The inventive concept is, arguably, one of the many major draw factors of any Chloe Gong book. Gong is most known for her historical fantasy young adult Secret Shanghai series, but this time she takes readers into the future in her latest dystopian, cyberpunk young adult novel Coldwire, which interrogates innovation and its costs. This first installment of a trilogy lays out the world, which is divided into two distinct planes: virtual reality (“upcountry”) and reality reality (“downcountry”). In this modern universe affected by climate change and disaster, it’s the upper classes that have the privilege to live life through avatars in upcountry. Here in this world, two major nations, Atahua and Medaluo, are at war. NileCorp, a cybersecurity company, reigns supreme.
Coldwire weaves together two narratives, each set in a different plane. One is of Nile Military Academy students Lia and Kieren, who have been paired on a joint mission in upcountry to find Lia’s missing Uncle Chung, deemed to be a traitor to Atahua. The other storyline is of Eirale and Nik in downcountry. The former is a Nile Military Academy and NileCorp soldier who’s been framed by the latter, an anarchist, for murder and thus must work alongside him to assist in a mission against Atahua and prove her innocence.
Gong has always been a prolific worldbuilder, and once again, she puts a lot of thought into every detail of her fictional realities. There are self-driving cars, AI chatbots, and face filters, all paralleling the technological innovations of the current world. These additions are all rooted in the cyberpunk aesthetic framing Coldwire, which gravitates towards the cinematic. In the approach consistent with her past works, Gong’s writing very much relies on the visuals of the setting, which are spectacular.
As the reader follows both journeys, Gong incorporates many important themes, such as the nature of warfare between nations, specifically the racial and foreign implications of an Asia-coded Medaluo. There are allusions to current reality with the idea that those who are of Medan ethnicity in Atahua are often regarded as spies by Atahuans. Gong’s major in international relations serves her well here in her exploration of nationality, technology and the power dynamics of a world that has taken them to the extreme. It’s a hallmark of what the most compelling dystopian stories do, which is show a modern audience a futuristic vision of the world that we have the potential to become.
In this exciting setting, it’s a relief that Gong doesn’t forget the enemies-to-lovers relationships that she’s skilled at. Lia and Kieren are academic rivals who abide by the principle that knowing their enemy is the best way to beat them. Because they’re so cognizant of each other, their banter is fun to read. Eirale is forced to help Nik, but as they work together, she has a sense that he knows more about her missing memories than he lets on. As Gong uncovers the more complicated layers of each pair’s relationship, readers are given the pieces to solve the puzzle tying these four characters together.
As evidenced by the electrifying momentum, Gong’s writing strengths shine and are even more thrilling than they were in her previous young adult novels. Even so, there are moments when she falls prey to the previously-used narrative devices and styles that don’t particularly benefit those aforementioned strengths. Many explanations for certain relationships and plot points, for example, come rushing out as if Gong took the moment to reason out the logistics of her world for herself as a break between action scenes. This kind of expansion is always welcome in a dystopian novel dependent upon its worldbuilding, but the execution of it ends up disrupting the pacing at certain times. A minor detail about how the world functions is a cool tidbit to add, but then it’s compounded by many more sentences about how this functions and why that matters to this other aspect of the world. As with Gong’s other works, it’s easy to feel lost and confused by everything that’s being told to the reader. While before, the confusion could have been attributed to Gong’s complex worldbuilding, in Coldwire it feels like there’s just too many different concepts trying to be examined that detract from the main storylines.
If there are too many objectives to download in Coldwire, there are many more that should be saved and starred for later on when more developments unfold. The story is self-driving in that regard, with the author propelling it to greater heights. Gong brings up an expansive set of ideas that shows readers the advanced depth of her thinking. Coldwire is about technology and innovation, but really, the existence of it is proof itself that innovation — the creative, human kind — is still here and present.
