Firebreak

Nicole Kornher-Stace

O.R.S.

A post-apocalyptic sci-fi novel centered around Mallory, a gamer/subsistence worker, in a world where corporations rule, scarcity exists, everyone plays a kind of videogame with social elements, and there are superpowered soldier celebrities who have in-game personas. So basically a kind of Hunger Games meets Ready Player One. Told through the perspective of Mal, the main character, in first person perspective.

How much did you like it overall?

There were parts of Firebreak that were interesting–the mystery of these supersoldier/heroes and their role in preserving or reinforcing the social structure. Mal and her best friend Jessa’s adventures. Kind of similar to the way Scott Westerfeld captured the feeling of the early aught’s through The Uglies series. But the book felt like a bunch of familiar ideas jammed together, none of which made much sense by themselves, and ultimately translated to a climax that doesn’t have any consequences.

What did you like most?

The early chapters, which establish the kind of government projects world, and the details of how Jessa and Mal make their living, created the promise of a really fun world. Also, the initial encounters with her crush, one of the last living soldiers, is pretty vivid, including a setpiece involving saving a group of civilians. Kornher-Stace paints a pretty horrific wasteland which is the product of corporate wars.

What did you not like about it?

Pretty much everything else–Mal’s crush is a classic silent, wounded, misunderstood type, one can almost imagine him with bangs. While Mal and Jessa initially start off being lost underdogs, they quickly leap to social media stars, and yet everything else around them seems to stay the same. Lastly, if you’re gonna be in the 22nd century, you probably need a little bit better technology and social media than an iPhone circa 2015. And the end, the less said the better.

Any favorite moments?

The set piece with Mal and 22, rescuing the civilians. The description of the multiplayer role playing game that everyone plays–including the details around how long it takes to get from one place to another, and the trade-offs that Mal and Jessa make in deciding to do quest A vs. B. Feels very real!

Where do I put it on The Shelf?

Probably lending library. It feels like an assemblage of pieces that never cohered into a book

Any closing thoughts?

I’m superbummed about the lack of life in Firebreak–it’s just not the greatest amalgam of the dystopia+videogame concept. Nor is the romance/relationship developed or surprising enough to carry the rest of the story. And really not sure how the end came to be the end. It’s maybe one trope too many?

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