Okay good, my first search for “Cory Doctorow” must have had a typo in it, since now I can see your reviews (though I didn’t see any of the ones that I had mentioned above).

At least you are not some crazy who has never heard of him. :)

Did I miss your Cory Doctorow book reviews? Or have you seriously not read any of his stuff? Makers (a book on makerspaces), FTW (A book on economy and gaming), and Little Brother (a new spin on a classic) are all great books.

He also has some other books which I am not as big of a fan, but they are all released under creative commons so you can put them on your ereader for free if you would like. Although again, I am sure (hoping) that you know all this.

The “Consensus Reality” setting in “American Gods” reminds me of Planescape Torment. Even in that (I am told, as I haven’t found a long enough chunk of time for a complete playthrough), things can be made to exist/happen if enough people believe in them (including “Gods” I suppose). The player character starts with no name (he can’t remember). So you have a choice of going by “The Nameless One”, or pretend to be someone else every time you talk to someone, or cook up a fictitious name (say Mr. X). After enough people have met Mr. X and have spread the fact of his existence to others, soon you’ll start to hear about mysterious exploits of one Mr. X that you had nothing to do with.

I found Ubik very interesting, although I think Pat and her ability could have been further exploited. I feel it could have a greater effect in the events. I hope I’m not spoiling too much.

When I bought Ubik I also got Now Wait for Last Year, and I think it’s even better. It delves more into the relationships between the characters while keeping a good science fiction setting.