Hello, and welcome to another dispatch from “I almost DNFed this book” headquarters. Firebreak by Nicole Kornher-Stace is a book that starts out a bit rough but quickly finds its momentum and will probably break your heart a little bit and make you want to dismantle some systems of oppression.
Firebreak opens with our main character Mallory (Mal to her friends) playing an immersive virtual reality shooter game. Mal is trying to get 1000 kills in a single day in order to get onto the leader board. This isn’t just a goal to make some video game achievement; Mal is a low-tier professional streamer living in poverty, and getting on the leaderboard could get her some more followers and maybe even sponsorship. Streaming is just one of Mal’s many hustles, but it’s the one that seems to offer the best chance for improving her life.
As a geriatric millennial (she typed with tongue firmly in cheek), I immediately identify with any main character who is struggling in a gig economy. But the first chapter or two of Firebreak features Mal repetitively dwelling on the fact that she failed to make 1000 kills, and how long it will be until she can try again, etc etc. This circular thought process was probably a very accurate viewpoint into how Mal’s mind works, but at first it just felt like bad writing that was bogging down the start of the story.
However, Mal is shaken out of this doom spiral thought pattern when her best friend and streaming partner shares that they’ve received a mysterious and perhaps suspicious sponsorship offer.
What follows is a plot of twists and turns that is better experienced by reading the book than having me explain it to you, but it involves urban warfare, evil corporations, and grassroots uprisings.
Why This Book Worked for Me
Firebreak draws natural comparisons to Ready Player One, because both are set in a future dystopia where people log in to an immersive video game to escape the drudgery of daily life. I can’t make too accurate of a comparison between the two, because I have not read or watched Ready Player One or Ready Player Two.
People who have consumed those properties can tell me if I’m wrong, but I believe that in addition to being absolutely soaked in 1980s pop culture references (which Firebreak completely lacks), Ready Player One takes place primarily within the video game. While Firebreak starts in a game, and some important plot points take place in-game, the most important action takes place IRL, so to speak, and this makes for a strong story. Allow me to elaborate.
At a certain point in the book, Mal finds herself in a very dangerous situation in the city. We’ve already seen her in a couple mow-down-the-baddies scenes within the video game, both on her own and with her best friend Jessa. We know how she fights within the game, and anyone who has ever played any video game with a combat element is familiar with the sort of risk/reward calculation Mal makes within the game: is the potential reward of taking this action worth possibly dying and having to respawn far away. Or alternatively, should I use this valuable item now or save it when I may be in an even dicier situation.
When Mal finds herself in real peril, she thinks briefly of how she’d handle it in-game, but she’s faced with a very different risk/reward equation. Failure IRL doesn’t mean respawning at home. It means potential injury or even death for Mal, or bodily harm to other human beings.
By placing the most important elements of the story within the real world, and having them cause consequences both for Mal and her community, the stakes feel so much higher than they would if Mal was doing most of her investigation and exploration within a virtual world.
Another strength of the book is that the game that Mal plays feels realistic, a natural development from current tech levels and the current way we engage with video games and game celebrities. Mal’s streaming partner Jessa constantly gives her crap for having their fans muted (Mal, I get you. I’ve made it a point to never use voice chat in games and I mute all text chats, too). These fans want to engage. They provide helpful hints and encouragement, and even give the players tips in the form of either in-game items or real-world currency. This feels very similar to the current streaming culture we already have.
Nary a Romance in Sight
Readers who prefer their books without romantic and sexual content will be happy to know that Firebreak is focused on the importance of friendship and family (or the absence thereof). There is no romantic subplot, and in fact while it’s not stated outright, Mal definitely reads like she’s on the ace/aro spectrum (as well as potentially on the autism spectrum).
Mal has a bit of an obsession with one of the larger-than-life super heroic NPCs in the game, all of whom are based on the real-life super soldiers who fight in the corporate urban warfare that dominates life in the year 2134. However, this is not a romantic obsession. Mal got herself through some tough times by imagining that this hero was her friend, or even that they were siblings who had been separated at birth.
Her reaction when encountering this NPC in game (and later in real life) definitely reads as a cross between a friend crush and hero worship, the same sort of feeling I might have meeting an author who I admire and identify with.
At the same time, when Mal is in peril, her concern is often how her death or disappearance would impact her bestie Jessa, or how her actions are potentially putting her roommates and their neighbors at risk. Mal has a strongly developed sense of community. Several times throughout the book we see her putting others first, demonstrating generosity or bravery, even though she tends to think of herself as being bad at people.
Age Level and Content Warnings
Mal is in her 20s and this definitely reads like a “new adult” type book. Contemporary “new adult” might be focused on things like college or your first job or your first adult relationship, those things aren’t necessarily at the forefront in a dystopian society. However, juggling a bunch of crappy gigs and having anxiety about the future and being at the whims of megacorps and escaping into a video game and monetizing your hobbies will probably all feel incredibly relevant to today’s 20-somethings.
This could also be a good book for young adult readers. As mentioned, there’s no sexual or romantic content. While Mal regularly finds herself in peril, there’s never the threat of rape or sexual assault. There is some adult language, and a lot of violence, so keep that in mind when buying for teen readers (I’m not saying I think it’s inappropriate, but I’ve known parents who would disagree, so I just want to make sure everyone knows what’s on the page).
I do want to issue one content warning. In addition to the general action violence, there is one very fraught protest scene. The tactics that the authorities use to break up the protest feel like the same tactics used by today’s police force, just leveled up with future tech. I found the scene difficult to read, just from having seen footage of BLM protests online. People who were actually at protests and experienced police brutality may find this scene triggering. Read with care!
Conclusion
Ultimately, I am so glad that I pushed past those first two awkward, repetitive chapters. I was rewarded with a story that was well-paced, thoughtful, and perfectly balanced virtual reality with real life. If you’re looking for a dystopian read that will punch you in the heart, give it a read.
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