Firebreak

January 11, 2021
A steadfast heroine stands up against a tyrannical corporation in this vivid work of dystopian sci-fi from Kornher-Stace (Latchkey). In 2134, Stellaxis Innovations and Greenleaf Industries have taken over the United States and are locked in a war over the country’s last unclaimed supercity. Stellaxis develops synthetic humans with superpowers, or SecOps, who fight for Stellaxis’s cause and put a “human” face on the war, keeping citizens invested in the fight. The SecOps are also cloned into a virtual reality game where players can log on and interact with them. Mallory and her roommate, Jessa, “middle-of-the-road streamers” who broadcast their in-game adventures to a modest following, are approached by the mysterious B, who offers to sponsor their explorations in hopes of gathering enough data to prove a conspiracy theory about the operatives’ origins. When B vanishes unexpectedly and Mallory discovers that Stellaxis is watching her, she realizes B was on to something and starts digging until she uncovers a sinister secret. Now her best defense against Stellaxis is her followers—the company can’t kill her while everyone is watching. Though the ending is abrupt, the effortlessly detailed worldbuilding is captivating. Kornher-Stace leads readers through the cinematic landscape of her imagined future with an expert hand. Agent: Kate McKean, Howard Morhaim Literary.

Starred review from April 1, 2021
Mal is one of many war survivors in the old town working multiple jobs to scrimp by, one of which is her team's streaming video game play. The team lives with several other roommates in a converted hotel room run by Stellaxis, the company that owns half of town, and is the only legal provider of drinkable water. When Mal catches sight of an elusive SecOps character, special non-player characters (NPCs) modeled after Stellaxis' twelve bioengineered operatives, the team pursues her inside the game to catch her on video for two seconds before their power curfew kicks in. By the time Mal heads down for her daily ration of water, they've secured a lucrative contract, involving an in-person meeting and a conspiracy theory, paying them to capture images of the three living SecOps characters. When Mal returns to find out why the next payment failed, she becomes involved in a fracas that will endanger everyone she knows. This dystopian novel will appeal to fans of Ready Player One and The Hunger Games with its blend of gaming adventures that spill over into real life.

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