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3.93 AVERAGE
3.93 AVERAGE
OH. MY. GOD. This book had NO business being this good. I AM STILL UTTERLY SOBBING AT THAT ENDING LIKE WHYYYGUREJKGNKDFm anyways. GREAT THRILLING SCI-FI, GREAT STORY OF REVENGE AND TRAGEDY AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH. Lowkey really glad it didn’t turn into a romance either, felt like it wouldn’t have fit.(Aka I wouldn’t be ready for that mental damage at the not so happy ending) Also interesting how the recent 3 books i’ve read have all covered the idea of the consequences of climate change. Hmmm wonder what that’s all about guys…
Very nice, very nice.
Written as a standalone book set in the precursor world laid out in Kornher-Stace's amazing book, [b:Archivist Wasp|23282249|Archivist Wasp (Archivist Wasp Saga, #1)|Nicole Kornher-Stace|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1430944335l/23282249._SY75_.jpg|42820078], Firebreak gives us a story set in the long before-time to that.
There is a lot to unpack in the story, which includes elements of corporate hegemony, economic freedom, the role of social media, and the realer than real online world. I loved, loved, loved, the relationships here. Friendship, trust, and platonic love are all part of the package and are brought to life to in all their various forms. The fact that Mal doesn't necessarily "do people" is presented as just another variation among human personality types, rather than as a trait that needs to be overcome in order for her to do what she needs to.
The worldbuilding is interesting, and not completely beyond the realm of the possible. The slow takeover of the key human requirements for life by for-profit corporations, and what that means for the everyday person (ie. 99% of us) is something that really doesn't require too much suspension of disbelief (which really should be a warning in and of itself). The role of social media in perpetuating the status quo or as a tool for politicization and social change is similarly something we can quite easily fit into our current world view. Firebreak takes these almost familiar themes and weaves them into a fast paced and engaging story. That's what I'm always looking for.
Although there is an interesting connection between Firebreak and Archivist Wasp, the stories also stand separate from each other and can be read in any order or each standing alone.
Written as a standalone book set in the precursor world laid out in Kornher-Stace's amazing book, [b:Archivist Wasp|23282249|Archivist Wasp (Archivist Wasp Saga, #1)|Nicole Kornher-Stace|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1430944335l/23282249._SY75_.jpg|42820078], Firebreak gives us a story set in the long before-time to that.
There is a lot to unpack in the story, which includes elements of corporate hegemony, economic freedom, the role of social media, and the realer than real online world. I loved, loved, loved, the relationships here. Friendship, trust, and platonic love are all part of the package and are brought to life to in all their various forms. The fact that Mal doesn't necessarily "do people" is presented as just another variation among human personality types, rather than as a trait that needs to be overcome in order for her to do what she needs to.
The worldbuilding is interesting, and not completely beyond the realm of the possible. The slow takeover of the key human requirements for life by for-profit corporations, and what that means for the everyday person (ie. 99% of us) is something that really doesn't require too much suspension of disbelief (which really should be a warning in and of itself). The role of social media in perpetuating the status quo or as a tool for politicization and social change is similarly something we can quite easily fit into our current world view. Firebreak takes these almost familiar themes and weaves them into a fast paced and engaging story. That's what I'm always looking for.
Although there is an interesting connection between Firebreak and Archivist Wasp, the stories also stand separate from each other and can be read in any order or each standing alone.
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
I quite enjoyed this book. Gritty and brutal. Don’t let the back-of-the-book descriptions fool you - the video game plays a much smaller role here than one might expect, but there’s so much going on that it’s not necessary, anyway. I wish some of the secondary characters had been fleshed out better, and the pace slowed down during the final third, but these are minor complaints. Overall a good, thought-provoking read with plenty of action.
(Advance copy provided for review by the publisher via NetGalley.)
(Advance copy provided for review by the publisher via NetGalley.)
While I like to play video games, I play only single player ones. Not really interested in multiplayer/social media stuff. That said, I liked Warcross, so 🤷♀️.
Writing style didn’t click, not sure what was going on. Don’t want to read about gamers right now.
This took a while to get off the ground, but when it did, it was good.
The plot centers around Mal, a girl struggling to make ends meet in a post-United States dystopia controlled by two warring mega-corporations. She makes part of her living by gaming in a super-advanced virtual reality MMORPG world.
From this, the Ready Player One comparisons are inevitable. This is nowhere near as annoying as RP1, though. It also doesn't have the other side of the coin: that offbeat, entertaining RP1 energy. They spend a lot more time in the real world in this book, and the main character's personality is flat and matter-of-fact. Overall, that means that Firebreak is slower to grab you, but in my opinion, a more enjoyable and solid story when you get into it.
This book's game features SecOps characters: unique, massively overpowered NPCs that are based off actual SecOps operatives in the real world. There's a whole fan subculture of hunting them, and following them around like superheroes. The real story starts about thirty-five percent in, when Mal runs into a SecOps fighter in real life.
From there, a cascade of action, corporate lies, intrigue, tyranny, cover-ups, and revolution just start building. It's good and interesting and absolutely kept me reading. The best part, though, is the gradual humanization of the SecOps fighters as we meet them more and more. I kept expecting Mal and 22 to have met before as children, or something to explain her interest in him, but there was no backstory and in the end I was fine with that.
There are only about two or three big game sequences, which makes this a lot less of a "gaming" book than RP1, but honestly it's better that way. I love gaming books, but this was better as a revolution-in-real-life book, because all the stakes were in the real life part of the story. If you can work past the slow start, this book is worth it.
The plot centers around Mal, a girl struggling to make ends meet in a post-United States dystopia controlled by two warring mega-corporations. She makes part of her living by gaming in a super-advanced virtual reality MMORPG world.
From this, the Ready Player One comparisons are inevitable. This is nowhere near as annoying as RP1, though. It also doesn't have the other side of the coin: that offbeat, entertaining RP1 energy. They spend a lot more time in the real world in this book, and the main character's personality is flat and matter-of-fact. Overall, that means that Firebreak is slower to grab you, but in my opinion, a more enjoyable and solid story when you get into it.
This book's game features SecOps characters: unique, massively overpowered NPCs that are based off actual SecOps operatives in the real world. There's a whole fan subculture of hunting them, and following them around like superheroes. The real story starts about thirty-five percent in, when Mal runs into a SecOps fighter in real life.
From there, a cascade of action, corporate lies, intrigue, tyranny, cover-ups, and revolution just start building. It's good and interesting and absolutely kept me reading. The best part, though, is the gradual humanization of the SecOps fighters as we meet them more and more. I kept expecting Mal and 22 to have met before as children, or something to explain her interest in him, but there was no backstory and in the end I was fine with that.
There are only about two or three big game sequences, which makes this a lot less of a "gaming" book than RP1, but honestly it's better that way. I love gaming books, but this was better as a revolution-in-real-life book, because all the stakes were in the real life part of the story. If you can work past the slow start, this book is worth it.
Absolutely fucking fantastic, tip to toe. I actually can’t recommend this highly enough; best thing I’ve read since The Only Good Indians, HANDS DOWN, 10/10 you owe it to yourself to read it stat
A few notes:
-this book is kinda like if ready player one were good actually instead of absolute jerkoff trash garbage
-that’s it, that’s the only note that came to mind, like I CANNOOOOT recommend this book! Highly! Enough!!!
A few notes:
-this book is kinda like if ready player one were good actually instead of absolute jerkoff trash garbage
-that’s it, that’s the only note that came to mind, like I CANNOOOOT recommend this book! Highly! Enough!!!