When Sysadmins Ruled the Earth

No, this isn't a tale about a group of anti-socials who use their technological skills to take over the world (muhaha). It's the second story in Cory Doctorow's collection, Overclocked, and it's the most emotionally powerful story from the author I've read to date.

In his introduction Doctorow tells us he's done some time as a sysadmin. What shines through in this story isn't only a knowledge of the profession, but familiarity with the people who work in the field. This allows Doctorow to create characters so real they feel like the actual people in black t-shirts who keep the network running at your office. Great characterization from start to finish makes this a gripping story.

Some pretty bad stuff goes down in "When Sysadmins Ruled the Earth." We're talking end-of-the-human-race scenarios, scary stuff. The journey through these terrifying times is made more visceral by experiencing it through the eyes of protagonist, Felix. When Felix gets his first taste of the disaster that's just struck, I felt it on my skin, in my belly. For a moment I was just as scared and sickened as he was.

It's no surprise Felix and the survivors he gathers around him look for a tech-savvy solution to the crisis. What's interesting is how conflicted these solutions are, and the personalities that suggest them. Once again Doctorow made me unsure which of the conflicting viewpoints was the "right" one. I could understand where both parties were coming from, and I looked to the journey of the story to help me out of the moral dilemma. That's great writing.

As in "I, Rowboat", the ending of "When Sysadmins Ruled the Earth" gave me the feeling of a beautiful bird with salt poured on its tail- the ending went too far past the main events of the story, weighed it down, and didn't let it take off in spiritual flight. I forgave the heavy ending in this case because the central question of the story did concern rebuilding and the future of civilization, and because the rest of the story was so darn good. Highly recommended.