Cory Doctorow clearly knows what he's talking about. This is one of the first instances of fiction using technology that hasn't made me cringe or smile awkwardly in I can't remember how long (I'm looking at you, Mr. Robot).

The reason is probably because he's also preaching. My only gripe with the book is that it preaches quite a bit, and in the process verges on one sidedness some times. I did feel that it did a pretty good effort to present counter arguments to its main arguments, but because it doesn't really believe in them, it inadvertently presents them in a somewhat defeated manner. It really does the best it can, though, and I applaud it for it.

Now, don't get me wrong, I mostly agree with the book's view. I just had a slight, nasty flashback of Atlas Shrugged (which, on the contrary, was disgustingly one sided, unlike this book), even though I agree with the message that was (much more reasonably) being pushed on me.

Part of this is the fact that the book (ie the author) knows a lot about crypto and tech, and teaches the reader many useful things in very accessible ways, which is cool.

Other than that, the writing itself in terms of beauty and feeling wasn't that rich, because a) it didn't have to be, it was describing things from the point of view of a teenager, and b) the best part is the plot twists, along with the associated ideas.

All in all, very cool.