I read FTW, along with my sci-fi book club, just after listening to Mr. Daisey and The Apple Factory , observing the impact of the floods on factories in my new home base of Thailand, and in general spending a good deal of time thinking about technology and its impact on the universe, so it's no surprise that I found myself cheering for the underdogs in superhero Cory Doctorow's latest YA novel. Mala, a 15 year-old kick-ass gamer in India (aka "General Robotwalla), leads a group of village kids working in an online gaming sweatshop, winning virtual treasure in MMORPGs, which is then sold by a local overlord to wealthy gamers willing to pay real world money for a quick pass to higher level game play. Matthew is in Shenzen, and has started up his own rebel group of gold-farmers, cutting out his evil boss. Leonard (who calls himself Wei-Dong), is light years away in Orange County, but spends his time fighting alongside his brothers and sisters in China. Beautiful brilliant n...
