What do you think?
Rate this book
Little Brother #2.5
Lawful Interception
An all-new tale of Marcus Yallow, the hero of the bestselling novels Little Brother and Homeland -- as he deals with the aftermath of a devastating Oakland earthquake, with the help of friends, hacker allies, and some very clever crowdsourced drones.
32 pages, ebook
First published March 5, 2013
50 people are currently reading
1535 people want to read
About the author
Cory Doctorow
267 books6,189 followersCory Doctorow is a science fiction author, activist, journalist and blogger — the co-editor of Boing Boing and the author of the YA graphic novel In Real Life, the nonfiction business book Information Doesn’t Want To Be Free, and young adult novels like Homeland, Pirate Cinema, and
Little Brother
and novels for adults like
Rapture Of The Nerds
and Makers. He is a Fellow for the Electronic Frontier Foundation and co-founded the UK Open Rights Group. Born in Toronto, Canada, he now lives in Los Angeles.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 72 reviews
September 13, 2016
Meh. I own several of Cory's books and short stories and have read a couple of them now. Each time, it feels like I'm reading some sort of propaganda for some anti-authoritarian/anti-government movement started by some nerds. (Disclaimer: I'm a nerd) At the beginning of this story, when the OPD puts a stop to a group's efforts to help out their neighbors in need, I thought the rest of the story would inevitably be about how that act of subduing the group was wrong. However, from that point forward, the main plot is centered around "how can we show our hatred and distrust for authority best (by using our Android phones and Linux computers)".
I "get" the whole privacy rights movement and whatnot, but Doctorow's stories seem to push a little too far sometimes and step more into anti-authority/anti-government territory.
I "get" the whole privacy rights movement and whatnot, but Doctorow's stories seem to push a little too far sometimes and step more into anti-authority/anti-government territory.
October 13, 2020
Book 2.5 of Doctorow's Little Brother YA series. Its wedged between Homeland and his more recent Attack Surface.
This novella (little more than a short story) is 32-pages with a US 2013 copy write. It can be read for FREE at Tor.com.
You'd have to be following the series to get this piece. It follows the series' protagonist (Markus Yarrow) and his love interest Ange through a Bay Area earthquake and their joining a flavor of the Occupy movement in Oakland. When their movement is confronted with an aggressive, authoritarian response, Yarrow develops a technological solution to continue the protests.
The story was typical Doctorow; technically well written, but leftistly heavy-handed. Likely only fun if you're a fan of the author and this series.
This novella (little more than a short story) is 32-pages with a US 2013 copy write. It can be read for FREE at Tor.com.
You'd have to be following the series to get this piece. It follows the series' protagonist (Markus Yarrow) and his love interest Ange through a Bay Area earthquake and their joining a flavor of the Occupy movement in Oakland. When their movement is confronted with an aggressive, authoritarian response, Yarrow develops a technological solution to continue the protests.
The story was typical Doctorow; technically well written, but leftistly heavy-handed. Likely only fun if you're a fan of the author and this series.
April 26, 2020
Well that was a fun one. A revisit. With some ideas around how to hack crowd versus police in real-time. Which almost made sense kind of. But was also a sweet young romance. And a call out that people in disasters don't necessarily suck.
July 12, 2023
Content Warnings: None
Lawful Interception is a short story about a pair of tech-savvy anarchist protestors. It is engaging and fairly content dense for a work of fiction.
The narration for the audiobook was energetic and awkward but it did seem to fit the feel of the book.
This story would be a 2 or 3 star if it wasn't for the edutainment factor. I definitely learned more about protests than expected as well as the concept of "liquid democracy."
Lawful Interception is a short story about a pair of tech-savvy anarchist protestors. It is engaging and fairly content dense for a work of fiction.
The narration for the audiobook was energetic and awkward but it did seem to fit the feel of the book.
This story would be a 2 or 3 star if it wasn't for the edutainment factor. I definitely learned more about protests than expected as well as the concept of "liquid democracy."
September 2, 2013
As befits a short story, Lawful Interception has little of the grand "fight the power" feel of the novels, Little Brother and Homeland, in the Marcus Yallow series, but it retains the series wonderful sense of character, place, and purpose.
The last, in this case, being how Marcus becomes a part of something bigger than himself solely as a means to help people (instead of fighting for his own freedom) after a devastating earthquake hits Oakland. As with the novels, technology and Marcus understanding of it enable the character to participate and even lead others in helping victims of the quake; he then turns that same understanding into fighting against politicians and organizations who seem more intent on earning a profit than on helping anyone except themselves.
All in all, this is a worthy sequel to the two novels and well deserving of a spot on the shelf next to them.
The last, in this case, being how Marcus becomes a part of something bigger than himself solely as a means to help people (instead of fighting for his own freedom) after a devastating earthquake hits Oakland. As with the novels, technology and Marcus understanding of it enable the character to participate and even lead others in helping victims of the quake; he then turns that same understanding into fighting against politicians and organizations who seem more intent on earning a profit than on helping anyone except themselves.
All in all, this is a worthy sequel to the two novels and well deserving of a spot on the shelf next to them.
June 6, 2014
I don't get the hang up about his "awesome coffee". Maybe to add another dimension to the character apart from love sick teen who beats the evil government?
July 10, 2017
Another Marcus Yarrow story.
Some interesting 'crowd-sourcing/motivating' info in this one.
Some interesting 'crowd-sourcing/motivating' info in this one.
February 7, 2017
Alright, let's get the bad things out of the way first.
First of all, stop it with the stupid coffee. Yeah, Marcus likes coffee, and he's a coffee snob. We get it. Shut up about it already. In the longer stories of the series (Little Brother and Homeland) it worked better because the longer format allows time to expand on it, so you get a couple of pages of why cold brewing is great, how it works, and why it works, and you end up wanting to try your hand at it, even if, like me, you don't like coffee. In Lawful Interception, however, Doctorow can't afford to spend a couple of pages rambling outside of the story, because of the format. So you get a few "coffee is good, I make awesome coffee, everybody likes my coffee". After the third or so such line is starts getting repetitive fast.
Next, the ending was not good. The main storyline gets abandoned just to add a pointless scene. What happened to everything that had been building in the story? We don't know, but at least we get romance in there.
But worst of all is the fetishization of the nerd culture into something that, at least in my experience, it most definitely is not. In this series the nerd/hackerspace culture is inclusive, community oriented, anti-capitalist, and proto-anarchist. As much as I would like that to actually be true, the fact is that in my experience, other than a few exceptions, I see a lot more right wing "libertarians" "really-conservative-but-I-won't-say-it-because-I-want-to-be-edgy" types than the leftists Doctorow seems to find in nerd culture.
But still, this is a Little Brother book, and that's awesome, because I loved Little Brother, I loved Homeland, and I really liked Lawful Interception, even over those flaws I talked about.
It took me a while to realize why I love these books so much. I mean, they're just young adult fiction, with teen romance, simple storylines, and all that. But I think what sets them apart is that they're set in the real world. By that I don't mean just that the places are real world places, I mean that the characters and motivations make sense. You see, in most fiction the antagonists are positively evil, they just want to screw you because they're evil, and if you could just remove the evil guys from power things would just work out, and that's where the hero comes in, and they are so incredibly awesome that they single-handedly remove the evil guys and everybody lives happily everafter.
In the Little Brother world people are not evil. They are just doing their job. They are just covering their own asses. It's not the evil guy on top who's the problem. It's the whole system that is rotten. It's not the guy on top wanting to see you suffer. It's the whole system that's indifferent to what happens to actual people. If you remove the guy in charge, whoever it is, you don't get to live happily everafter. Instead, someone else takes over, and things continue just like they were. And then there's the hero, who doesn't just go singlehandedly against the world and wins and changes the world. Instead, Marcus does just small parts, just technical details on what is always a huge mass movement. The XNet in Little Brother, the whole network of people analyzing the leaks in Homeland, Occupy Seneca in Lawful Interception. Marcus isn't the lone hero fighting against the machine, he's just one more person inside a big community fighting for change. Even when he nominally leads, he's not the fearless leader with absolute authority you imagine in most books. At most, he's just primus inter pares, but really, he's just one more guy doing what he feels must be done. And the evils he fights again are not the creepy dude wanting to take over the world. Rather, the more real issues of capitalism destroying everything it touches.
There's one other angle that makes me like the Little Brother series a lot, and that's its relationship with technology. Most science fiction is of the "science and technology are inherently dangerous and they are destroying our world as we knew it" variety. Doctorow says yes, sure, technology can do that, but really, our world as we knew it was crap, and we can (and should!) use technology to bring it down and replace it with something better. Marcus uses technology not to directly bring down the evil government, but to build and strengthen the community that fights against the systemic oppression. And in the end, the government doesn't come down, there isn't a huge revolution, the system is still in place, and all that happened is that the world got a little better. Not much. The world is still mostly shit. But just a little less shit that it was before.
First of all, stop it with the stupid coffee. Yeah, Marcus likes coffee, and he's a coffee snob. We get it. Shut up about it already. In the longer stories of the series (Little Brother and Homeland) it worked better because the longer format allows time to expand on it, so you get a couple of pages of why cold brewing is great, how it works, and why it works, and you end up wanting to try your hand at it, even if, like me, you don't like coffee. In Lawful Interception, however, Doctorow can't afford to spend a couple of pages rambling outside of the story, because of the format. So you get a few "coffee is good, I make awesome coffee, everybody likes my coffee". After the third or so such line is starts getting repetitive fast.
Next, the ending was not good. The main storyline gets abandoned just to add a pointless scene. What happened to everything that had been building in the story? We don't know, but at least we get romance in there.
But worst of all is the fetishization of the nerd culture into something that, at least in my experience, it most definitely is not. In this series the nerd/hackerspace culture is inclusive, community oriented, anti-capitalist, and proto-anarchist. As much as I would like that to actually be true, the fact is that in my experience, other than a few exceptions, I see a lot more right wing "libertarians" "really-conservative-but-I-won't-say-it-because-I-want-to-be-edgy" types than the leftists Doctorow seems to find in nerd culture.
But still, this is a Little Brother book, and that's awesome, because I loved Little Brother, I loved Homeland, and I really liked Lawful Interception, even over those flaws I talked about.
It took me a while to realize why I love these books so much. I mean, they're just young adult fiction, with teen romance, simple storylines, and all that. But I think what sets them apart is that they're set in the real world. By that I don't mean just that the places are real world places, I mean that the characters and motivations make sense. You see, in most fiction the antagonists are positively evil, they just want to screw you because they're evil, and if you could just remove the evil guys from power things would just work out, and that's where the hero comes in, and they are so incredibly awesome that they single-handedly remove the evil guys and everybody lives happily everafter.
In the Little Brother world people are not evil. They are just doing their job. They are just covering their own asses. It's not the evil guy on top who's the problem. It's the whole system that is rotten. It's not the guy on top wanting to see you suffer. It's the whole system that's indifferent to what happens to actual people. If you remove the guy in charge, whoever it is, you don't get to live happily everafter. Instead, someone else takes over, and things continue just like they were. And then there's the hero, who doesn't just go singlehandedly against the world and wins and changes the world. Instead, Marcus does just small parts, just technical details on what is always a huge mass movement. The XNet in Little Brother, the whole network of people analyzing the leaks in Homeland, Occupy Seneca in Lawful Interception. Marcus isn't the lone hero fighting against the machine, he's just one more person inside a big community fighting for change. Even when he nominally leads, he's not the fearless leader with absolute authority you imagine in most books. At most, he's just primus inter pares, but really, he's just one more guy doing what he feels must be done. And the evils he fights again are not the creepy dude wanting to take over the world. Rather, the more real issues of capitalism destroying everything it touches.
There's one other angle that makes me like the Little Brother series a lot, and that's its relationship with technology. Most science fiction is of the "science and technology are inherently dangerous and they are destroying our world as we knew it" variety. Doctorow says yes, sure, technology can do that, but really, our world as we knew it was crap, and we can (and should!) use technology to bring it down and replace it with something better. Marcus uses technology not to directly bring down the evil government, but to build and strengthen the community that fights against the systemic oppression. And in the end, the government doesn't come down, there isn't a huge revolution, the system is still in place, and all that happened is that the world got a little better. Not much. The world is still mostly shit. But just a little less shit that it was before.
June 22, 2024
Have you ever seen a cooking recipe on the internet that contains someone's entire life story? Lawful Interception is the equivalent of that for engineers.
Cory Doctorow writes books for people into computers. I'm studying Computer Engineering, have an Android phone, and use Gentoo Linux as my main OS. I enjoyed Little Brother and Homeland. I should be the target demographic for free knowledge agitprop. But I hated this story.
This story is basically a blogpost about a physical device you strap on your leg that lets protestors avoid police by constantly nudging you towards someone else. The idea is that you can scan a QR code of a person you trust and now you won't get lost from them. That person could then use the same method to track someone else, so on and so forth. Since police try to contain protestors by forming lines of cops and containing them within, this lets protests dodge police and go on indefinitely or something.
The reason why I compared this book to online recipes is because Doctorow spends most of the time writing about the protagonist of Little Brother being homeless or something, then joining a commune after an earthquake, and helping people. None of this matters or forms a coherent plot or really goes anywhere. It's just a flimsy justification for why he invents the physical device, because he starts protesting when the govt decides to demolish the commune.
I can't spoil the book because there is no ending to spoil. He invents the device, people successfully use it to protest, then the book ends. If your plot is just an excuse to use technology at least attempt show how the technology resolves the issue around the commune. This is lazy writing, protests are supposed to create change, and this book doesn't convince me of the value of protesting.
It's like "my grandmother came up with this recipe when she was separated from my mom during the war!" then there's no explanation of what happened to the grandmother.
The underlying fictional technology is the focus of the book doesn't make any sense. Doctorow thinks the "near" in "near-field communication" means several meters, then calls the people who coded the NFC drivers for Android incompetent. If you've ever tapped your credit card or your phone to pay for something, that's NFC. Doctorow wants you to believe that technology can communicate through a massive crowd of people, which is funny because I can't get my credit card to consistently tap on both sides. I'm also unsure how many people would want to strap this sketchy thing onto their leg but that's a separate issue.
Normally I wouldn't nitpick details of fictional technology but Doctorow's entire raison d'etre is to write books about how cool tech is. This book fails at both delivering a coherent plot and making the technology it spotlights interesting. Even someone like me, who is willing to ignore the shoddiest plots (I'm a Tom Clancy fan) in a technothriller is unenthusiastic about the contents of this book.
This could've been a substack post.
Cory Doctorow writes books for people into computers. I'm studying Computer Engineering, have an Android phone, and use Gentoo Linux as my main OS. I enjoyed Little Brother and Homeland. I should be the target demographic for free knowledge agitprop. But I hated this story.
This story is basically a blogpost about a physical device you strap on your leg that lets protestors avoid police by constantly nudging you towards someone else. The idea is that you can scan a QR code of a person you trust and now you won't get lost from them. That person could then use the same method to track someone else, so on and so forth. Since police try to contain protestors by forming lines of cops and containing them within, this lets protests dodge police and go on indefinitely or something.
The reason why I compared this book to online recipes is because Doctorow spends most of the time writing about the protagonist of Little Brother being homeless or something, then joining a commune after an earthquake, and helping people. None of this matters or forms a coherent plot or really goes anywhere. It's just a flimsy justification for why he invents the physical device, because he starts protesting when the govt decides to demolish the commune.
I can't spoil the book because there is no ending to spoil. He invents the device, people successfully use it to protest, then the book ends. If your plot is just an excuse to use technology at least attempt show how the technology resolves the issue around the commune. This is lazy writing, protests are supposed to create change, and this book doesn't convince me of the value of protesting.
It's like "my grandmother came up with this recipe when she was separated from my mom during the war!" then there's no explanation of what happened to the grandmother.
The underlying fictional technology is the focus of the book doesn't make any sense. Doctorow thinks the "near" in "near-field communication" means several meters, then calls the people who coded the NFC drivers for Android incompetent. If you've ever tapped your credit card or your phone to pay for something, that's NFC. Doctorow wants you to believe that technology can communicate through a massive crowd of people, which is funny because I can't get my credit card to consistently tap on both sides. I'm also unsure how many people would want to strap this sketchy thing onto their leg but that's a separate issue.
Normally I wouldn't nitpick details of fictional technology but Doctorow's entire raison d'etre is to write books about how cool tech is. This book fails at both delivering a coherent plot and making the technology it spotlights interesting. Even someone like me, who is willing to ignore the shoddiest plots (I'm a Tom Clancy fan) in a technothriller is unenthusiastic about the contents of this book.
This could've been a substack post.
January 30, 2018
I always enjoy all the technology and hackerspace stuff and a lot of the story but i dont know, i guess I'm kind of over Marcus, i mean i want to appreciate, the character but he is kind of snively and I'm sorry but Ange has got to go. You do not tolerate someone hitting you upside the head and hard enough that your rubbing your ears. That is called abuse. And she has been, for the most part, a rude self righteous biyotch since her character was introduced. and it kind of lowers my opinion of the author to continuously try to paint her as an amazing badass girlfriend. The gf in 'Pirate Cinema' was similarly unpleasant and intolerable and it really gets me worried about Doctorow like how are these redeemble characters for adolescent boys to connect with? After serious hesitation i gave a copy of 'little brother' to my 15 yr old nephew because i decided the intellectual and alt-culture content pros far outweighed the cons of Marcus and Ange's BS toxic relationship, and because maybe that doesn't show up so much in the first book but anyway I really did hesitate and I'm really sad the Pirate Cinema character is the same because oh my laws, i love what goes on that story. I mean i just want CoryDoc to explain why he feels like a guy should tolerate that kind of treatment and especially from the woman that is supposed to love him. I mean if i met these women and had to be wround them long enough to see this controlling, arrogant and abusive side of them it would be real hard to not want to knock them on their asses. Lets dispense with the double standards. A woman acting abusive in this manner is no more ideal than a man doing so. Let the gals keep their hands to they damn selves and not continuously insult the person they profess to love.
May 25, 2017
(Review based on the Audiobook version) This is a fairly short follow-up to Homeland and Little Brother, adding a little bit to the overall story, but is basically just an extra coda for Homeland. An earthquake hits Oakland, and Marcus and Angie end up involved in a support group for survivors. The commune gets smashed by the Oakland PD, and we've got another reason for revolution. But Marcus and friends unleash a new tool to help the protesters get around police Kettling. And that's basically it. There's a lot of stuff that feels like a rehash of Homeland, with only minor variations. And the end is a bit of fan-service that serves as a good ending for the series. Ultimately, it's a nice return to the characters but doesn't feel like it's necessary.
July 3, 2017
Oh so short, it was over before I really got into it. Not as dark and depressing as the previous two stories about Marcus but still scary in a "this could happen to you or me or anyone at a moment's notice." But there's also a message of hope. Together, forget our differences, remember we're ALL human and we can become something amazing. Something that can't be stopped. Create, love, help, care. They're not hard and if we all try. . . it would be amazing. Plus, I loved the ending although I hope this isn't the last we see of Marcus.
October 5, 2025
Lawful Interception is a short story set after the second of the Marcus Yallow books, Little Brother being the first and one of my all-time favourite books, and Homeland being the second, which is also pretty good. This one follows Marcus and his girlfriend, Ange, as they look to pitch in after a devastating earthquake in Oakland.
If you're familiar, previous books, you'll know the story by now. Terrible thing happens, the government makes it much worse, and the smart hackers of the world fight back to set the world to rights. I love the optimism of Doctorow, and I feel like I learn something every time I read one of his books.
It's a short, snappy read, nothing groundbreaking, but well worth an hour or two of your time.
If you're familiar, previous books, you'll know the story by now. Terrible thing happens, the government makes it much worse, and the smart hackers of the world fight back to set the world to rights. I love the optimism of Doctorow, and I feel like I learn something every time I read one of his books.
It's a short, snappy read, nothing groundbreaking, but well worth an hour or two of your time.
October 28, 2018
This little novella was a nice reintroduction to Marcus, the main character from the first two books in the series. In typical Doctorow style, it presents a thoughtful look at the ways technology affects our lives, wrapped up in an interesting story. I certainly hope that if I ever get into serious trouble, there’s someone like Marcus or Ange around with their hacker friends to help me figure a way out.
October 20, 2019
Only reason it got 4 stars was because it was a little confusing at times and a bit slow but.....it loved how Marcus and Ange found their calling in helping others. In this short story that takes place after both books, the couple help create a system that helps keep demonstraters from being unjustly harmed or harassed, starting in Oakland.
They still very family oriented and in the end....they proposed 🤩 I'm so happy they're gonna tie the knot hehe
Glad I read this for closure lol
They still very family oriented and in the end....they proposed 🤩 I'm so happy they're gonna tie the knot hehe
Glad I read this for closure lol
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 27, 2022
I liked the original Little Brother book but the ones since have not been as good. In this one the pair of Ange and Marcus get caught in an earthquake in Oakland. They help out by setting up an "Occupy Oakland" camp that gets destroyed by the police. They set up some programs to help the following demonstrators keep away from the police. Then they ask each other to marry them.
Very short story - only 32 pages.
Very short story - only 32 pages.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 7, 2024
A brief novella sequel to Homeland. just as good, but it needs the context of Homeland to fully drive home it's reiteration of the message.... without that, it's a less impactful cautionary tale.
February 13, 2025
(3.5 Stars)
This is a good little short story. The audio (podcast episodes, read by the author) was done very well.
This felt like a "feel good" story to counter balance the dystopian landscape of the rest of the books.
This advances some of the character's storylines and not really any plot, but was still an enjoyable experience.
This is a good little short story. The audio (podcast episodes, read by the author) was done very well.
This felt like a "feel good" story to counter balance the dystopian landscape of the rest of the books.
This advances some of the character's storylines and not really any plot, but was still an enjoyable experience.
December 12, 2025
Une nouvelle dans l'univers de Little Brother où l'on retrouve Marcus et Ange à Oakland après un tremblement de terre. Cory Doctorow en profite pour nous parler de démocratie liquide et de l'usage de la technologie pour contrer les tactiques policières, dont la nasse, dans les manifestations.
August 23, 2017
Three or four stars - it's a bit of an elaboration of the characters, but as a short story, it's got a fairly quick simple situation / setup / teardown. So yes it's pretty good, but it's also nothing too essential.
July 11, 2018
I've liked all that I've read of Cory Doctorow's writing and this was no exception. This short tale continues the story of Marcus Yallow, protagonist of Little Brother and Homeland. The main thrust of the story hard-hitting politically as ever. The ending sweet but a little twee.
June 8, 2017
Not as good as the previous books in the series. Unlike the previous books, this is just a nostalgic journey back to the characters without much of a purpose.
February 17, 2019
Overall a nice addition to the Marcus Yallow story arc, again highlighting the kind of state we are slowly heading towards. Looking forward to the next addition in the line.
December 3, 2017
The pretentious coffee crap could be cut, but the story was pretty good.
June 24, 2018
Short but sweet, it's a good addition to the little brother storyline.
October 12, 2019
One more story of Marcus Yarrow and how technology, hackers and cooperation can out compete government and cops. Oh, and the love story continues.
July 16, 2021
This is a superb short story by Cory Doctorow. Excellent in every respect, I highly recommend it.
February 20, 2022
Interesting follow-up.
March 3, 2024
This needs to be like 50% longer and needs to have chapter titles and section separators.
May 9, 2024
A quick enjoyable read that focuses on the power of community and the importance of resilience when facing challenges with the usual smattering of tech and geekery mixed in for good measure.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 72 reviews