Firebreak

Written by Nicole Kornher-Stace

Narrated by Carlotta Brentan

One young woman faces down an all-powerful corporation in this “profound…resonant” (NPR), all-too-near future science fiction debut that reads like a refreshing take on Ready Player One, with a heavy dose of Black Mirror.

Ready Player One meets Cyperpunk 2077 in this eerily familiar future.

“Twenty minutes to power curfew, and my kill counter’s stalled at eight hundred eighty-seven while I’ve been standing here like an idiot. My health bar is flashing ominously, but I’m down to four heal patches, and I have to be smart.”

New Liberty City, 2134.

Two corporations have replaced the US, splitting the country’s remaining forty-five states (five have been submerged under the ocean) between them: Stellaxis Innovations and Greenleaf. There are nine supercities within the continental US, and New Liberty City is the only amalgamated city split between the two megacorps, and thus at a perpetual state of civil war as the feeds broadcast the atrocities committed by each side.

Here, Mallory streams Stellaxis’s wargame, SecOps on BestLife, spending more time jacked in than in the world just to eke out a hardscrabble living from tips. When a chance encounter with one of the game’s rare super-soldiers leads to a side job for Mal—looking to link an actual missing girl to one of the SecOps characters. Mal’s sudden burst in online fame rivals her deepening fear of what she is uncovering about BestLife’s developer, and puts her in the kind of danger she’s only experienced through her avatar.

Author Kornher-Stace’s adult science fiction debut—Firebreak—is a “fight song in praise of fierce friendship and the strength to endure” (Amal El-Mohtar, Hugo and Nebula Award–winning author of This Is How You Lose the Time War) loaded with ambitious challenges and a city to save.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio
• Release date: May 4, 2021
• ISBN: 9781797128764

Nicole Kornher-Stace

Nicole Kornher-Stace is the author of the Norton Award finalist Archivist Wasp and its sequel, Latchkey. Her short fiction has appeared in Clarkesworld, Apex, and Fantasy Magazine, as well as many anthologies. She lives in New Paltz, New York, with her family. She can be found online at NicoleKornherStace.com, or on Twitter @WireWalking.

Reviews for Firebreak

[Andrea Marrs · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

As good as Ready Player One, and better than Ready Player Two. Glad I listened.

[Amy Buckley · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I’m a little torn by this one. I like the main concept and it kept me coming back for more, but I was disappointed at the same time. I never really developed an investment with the characters and the ones I was interested in kind of let me down in the lack of character development. I feel like the sultry cold have gotten a lot more in depth than it did. As with most books of this genre there is no real ending, like they want to cash in and make it a blockbuster series so you have to wait to see how it plays out. Which is annoying for someone that wants a story in one book from start to finish.

This has nothing to do with the book itself, but I don’t understand how anyone could say this was great narration. I absolutely hated it. It wasn’t as bad as a librivox recording that has a bunch of amateurs. But this narrator did not have any real skill in voices and a lot of the characters sounded exactly the same. And all of the characters sounded robotic at one point or another.

[Tracy Wilson · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I wasn't sure at first with the gaming references, but I'm so glad I stayed with it. Definitely worth the read.

[Ashtyn s · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I enjoyed this book! The mix of anticapitalist punk and cyberpunk is really interesting, and I could really feel the author's passion when writing this story. I would have loved to see more character development in the main cast, and I would have liked to see the ways characters find each other, one in particular, be a bit more grounded and believable. Overall, though, I felt like this book was very well researched and well written, and I really appreciated the message that the author was trying to convey.

[Mark Weiss · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

Simplistic, lazily written, and not believable as being set 100 years from now. Just good enough in the bevy to pull me in, and then I was aggravated half way through.

[James Porter · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Good book. The story felt like some stuff should have been developed more but, all in all, a good modern sci fi story.

[celeste · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Sucks you into an RPG then you open your eyes and the real world is extremely bleak. People live in hotels and are rationed water that’s too expensive to buy. You’re lucky to get 1/4 lemon to hold off scurvy for the week. And your roommates? 8 other people holding down four jobs to make ends meat. Real life superheroes masquerade around fighting the company war and moonlighting in the RPG game. But low and behold, there is more to this war and their superhero status than you ever imagined. Any way you think about it, you’re screwed nine ways to one. What will you do?

[Billie · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Firebreak
by Nicole Kornher-Stace
Fantasy Dystopia YA
Scribd audio

In the future the government is gone, taken over by the corporations, then after years of war between them for control over the country, there are only a few left. Two of the most powerful are neighbors, still waging war for control over the largest city, and the consumers who live there.

Mallory is one of these consumers, an orphan of the war, she lives with others in Old Town, crammed into an old hotel, working different jobs throughout the days trying to earn enough to be able to afford food and other necessities, praying her daily allowance of free water given to her by Stellaxis, the corporation that owns Old Town, keeps her kidneys working because she can't really afford to pay Stellaxis a dollar for an ounce of water, along with everything else she needs to buy from them.

Besides walking dogs and other side jobs, Mallory also streams a popular VR war game based on the real events of the world she lives in, trying to get as many subscribers to help her, and her partner and 'real-life' friend, Jess(?). And inside this video game are the SpecOps characters based on the 'real-life' ones that were created by Stellaxis as super soldiers so to win the war.

So basically imagine the top two billion dollar corporations controlling everything, and the one that owns the city you live in, owns everything you need to live, and also controls you because without them you have nothing. They will take away your water, your internet, your bank accounts, even your freedom, and life if you do anything to upset them. And those supersoldiers aren't what Stellaxis said they were.

Corporate greed is most of the inspiration for this story, and then streaming video games for profit. (I know a little about the streaming aspect as my son does it, but more for fun than profit.) But the video game and streaming are mostly at the beginning of the story, serving as a subplot to get the main plot moving.

Mallory discovers the secret of the supersoldiers and the main plot of the story begins.

This book was confusing in the beginning. The way it introduced the 'supersoldiers' was by their names, and their names were numbers and really no descriptions came with it nor a defining reason why they were named with numbers, (until later in the story). I had no idea who was who, or what, or why. It was a mess of numbers but no faces so I couldn't connect with these characters, and it discouraged me. It was kind of cleaned up farther into the story, but only with two of these soldiers. And Mallory's obsession with 22 was never really explained, only she was 'drawn to him.' (Maybe it was left up to the reader, but a definite reason would've answered that question and made a better storyline for readers to connect with, (and maybe even cry a little.)

It was a good story, once it got going and things were better explained, but sadly that did take a while, and if I had been reading instead of listening, I might have given up on it.

3 Stars

[Samuel Saker Kunkel · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Very interesting approach to worldbuilding! Weaponized entertainment media coupled with strict resource monopolies certainly feels like a prescient vision of a dystopia. The characters are a little two dimensional, and the narration and dialogue feel a little flat, but it’s a good ride for genre fans.

[Renee Wells · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

If you don’t want to read/hear plenty of profanity, skip this book.

[F · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Made me cry ugly on the way to a job. Ah, 22, whose name we will never find out. As of many who got ruined in the name of capitalistic corporations? Loved it.

[CharleneCarruthers · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Engaging and relevant to our time. Great narration as well.

[Melyssa · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

If you love dystopian stories, check this one out! It’s great!

[Stefan Born · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Firebreak was a fun read throughout, reminiscent in some ways of Ready Player One with a darker, grittier vibe. The book presents us with a solid and believable corporate dystopia, and has a lot to say about the ways in which people are commodified and exploited for the benefit of the wealthy and powerful. Overall I'd definitely recommend picking it up.