Geek Syndicate Issue 7 | Page 123

Geek Syndicate
BOOK REVIEW

The Pirate Cinema
Image © Titan Books, 2013

ity, making felons of millions of British citizens at a stroke. Things look bad. Parliament is in power of a few wealthy media conglomerates. But the powersthat-be haven’t entirely reckoned with the power of a gripping movie to change people’s minds…. Pirate Cinema is a Young Adult novel by Cory Doctorow. Or more accurately, it is a call-to-arms. It is a manifesto and I imagine Cory hopes every teenager reads it for its political messages. But what of it’s plot? Protagonist Trent’s hobby ends up with his family having their internet connection cut meaning his Dad can’t work, his ill Mum can’t claim her benefits and his younger sister starts suffering at school. He runs away to London where adventure – pirate adventure – awaits. Trent finds himself squatting in an old pub and making remix films under the name Cecil B. DeVil. He meets a girl called 26 and the other members of what will become his gang. These are Chester, Rabid Dog and Jem. Together, the group are called the “Jammie Dodgers”. Trent’s mission – and that of the reader – is to learn about copyright law and how the big corporations and the government use it to make the rich richer and to put the poor in prison. Trent’s adventures include the creation of a literal underground cinema, dealing with his runaway sister, being filled a lawsuit and pulling off his greatest stunt while trying to get a law repealed. There are some nice touches of science fiction that take the plot a little further into the future than

just tomorrow, such as hats that zap mosquitoes with mini-lasers (which perform a useful function later in the book). Doctorow has an excellent knack of taking today and extrapolating it forward a few years. Doctorow’s greatest talent, however, is creating stories out of potentially dull political topics, in this case internet piracy and copyright law, and making an eminently readable book. Pirate Cinema has loads going on and is the very definition of a pageturner. The characters are all i ????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????Q????????????????????????????!???????????????????????????????????????????????!??????????????????????????Q??????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????Q????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????%?????e??????????????????????????????????????????????e????????????????????????????????e???????????????????????????%???????????????????????????????????????????????e????????????????????????????????????????????????????Q????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????5???????????????????????????????????????? ????????????????????????????????Q?????????????????????Q?????????????A????
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