Kirkus
Copyright © Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

In a future so close it will be easily mistaken for today, teens all over the world play massively multiplayer online role-playing games, but not all are in the game for fun. In the Third World, the poorest children and teens "farm gold" for ruthless bosses who turn game currency into real-world money. The in-game economies of games like Mushroom Kingdom from Nintendo and Zombie Mecha by Coca-Cola Games rival those of Peru and Portugal. Big Sister Nor in Singapore and a small army of followers slowly and secretly recruit the best players into a fledgling union that could span the globe if it's not destroyed by corporations, corrupt police or repressive governments. Award-winner Doctorow spins a mammoth tale that, when in gear, is as engaging and fascinating as any MMORPG. Unfortunately, it is shot through with economics lectures; regularly, the focus shifts from the large cast of characters to a gentle exposition on union history or social contracts or some other complex economic idea. Fans, future bankers and future gametechs will be in heaven; those without interest will skim or give up by the halfway mark. (Science fiction. YA)]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

School Library Journal
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Gr 10 Up-Wei-dong, known to his Orange County family as Leonard, is addicted to guild game play with his Chinese colleagues. Mala and Yasmin, brilliant strategists, are gaming from an Internet cafe in the poor streets of Dharavi. Matthew and Lu are trying to establish their own freelance gold-farming operation in the rough city of Shenzhen. Guided from Singapore by the secretive Big Sister Nor, these young people are slowly coming together and forming a union to demand basic working conditions and protection from organized crime rackets. In order to prove their strength, these Webblies take over the three games owned by the Coca-Cola Company. Battling for real-world rights in a virtual environment, they must overcome corrupt cops, determined sys ops, and social indifference to beat the game. Doctorow is continually at the leading edge of electronic issues, rallying supporters to the causes of intellectual freedom, privacy, and social justice. Readers will appreciate the game descriptions, but will have a harder time relating the gold-farming issues back to their own play. Lengthy asides detail the workings of the game economies, but they aren't as skillfully incorporated as in Little Brother (Tor, 2008). The characters are well formed, but at times it is difficult to keep their interactions in order. Leonard's internal rant with his father is preachy and somewhat tenuous as a justification for the benefits of social gaming. On the other hand, Yasmin's emotional turmoil and attempt to reconcile her upbringing with her current circumstances is honest and rewarding. Full of action and information, this is a solid, if occasionally soapbox-worthy, narrative.-Chris Shoemaker, New York Public Library (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Publishers Weekly
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

Doctorow uses video games to get teenage readers to think more about globalization, economics, and fair labor practices in this expansive but ponderous story. Set, like his earlier Little Brother, in a near-future world, it centers on attempts to unionize teenagers who work within massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs) as gold farmers, employed to raise game gold and find magic items to be resold, or as Turks, who help police the virtual environments. Employed for minimal wages under horrible working conditions-sometimes in near slavery-these children, led by a global group of fierce and talented gamers, band together, subverting the MMORPGs to take on their corrupt local bosses and the corporations that own the games. As usual, Doctorow writes with authority and a knack for authentic details and lexicon, moving between impoverished villages in China and India and inventive video game worlds. But the story founders under the volume of information he's trying to share-the action is interrupted by lectures on economic principles, sometimes disguised as conversations-and an unwieldy cast of characters. It's undeniably smart and timely, but would have benefited from tighter editing. Ages 12-up. (May) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

School Library Journal
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Gr 7 Up-In a story (Tor Teen, 2010) that explodes with life, Cory Doctorow invites us into the world of teenage video gamers who hail from India, China, and Southern California. Each character struggles to make a living via gaming and gold-farming, escaping the wrath of predatory adults who capitalize on the young people's online agility. Around every corner, they meet actual and virtual danger. These characters exist in a dizzyingly complex world, yet each interwoven tale describes an age-old story of forging identity, standing up for oneself, and eventually leaving home. Most affecting is Mala, who lives beside a plastics recycling plant in India, and escapes the powerlessness of poverty through gaming. All the characters are brought together by Big Sister Nor, an online presence who haunts and captivates-and invites them to reexamine the meaning of online labor. George Newbern's narration is perfunctory, with a reserved tone that seems too detached for such an exuberant story. He changes voices for some characters, but not others, and his Indian and Chinese accents and female falsettos will often make listeners cringe. In a book filled with so many culturally diverse characters, the narrator should have had more lingual versatility. The absence of music is also a missed opportunity. A snatch of melody from the character's culture could have signaled point of view shifts. And the sounds of the games, which Doctorow describes so vividly, would have also made for a livelier listening experience. The tech-savvy teens who would be drawn to this story would crave more stimulation than this audiobook offers.-Jess deCourcy Hinds, Bard High School Early College Queens, Long Island City, NY (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Horn Book
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Doctorow follows a handful of computer-gamers, gold farmers, and those who would take advantage of them, exploring the real-world economic implications of computer game currencies. His enthusiasm for his subject is contagious, if dogmatic, and his explanations of currency markets, inflation, and other economic concepts are lively and clear. (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. All rights reserved.

Library Journal
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

In Little Brother, Doctorow created a near-future tale that brought attention to the wrongdoings of Homeland Security. Here, his subject is the teenaged workers of the world's game economies. The "gold farmers," who convert game gold into real money, are fed up with their long hours, small profits, and thug bosses. The solution? A world union, the IWWWW, International Workers of the World Wide Web. The complex story follows a union organizer named Big Sister Nor, teen game workers in India, China, and the United States, and the lead economist for Coca Cola's game division as the workers plot to take control of the games and their real-world economies. Doctorow's rollicking, globe-trotting narrative is occasionally interrupted by economics lessons that may have teen readers skipping ahead but that fascinated this gaming virgin. -Angelina Benedetti, "35 Going on 13," BookSmack! 9/16/10 (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Book list
From Booklist, Copyright © American Library Association. Used with permission.

*Starred Review* Doctorow is indispensable. It's hard to imagine any other author taking on youth and technology with such passion, intelligence, and understanding. Although perhaps less urgent than Little Brother (2008), this effort is superior in every other aspect: scope, plot, character, and style. Set in the near future and in locations across the globe (though primarily China and India), the story involves a sweeping cast of characters making a living if you want to call brutal conditions and pitiful wages a living in such virtual-game worlds as Svartalfheim Warriors and Zombie Mecha. Many of them, like 15-year-old Mala (known by her troops as General Robotwalla ), endure physical threats from their bosses to farm virtual gold, which is then sold to rich First World gamers. Then these brilliant teens are brought together by the mysterious Big Sister Nor, who has a plan to unionize and bring these virtual worlds and real-world sweatshops, too to a screeching halt. Once again Doctorow has taken denigrated youth behavior (this time, gaming) and recast it into something heroic. He can't resist the occasional lecture sometimes breaking away from the plot to do so but thankfully his lessons are riveting. With it's eye-opening humanity and revolutionary zeal, this ambitious epic is well worth the considerable challenge.--Kraus, Daniel Copyright 2010 Booklist