Pirate Cinema is a ripped-from-the-headlines near future tale in which 16 year old Trent McCauley gets his family’s Internet access blocked for a year because he was downloading movie clips for the brilliant remixes he makes and posts online. The lack of Net access costs his father his job, and makes it very hard to him and his sister to succeed in school. So Trent does what any 16 year old would do. He runs away to London, where he hooks up with a quirky cast of friends and eventually finds himself the focal point of the attempt to overturn the draconian copyright protection laws that have been bought by the entertainment industry in Europe.
Sound familiar?
This is another Doctorow YA book in which he does a fantastic job of putting together a fun story that also says something very important about the world we live in today, and the world we might be stuck with in the near future. If you enjoyed his book Little Brother you’ll almost certainly enjoy this one too. Get it at Amazon, or if you prefer, download it for free (100% legal) from Cory’s site.
FYI: I acquired the book via the Humble Bundle book sale, so I paid actual dollars, some of which will eventually find their way into a royalty check for Cory.
