Attack Surface Review

Cory Doctorow’s Attack Surface[A] is a woke and pulpy third installment of the Little Brother saga. Attack Surface covers Masha’s POV through Little Brother and Homeland. One of Doctorow’s greatest strengths is to find the interesting things in the present and bring them into the near future. Doctorow says this comes from the writing style of a blogger, building little interesting nuggets until a compelling super saturated slurry emerges.

[Spoilers ahead, don’t say I didn’t warn you.]

I understand that Masha’s character arc requires her to see flaws in her own thinking. However, I would have thought a security contractor would have more blind belief and faith in the morality of their work. I expected Masha to believe that if people have nothing to hide, they have nothing to fear. I have always thought that most people believe they are the hero of their own story; Masha does not. However, Doctorow seems to use Masha’s character to embody the ultimate corruption of ultimate power.

The pure horror of compromised and weaponized self-driving cars was well done and the logical conclusion of Doctorow’s security ideas. The idea that DIY hardware engineers could create a “firewall” between a phone and its SIM card is fascinating, a kind of Project Alias[B] for a phone.



I am an American who has watched fascism and neo-Nazis rise in America and elsewhere. Doctorow currently lives in the US and is probably more aware of this horror than I am. What I see as the final question of the novel kept me thinking for a while. Near the end a Slovstakian dissident, Kriztina, asks Masha to use the country’s existing surveillance appliances to bring down the Nazi movement in the country. Masha says, “you of all people should understand the importance of eliminating surveillance on the Slovstakian network.” Masha then refuses to help Kriztina fight the Nazis in her country. We hear nothing else about this, perhaps indicating a fourth installment.



To understand Doctorow’s ideological message through Masha’s arc the idea that ultimate power ultimately corrupts is necessary. I believe that Masha knew this from the beginning, hence the compartments. The logic of the book leads me to understand that Masha fully realizes this idea in the final scene when she refuses to help Kriztina. Masha then attempts to call Ange and gets Marcus. The question continues. Marcus argues for Masha to use the Slovstakian network against the Nazis. Masha argues that such a weapon is too powerful and could fall into the wrong hands. After Masha tells Marcus that her understanding of the power at hand makes her better suited to make the choice and falls asleep; her conscience satiated.

We do not know what Masha will do (fourth installment). However, Doctorow knows that his readers see rising fascism in the world and are terrified of it. To speak the immediate moment, Kriztina is right, the best move is to use the vast power of the network to crush the Nazis. To speak to the fascism that the Slovstakian Nazis embody, the best attack is to strengthen individual power and democratic ideas against murderous autocrats.

I must say that Doctorow delivered a timely message. Antifascist individuals are likely to think that the only way forward is to use whatever is at hand to bring down the fascist threat. Those fighting to bring down fascism need to know that total network surveillance is a part of the fascist threat that needs to be destroyed.

***

Now, for the really important question.

I have noticed something while reading Doctorow.

- “My hands were sweaty; a dribble ran down my back and infiltrated the crack of my ass.” Attack Surface 703/976

- “We moved fast, and sweat streamed down my face from under my hair, coursed down my back and slid down the crack of my ass and my thighs.” Little Brother 110/134

I’m away from my e-book collection, so I can’t check Homeland. I checked out all of the Doctorow e-books at my library (and returned them). This seems to be a Little Brother series phenomenon.

Doctorow, why do you mention sweat and ass cracks in installments of your Little Brother series?

[A]https://craphound.com/category/attacksurface/

[B]https://bjoernkarmann.dk/project_alias