Cyberpunk: A Guest Post by Chloe Gong
This is a fast-paced transportive cyberpunk read with a touch of romance. In a dystopia where the privileged subscribe to a life of virtual reality, a cold war ensues between two VR superpowers. Read on for an exclusive essay from Chloe Gong on writing Coldwire.
Hardcover
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Coldwire (B&N Exclusive Edition)
Coldwire (B&N Exclusive Edition)
By Chloe Gong
In Stock Online
Hardcover
$18.99
$21.99
From #1 New York Times bestselling author Chloe Gong comes the start of a daring new dystopian series where humanity has moved to virtual reality to flee their deteriorating world, following two young soldiers who must depend on unlikely allies in their fight for survival.
From #1 New York Times bestselling author Chloe Gong comes the start of a daring new dystopian series where humanity has moved to virtual reality to flee their deteriorating world, following two young soldiers who must depend on unlikely allies in their fight for survival.
Ever since I started writing books, I have always wanted to venture into cyberpunk territory. I’ve edged close to it several times. My YA debut These Violent Delights had the hard-boiled noir feeling and the city as a living, breathing character—only it was historical fantasy. My adult debut Immortal Longings took inspiration from 90s technology in a claustrophobic setting inspired by the Kowloon Walled City, getting closer to cyberpunk… only it starred the elites of the system, so I wouldn’t quite call it punk. While writing these worlds, there was the seed of another idea percolating in my mind. A near-future not unlike ours, where virtual reality has become commonplace. Proper cyberpunk dystopia.
When I was growing up, I was obsessed with MMORPGs: massively multiplayer online role-playing games. Club Penguin is a great example. I also adored others like OurWorld, Fantage, and BarbieGirls—if there was a virtual avatar to build, I was all over it. As I got older and shifted from playing MMORPGs to writing books, I started to reflect on that time in my early internet life. What is this instinct that we have to create a second self? One that is free from the troubles of our real person, one that is a layer removed from consequences? (And why was this such an arena in children’s games?)
I had all the pieces for a book idea, but I didn’t have its driving force yet. That came in 2020, when my senior year of college went online. I don’t know anyone who enjoyed attending class on Zoom. I wish this was a MMORPG instead, I found myself thinking. I would have so much more fun if I could be a little avatar walking around a fake version of the campus. If I could navigate myself to a virtual desk and stare up at a virtual whiteboard. The thought experiment went further and further: what would I be willing to give up to enjoy life that way? Of course we needed to quarantine to keep people safe—but what if this virtual substitute could also feel like “normal life”? Would I let someone monitor everything I say? Let someone see everything I see? We already live in an age of data tracking and utterly transparent privacy. We’re already close enough to that reality.
And Coldwire was born. In this world, society is segmented between “upcountry”—a subscription-based virtual reality—and the physical reality of “downcountry.” We follow two corporate soldiers reckoning with NileCorp, the company that controls every node of their life. I wanted to explore what allows young people to accept this; and what inspires them to break free from being a cog in that machine. And in the event that our own society enters another pandemic and a tech company in Silicon Valley says, “Hey guys, I have a brilliant idea. We’re going to get into Pods and live life in a virtual reality entirely indistinguishable from physical reality!” Well. Let’s hope I’ve done my part with this trilogy by then.