For the Win: A Novel - Softcover

Doctorow, Cory

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0765333848 ISBN 13: 9780765333841

Publisher: Tor Teen, 2012

Synopsis

It's the twenty-first century, and all over the world, MMORPGs are big business. Hidden away in China and elsewhere, young players are pressed into working as "gold-farmers," amassing game-wealth that's sold to Western players at a profitable markup. Some of these pieceworkers rebel, trying to go into business for themselves―but there's little to stop their bosses from dragging them back into servitude. Some of them, like young Mala in the slums of Bombay―nicknamed "General Robotwallah" for her self-taught military skill―become enforcers for the bosses, but that only buys them so much.

All the way over in L.A., young Wei-Dong, obsessed with Asian youth culture and MMORPGs, knows the system is rigged, knows that kids everywhere are being exploited. Finally, he and his Asian counterparts begin to work together to claim their rights. Under the noses of the ruling elites, they fight the bosses, the game owners and the rich speculators, outsmarting them with their street-gaming skills. But soon the battle will spill over from the virtual world to the real one, leaving the young rebels fighting not just for their rights, but for their lives....

About this title

About the Author:

CORY DOCTOROW is a coeditor of Boing Boing and a columnist for multiple publications including the Guardian, Locus, and Publishers Weekly. He was named one of the Web's twenty-five influencers by Forbes magazine and a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum. His award-winning novel Little Brother was a New York Times bestseller. He lives in London with his wife and daughter.

From AudioFile:

Millions of young people in countries like China, India, and Singapore make fortunes for owners of online games by trolling for troublemakers. They also make millions for unscrupulous schemers who turn "gold" harvested from the games into real-world cash. With an amazingly sympathetic voice, George Newbern breathes life into these teenagers in a fantastic novel of revolution. A charismatic woman called Big Sister Nor convinces the gamers to form a worldwide union and demand living wages. It's when she calls a strike that the worlds of the Web and real life clash. Sometimes jarring changes of time and place are tricky to follow on audio without distinct chapter breaks. However, Newbern keeps listeners hanging onto every word as he builds a powerful story. M.S. © AudioFile 2010, Portland, Maine

About this edition

• Publisher: Tor Teen
• Publication date: 2012
• ISBN 10: 0765333848
• ISBN 13: 9780765333841
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 496