He needs to come to terms with his trauma and face his fears to overcome his oppressors. He’s not as fearless, in fact he spends the majority of the novel terrified and cautious. However, since Marcus has changed, the outcomes of each encounter changed as well. Events parallel things that happened in the previous novel characters and themes are revisited. This novel stands well on its own, despite the fact that I initially thought the plot wasn’t as strange. But doing his job and leaking documents that prove government corruption at the same time may prove incompatible, especially combined with his own terror at the thought of facing his tormentor, the woman who waterboarded him years earlier on behalf of the DHS, Carry Johnstone. However, he stumbles into a job as webmaster for a local independent candidate, a man he admires and hopes will work to make the city and country free once more.

If he makes the files public, will he live long enough to have a future? For Marcus, the future is uncertain, especially now that he’s been given evidence against the DHS which could make him a target once again. His mother takes jobs as she can, but his parents are worried about money and possibly losing their home. His father lost his job, which means Marcus can no longer afford to go to college. The economy is horrible, and the Yallow’s have been hit hard. Upon returning home from vacation, we learn how badly the city has fared in the years since the Bay Bridge attack and the Department of Homeland Security’s ousting from San Francisco. The freedom and care-free atmosphere of Burning Man contrasts sharply with the events of the novel as Marcus’s circumstances change. The setting is fun enough, with the author’s love of all things tech and counter-culture abundantly clear, until things turn sinister. The novel starts off at Burning Man, where Marcus and Ange have gone on vacation to escape the pressures of life in post-attack San Francisco. But when Marcus is given a USB stick with secret files on the Department of Homeland Security, files that prove the DHS’s continual violation of civilian rights, will Marcus have the courage to face his fears and do what’s right? Marcus Yallow and his girlfriend, Ange, are still together, making technology with scrap parts and a bit of ingenuity. Homeland, Cory Doctorow‘s sequel to Little Brother, revisits San Francisco several years after the Bay Bridge is destroyed in the worst terrorist attack on U.S.

Homeland doctorow novel