📖 Coldwire

It had been a while since I'd been in a bookshop. I say that a lot, but it always feels that way. Like seeing an old friend after a long time. Anyway, I was at this bookshop. We were somewhere in San Jose. One of those big plaza places. You know the type. Restaurants everywhere, people everywhere, businesses tucked between others. On the big, pointy display table in the foyer of the bookshop, Coldwire was right in the center. It caught my eye immediately. Neon hardcover. Popular song lyrics tucked between title words. Best of all, it promised "dystopian cyberpunk," and if you know anything about me, I'm an absolute sucker for those two words combined. Fast forward a couple days, and I'm back in my room, my own copy of Coldwire in hand. Well, technically, it was from the library, but whatever. Anyway, I read it. Let me tell you how it went. The immediate premise of Coldwire is already pretty cool. The world is crumbling after a climate disaster, and the future is ruled over by new nations that rose out of the ashes. The two most powerful are Atahua and Medaluo, who are currently locked in a cold war. Oh, and if that wasn't bad enough, the world is also split into two separate worlds. Some live in the virtual upcountry: an ultrarealistic virtual world that stimulates the real world in almost every way. Those who can't afford it or refuse it live in downcountry, the actual, material world. Our story follows two protagonists in separate points of view. We've got Lia, who's like this cadet training to be a soldier. Her father's important, and so's she. She's got connections and smarts, and she competes for valedictorian with her frenemy, Kieren. Lo and behold, the two get paired up, and are sent on a mission to Medaluo upcountry: Uncover the secrets of a man named Chung, with whom Lia also happens to be related. On the other hand, we have Eirale. Eirale is a soldier working for NileCorp, the most powerful company in Atahua (and practically rules it alongside the actual government) and she works in the downcountry. There, she puts down rebellions, fights terrorists, all that good stuff. Everything goes wrong when she does get kidnapped by a terrorist named Nik Grant, who all of a sudden holds blackmail over her head. She gets taken to Medaluo, where she also has to solve a mystery. The mystery of Project Wit. I thought Coldwire was a great book. There's a coherent storyline, there's cool worldbuilding, there's a crazy plot twist, and there's clear setup for a sequel or a prequel or a whatever-quel. There's even more good stuff. Coldwire has some good characters. There's certainly a lot of parallelism (wink, wink), but each character displays their own traits and characteristics really well. Also, Blare is really funny. I liked Blare. There's equal opportunities for character growth (well, it's more of a recession, but you'll have to read the book to find out what I mean) and also an insane plot twist. It's insane enough that I can only skim the surface to not touch it. Never seen such a twist in my life. Recommended for fans of dystopias, sci-fi, and dystopian sci-fi.

我已经有一阵子没进过书店了。 虽然我总这么说,但每次去都感触颇深。就像很久没见一位老朋友一样。 言归正传,当时我正在一家书店里。我们当时在圣何塞的某个地方,大概是那种大型的广场商业区。你懂的,到处都是餐厅,到处都是人,各种店铺紧挨在一起。 在书店门厅那个又大又尖的展示台正中央,《Coldwire》就摆在那里。它瞬间吸引了我的眼球。霓虹色彩的精装封面,书名中间还嵌着流行歌曲的歌词。最棒的是,它宣传承诺的是"赛博朋克废土(dystopian cyberpunk)"——如果你了解我,就会知道我简直对这两个词的组合毫无抵抗力。 快进到几天后,我已经回到了自己的房间里,手捧着属于我自己的那本《Coldwire》。额,准确来说是从图书馆借来的,不过无所谓啦。 总之,我读完了。 让我来告诉你读起来怎么样吧。 《Coldwire》的基本设定本身就已经相当酷了。在一场气候灾难之后,世界走向崩溃,从废墟中崛起的新国家统治着未来。其中最强大的两个国家是阿塔华(Atahua)和梅达卢奥(Medaluo),它们目前正处于冷战状态。 哦,如果这还不够糟的话,整个世界还被分割成了两个独立的世界。有些人生活在虚拟的"上界(upcountry)":一个超逼真的虚拟世界,几乎在所有方面都模拟了现实世界。而那些负担不起或拒绝进入的人,则生活在"下界(downcountry)",也就是现实的物理世界。 我们的故事围绕着两个处于不同视角的主角展开。首先是利亚(Lia),她是一名正在接受训练的军校学员。她的父亲位高权重,她自己也很出色。她有背景也有头脑,正与她的"亦敌亦友"基伦(Kieren)竞争优秀毕业生。果不其然,他们俩被组成了搭档,并被派往梅达卢奥的上界执行任务:揭开一个叫钟(Chung)的男人的秘密,而利亚恰好还和这个人有亲缘关系。 另一方面,我们有埃拉尔(Eirale)。埃拉尔是一名效力于尼罗企业(NileCorp)的士兵,这是阿塔华最强大的公司(几乎与官方政府一同统治着这个国家),她在下界工作。在那里,她负责平息叛乱、打击恐怖分子,诸如此类。当她意外被一个名叫尼克·格兰特(Nik Grant)的恐怖分子绑架时,一切都变了样,对方突然掌握了能要挟她的把谋。她被带到了梅达卢奥,在那里她同样必须解开一个谜团——关于"威特计划(Project Wit)"的谜团。 我觉得《Coldwire》是一部非常棒的作品。情节逻辑清晰,世界观设定很酷,还有一个极其疯狂的剧情转折,并且为续集、前传或任何衍生作品留下了明确的铺垫。里面精彩的地方还有很多。 《Coldwire》塑造了一些很优秀的角色。虽然存在不少平行对照(懂的都懂),但每个角色都非常鲜明地展现了各自的性格与特点。另外,布莱尔(Blare)真的非常搞笑,我很喜欢布莱尔。 角色成长的空间是均等的(好吧,与其说是成长,不如说是"衰退",但你得亲自去读这本书才能明白我的意思),而且还有一个极其离谱的剧情反转。这反转疯狂到我只能点到为止,不敢深入触碰,以免Spoil。我这辈子都没见过这样的反转。 推荐给所有废土小说、科幻小说以及赛博朋克废土科幻的粉丝们。