super-rich: the transactional relationships, the paranoia and greed, the pingponging between homes, the ruined offspring, the constant preoccuptation with accumulation…

pluralistic.net/2021/04/13/pub…

32/
VIII. Mutual Aid, by Peter Kropotkin, @DavidGraeber, and others

Debunking the fraud of "social Darwinism," the idea that hierarchy and exploitation are evolutionarily baked into our genes. A gorgeous illustrated edition with an intro by Graeber.

pluralistic.net/2021/09/22/kro…

33/ The cover of Mutual Aid
IX. Savage Love A-Z, by @FakeDanSavage

Come for graphic sexual content, stay for thoughtful and philosophy. Savage's latest is an illustrated, alphabetical tour through the concepts of his decades-long corpus of wisdom, humor and learning.

pluralistic.net/2021/10/04/avo…

eof/ The cover of Savage Love A-Z
ETA - If you'd like an unrolled version of this thread to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

pluralistic.net/2021/12/08/req…

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More from @doctorow

Oct 11
I am an environmentalist, but I'm not a climate activist. I used to be - I even used to ring strangers' doorbells on behalf of Greenpeace.

1/ A field of utility scale solar. Behind the mountains on the horizon line loom two logos: the original EFF 'clenched fist and lightning bolt' logo and the first Earth Day logo. They are reflected in the solar panels. Behind them roils hellish red-shot smoke.
If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this thread to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

pluralistic.net/2025/10/11/cyb…

2/
But a quarter of a century ago, I fell in with the Electronic Frontier Foundation and became a lifelong digital rights activist, and switched to cheering on environmental activists from the sidelines of their fight:



3/eff.org
Read 53 tweets
Sep 27
Like you, I'm sick to the back teeth of talking about AI. Like you, I keep getting dragged into AI discussions. Unlike you‡, I spent the summer writing a book on why I'm sick of AI⹋, which @fsgbooks will publish in 2026.

‡probably

⹋"The Reverse Centaur's Guide to AI"

1/ A Zimbabwean one hundred trillion dollar bill; the bill's iconography have been replaced with the glaring red eye of HAL 9000 from Stanley Kubrick's '2001: A Space Odyssey' and a stylized, engraving-style portrait of Sam Altman.  Image: TechCrunch https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sam_Altman_-_TechCrunch_Disrupt_SF_2017_(36522988343).jpg  CC BY 2.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/deed.en  --  Cryteria (modified) https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:HAL9000.svg  CC BY 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/deed.en
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pluralistic.net/2025/09/27/eco…

2/
A week ago, I turned that book into a speech, which I delivered as the annual Nordlander Memorial Lecture at Cornell, where I'm an AD White Professor-at-Large.

3/
Read 52 tweets
Sep 24
Billionaires don't think we're real. How could they? How could you inflict the vast misery that generates billions while still feeling even a twinge of empathy for the sufferer in your extractive enterprise. No wonder Elon Musk calls us "NPCs":



1/ pluralistic.net/2025/08/18/see…  An oil painting of a French king atop a throne, draped in sumptuous robes. His head has been replaced with a screaming, toothless man wearing a top-hat. Over his shoulder looms the hostile red eye of HAL 9000 from Stanley Kubrick's '2001: A Space Odyssey.'  Image: Cryteria (modified) https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:HAL9000.svg  CC BY 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/deed.en
If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this thread to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

pluralistic.net/2025/09/24/rob…

2/
Ever notice how people get palpably stupider as they gain riches and power? Musk went from a cringe doofus to a world-class credulous dolt, and it seems like he loses five IQ points for every $10b that's added to his net worth.

3/
Read 26 tweets
Sep 23
I'm only a few chapters into Bill McKibben's stupendous new book *Here Comes the Sun: A Last Chance for the Climate and a Fresh Chance for Civilization* and I already know it's going to change my outlook forever:



1/ billmckibben.com/books/here-com…A rooftop solar installation. Behind the roof rages a blazing forest fire. Reflected in the solar panels is the poop emoji from the cover of my book 'Enshittification,' which has angry eyebrows and a black, grawlix-filled bar across its mouth."    Image: Bastique (modified) https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Solar_Panels_on_Church_Roof_full.jpg  CC BY 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/deed.en
If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this thread to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

pluralistic.net/2025/09/23/our…

2/
McKibben is one of our preeminent climate writers and activists, noteworthy for his informed and brilliant explanations of the technical limits - and possibilities - of various climate interventions, and for his lifelong organizing work.

3/
Read 80 tweets
Sep 22
One of the dumbest, shrewdest tricks corporate America ever pulled was teaching us all to reflexively say, "If a corporation blocks your speech, that doesn't violate the First Amendment and therefore it's not censorship":



1/ pluralistic.net/2022/12/04/yes…Two figures in royal robes seated back to back atop a pile of gold bars. One wears a tophat, the other, a crown in the form of a gilded crown. A forest of angled broadcast towers sits behind them. The sky is overshadowed by thunderheads.
If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this thread to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

pluralistic.net/2025/09/22/one…

2/
Censorship isn't limited to government action: it's the act of preventing a message from a willing speaker from reaching a willing listener. The fact that it's censorship doesn't (necessarily) mean that it's illegitimate or bad.

3/
Read 62 tweets
Sep 17
Conspiratorialism is downstream of the trauma of institutional failures.

Insitutional failures are downstream of regulatory capture.

Regulatory capture is downstream of monopolization.

Monopolization is downstream of the failure to enforce antitrust law.

1/ A four-doll matrioshke, unpacked and arranged 2x2. In order, the dolls' faces have been replaced with: the Qanon logo; an Oxycontin pill, the face of Robert Bork, and Mark Zuckerberg's metaverse avatar.  Image: Vicent Ibáñez (modified) https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Nina_Rusa._Mu%C3%B1eca_Rusa.JPG  CC BY-SA 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/deed.en  --  RootOfAllLight (modified) https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:QAnon.png  CC BY-SA 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/deed.en
If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this thread to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

pluralistic.net/2025/09/17/cau…

2/
Start with conspiratorialism and trauma. I am staunchly pro-vaccine. I have had so many covid jabs that I glow in the dark and can get impeccable 5g reception at the bottom of a coal-mine.

Nevertheless.

3/
Read 57 tweets

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