Access Restricted: revolutionary teens escape the domes of All Rights Restricted and try for universal liberation

Cory Doctorow 4:02 am Thu Aug 30, 2018

In Gregory Scott Katsoulis's All Rights Reserved, we had a thrilling YA adventure in a world where ever word is copyrighted and every person over 15 wears an unremovable surveillance cuff to bill them for their speech; in the sequel, Access Restricted, we follow the surviving heroes outside the claustrophobic confines of the Portland dome and into the wider world, to DC, the wastelands beyond, and finally to Tejico, the semi-colonized, semi-independent nation made up of Mexico and Texas, where a way out of this terrible world may be found.

Katsoulis's second volume expands on the themes of All Rights Reserved, moving from a dystopia where the rich oppress the poor to one in which the specific indentities of race, culture, gender and other factors color the experience of oppression.

The world of Access Restricted hints at the future of American exceptionalism: a basket-case nation whose perverse and polymorphous (and manifestly unjust) laws are used to impose American will on the world, even as they strangle American prosperity and freedom, isolating the country and squandering the potential of its people.

It's a fantastic, red-blooded justice-struggle novel, where the liberation of slave plantations, plans to blow up giant, oppressive data-centers, hacking, running, rock-throwing and karate-kicks live alongside nefarious surgeries that implant tracking and communications devices in indentured slaves, Judge-Dredd-style kangaroo courts are the scene of nailbiting battles and clever schemes, and where death is always a possibility and solidarity is the only answer.

Access Restricted [Gregory Scott Katsoulis/Harlequin Teen]

Drone filmmaker captures Children's Fairyland from the view of a flying fairy — and it's downright magical

There's still magic in the world, as evidenced by this fairy's-eye view of Children's Fairyland, that charming 70-year-old storybook theme park in Oakland, California. You might remember that when I'm… READ THE REST
This deck of wholesome activities inspires mini-adventures

We've been writing about Lea Redmond since 2009 here on Boing Boing. She's just one of those kind of people who consistently makes neat things — a real Happy Mutant!… READ THE REST
This house for sale in Pittsburgh is filled with whimsical themed rooms

Listed at $159,900 this 1,075 square-foot home in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania is bland on the outside but features rooms with outer space, submarine, tropical island, and moonbase motifs. The owners put… READ THE REST
Short Post, just one paragraph

Dessert cheesecake wafer bear claw fruitcake. Fruitcake chupa chups donut candy canes marzipan. Apple pie sweet roll tart chocolate cake macaroon marshmallow carrot cake gummi bears sweet. Pastry sugar plum… READ THE REST
Save 50% on a 1-year subscription to Dashlane's premium password manager

We all know vital information about ourselves and our private digital accounts can be compromised by cybercriminals. However, many would be frightened to know just how compromised they and their… READ THE REST
The Bite Helper removes the itch of a mosquito bite in seconds

While mosquitoes have certainly earned their title as the deadliest animal on earth, their impact on most of our lives is usually a lot less consequential. But even though they… READ THE REST