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Cory Doctorow
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Overclocked: Stories of the Future Present Paperback – February 1, 2007

by Cory Doctorow (Author)
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Have you ever wondered what it's like to get bitten by a zombie? To live through a bioweapon attack? To have every aspect of your life governed by invisible ants? In Cory Doctorow's collection of novellas, he wields his formidable experience in technology and computing to give us mindbending sci-fi tales that explore the possibilities of information technology — and its various uses — run amok. "Anda's Game" is a spin on the bizarre new phenomenon of "cyber sweatshops," in which people are paid very low wages to play online games all day in order to generate in-game wealth, which can be converted into actual money. Another tale tells of the heroic exploits of "sysadmins" — systems administrators — as they defend the cyber-world, and hence the world at large, from worms and bioweapons. And yes, there is a story about zombies, too.
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  1. Print length
    304 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Running Press
  4. Publication date
    February 1, 2007
  5. Dimensions
    5.5 x 0.75 x 8 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    1560259817
  7. ISBN-13
    978-1560259817
  8. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

An unabashed promulgator of the Internet and its democratic potential, Doctorow (Eastern Standard Tribe) explores the benefits and consequences of online systems in this provocative collection of six mostly long stories. "When Sysadmins Ruled the Earth" is a moving chronicle of a widely dispersed network of techno-geeks laboring to keep the World Wide Web running as an epitaph to an earth devastated by a bioweapon apocalypse. In "After the Siege"—the bleak chronicle of a modern siege of Stalingrad—the horrors of war become fodder for a documentary film crew's reality-based entertainment. Two tales riff on classic SF themes: "I, Robot," in which Isaac Asimov's positronic bots are cogs in a dysfunctional future totalitarian state, and "Anda's Game," a brilliant homage to Orson Scott Card's Ender's saga, in which a role-playing enthusiast finds herself immersed in a surprisingly real world of class warfare fought online by avatars of game players. Most "meat"-minded readers will find much to savor. (Feb.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Bookmarks Magazine

Overclocked bears witness to Cory Doctorow's strong presence on the Internet and immersion in that subculture. With the stories (all previously published) set in the near future, the collection lends a terrifying "what if" quality to our present. Doctorow's intimate knowledge of the techno-cyberculture gives his stories more credibility than a casual reader might think: it doesn't take a hardcore SF fan to believe that zombies, invisible ants, a 3D-printer world, video-game sweatshops, and global catastrophe may be lurking just around the corner. Most critics agree that "After the Siege" is the best of the collection, but all of the tales contain provocative scenarios and believable, nonconformist protagonists. Smart, entertaining, and at the vanguard of the genre, "Doctorow is rapidly emerging as the William Gibson of his generation" (Entertainment Weekly).
Copyright © 2004 Phillips & Nelson Media, Inc.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Running Press; 1st Printing, Feb. 2007 edition (February 1, 2007)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 304 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1560259817
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1560259817
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 9 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.5 x 0.75 x 8 inches
  • Customer Reviews:

About the author

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Cory Doctorow

Cory Doctorow

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Cory Doctorow (craphound.com) is a science fiction author, activist and journalist. He is the author of many books, most recently RADICALIZED and WALKAWAY, science fiction for adults; CHOKEPOINT CAPITALISM, nonfiction about monopoly and creative labor markets; IN REAL LIFE, a graphic novel; and the picture book POESY THE MONSTER SLAYER. His latest novel is ATTACK SURFACE, a standalone adult sequel to LITTLE BROTHER. In 2020, he was inducted into the Canadian Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame.

Customer reviews

4.2 out of 5 stars
4.2 out of 5
22 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Kate Cabrera
5.0 out of 5 stars A review of Cory Doctorow's work, including this collection
Reviewed in the United States on July 10, 2008
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I own and have read all of Cory's novels and short story collections but one. Little Brother is actually on its way from Amazon as I type this. I hope to start reading it this weekend.

Cory writes excellent fiction. His short stories are smart and engaging. His novels are a lot quirky and innovative, but still pay homage to the classics of the genre. I can't compare him to Gibson or Sterling or Card or Asimov. He is closest in my mind to Neal Stephenson, because Cory, like Neal, is a techy that knows his stuff. But still Cory doesn't go that route. Cory is his own dude, he doesn't try to copy or be like anybody but himself, and it shows.
4 people found this helpful
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A Brenner
5.0 out of 5 stars Loved this book
Reviewed in the United States on July 1, 2013
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My brother reccommended this author as one of his favorites. So I thought I'd start with this book of short stories.
I enjoyed it and have sent it to him so he can read it as well.
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Questor
3.0 out of 5 stars On average - average
Reviewed in the United States on June 9, 2007
I'm not normally a reader of short story collections but I thought I'd give "Over Clocked" a try. On finishing it, I realized why I don't read short story collections.

The problem is, short story collections inevitably end up being like CD's. Sure, there's one, maybe two great tracks on it, a few mediocre tracks and then some that are positively awful. Over Clocked suffers the same malady.

One of the strongest stories is "When Sysadmins ruled the world." An interesting tale that describes how a technologically dependent world gets brought to its knees by rampant worms and viruses and how the system administrators (Sysadmins of the title) may be the only people skilled and tech-savvy enough to fight humanity's corner.

Equally enjoyable is "I robot." Winner of the 2005 Locus award and a finalist for the Hugo and British Science Fiction award in the same year. You'd expect for it to be a good read with those credentials.

Holding the middle ground for the book is "Anda's game" - which will no doubt be a favorite with the gaming readers - and provides a virtual backdrop for the rich minority vs depressed minority scenario to literally be played out once more.

"After the Siege," where the horrors of future war are exploited for entertainment value, also provides food for thought. Whilst Doctorow preface's the story by suggesting it's a commentary on developed nations using strong arm tactics on underdeveloped counterparts, one can't help but think that this story might not also be a poke in the eye to today's news media, given the current state of world affairs.

I enjoyed all of these stories but then that's where I ran into trouble. Perhaps in no other genre than speculative fiction does the phrase "Suspension of belief," come into its own. Every author asks you to suspend your belief and go along for the ride, and for the majority of Over Clocked I was prepared to do that. Rampant computer viruses I can do. Robots I can do. Future war and gang warfare on the net I'm prepared to go along with. With "I Row-Boat," Doctorow lost me.

Over Clocked's subtitle is "Stories of future present." Most of the stories seemed to be a reasonable extrapolation of science and technology today with a dark, dystopian slant, but I found sentient rowing boats conversing with coral reefs a little beyond what I was prepared to accept. As a result, I just couldn't get past the first five pages of "I Row-Boat."

Similarly, I found the very short, short story (2 pages) "Printcrime," equally hard to swallow.

Overall, I gave Over Clocked a 3 out of 5 rating. Of the six stories contained within, there are a couple of gems, a couple of easy reads and a couple that I would skip if I had a "Next Chapter" button.

Maybe that's a future present.
4 people found this helpful
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Stewart Teaze - Embedded/Robotics Engineer
4.0 out of 5 stars Sometimes Good Collection of Modern SciFi Short Stories
Reviewed in the United States on April 5, 2010
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OVERCLOCKED(2007), is a collection of short stories (good, bad, and mediocre) by the author, that were originally published in 2005, 2006, and 2007. Most of the stories are plagued by an amateurish writing style, yet there are enough original ideas to keep the whole thing on a even keel:

Here are reviews of the individual stories:

PRINTCRIME ** - Very short story (2.5 pages), that never comes up to speed.

WHEN SYSADMINS RULED THE EARTH ***1/2 (52 pages) - Story of survival from "global terrorism"... lots of interesting and technically-correct usage of computer networking technology as a backdrop to the story.

I, ROBOT *** (58 pages) - Interesting, but hard to follow the author's writing at times.

I, ROWBOAT *** (50 pages) - Semi-amusing story; but, again, you have to work a deciphering the author's writing style... and there is a "slight hint" at "Human-Caused Global Warming" -- herein using the more "politically-correct term du jour" "Climate Change" -- luckily the author doesn't dwell on this nonsense too long (contrary to what most liberal SciFi writers end up making the mistake of doing these days: FORCING this nonsense into their stories, literally come "h*ll or high water").

AFTER THE SIEGE **** (78 pages) - Really quite good story of survival of a young girl caught in a "patriotic city" that finds itself out-gunned and under siege, but defending itself at all cost, in a near-future "trench/techno war".
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Craig
5.0 out of 5 stars Cory Doctrow is a master..
Reviewed in the United States on March 11, 2013
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Cory Doctrow is a master..
I have not yet read a piece of his writing that has not been great. Seldom does a writer hit it spot on like this fellow can.
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R. D. Webber
2.0 out of 5 stars Underwhelming
Reviewed in the United States on November 21, 2007
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Not a bad collection, but sometimes Doctorow's desire to use his fiction to promote his socio-political beliefs gets in the way of his genuine story-telling talent.

This collection included some good material: "After the Siege," the final story in the book, particularly impressed me. But "I, Robot," for example, seemed kind of clunky to me, a kind of "copyright opera."

I think these stories are available for free download under Creative Commons licensing. If you haven't liked some of Doctorow's work in the past, check out the free versions first.

If you are just starting to read Doctorow's work, try "Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom" or "Eastern Standard Tribe" or "Someone Comes to Town, Someone Leaves Town" first.
8 people found this helpful
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bbmmrr
5.0 out of 5 stars good pick!
Reviewed in the United States on December 10, 2013
Verified Purchase
Bought this for my brother as a gift- he reads everything from this author, so this was a good choice to add to his collection.
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