This edition, we’re discussing not one but two books – Warcross and Wildcard, a duology published by Marie Lu in 2017. Sometimes, you just need some young-adult dystopian science fiction. After seeing how Warcross ended, it’s obvious that this book was much anticipated!
The storyline itself is simple: a virtual reality game called Warcross has taken the world by storm, and doing well in the game translates to money in real life. Emika Chen, the main character of the series, is a bounty hunter, catching people who bet on the game. But soon, after discovering a certain power-up that is worth a lot of money, she finds a weakness in the game’s code and accidentally hacks her way right into the tournament. The game’s creator, Hideo, notices this and offers her a job to capture a hacker by the name of Zero, who managed to hack into Warcross’ database and access player and spectator information. Hideo and Emika end up developing feelings for each other. They also discuss Hideo’s missing younger brother, Sasuke, who was the main reason behind Warcross’ development.
Emika takes the job and signs up for the tournament as a player, known as a “wildcard”. She ends up being selected in the Wardraft (where wildcards are sorted into teams) and joining the Phoenix Riders. Catastrophe strikes and Emika is unable to catch Zero, but he does warn her of Hideo’s plans. At Warcross’ end, both Emika and the reader realize that the stakes are much, much higher than they previously thought.
Now, in the second book of the series, Emika’s little glitch has gained her fame, but she must work against what she had supported before. Set in futuristic, cyberpunk Tokyo and New York City, the book explores the consequences of technology playing a dominant role in society. Just like the first book in the duology, virtual reality is heavily linked to real life. However, in this book, Lu goes on to expand on artificial intelligence. Hideo’s new Neurolink technology connects to people’s minds and controls their actions, which is meant to keep people from committing crimes. He embeds this technology in the contact lenses used to access the Warcross game. Although his intentions are good, Emika and her allies realize that tampering with human behavior could cause the world as she knows it to collapse. This new reliance on technology could have drastic effects, both good and bad, and Wildcard forces its readers to think about it – a nice touch that builds on Warcross’ foundation.
Compared to the more laid-back, expository narration style of the first book, Wildcard has a lot of plot, moving fast and leaving no room to think. Although this makes for an action-packed reading experience, I did feel that some characters were rather underdeveloped, and that some plot points went unexplained. Hideo and many other villains were never truly held accountable for their crimes, and many background characters did not feel fully “fleshed out” or human. It seemed to me that Lu was trying to figure out the story while she was writing it, which is completely valid in creative writing, but the pacing in this book was a bit off. I found myself skimming to the later bits, and the plot often felt murky and confusing due to the lack of development and worldbuilding (something that Warcross did well). Wildcard’s rapid-moving storyline and lack of structure might just be Lu trying to push the limits of the world that she created, which could be a cool effect for some. Personally, it felt unstable, hard to follow, and honestly quite frustrating.
The series also felt a bit cliche to me, echoing the plot, characters, and narrative of almost every other work I’ve read in this genre. However, it does a fantastic job of discussing technological advancements and their consequences, while portraying well-developed and relatable main characters. Lu also did a great job with representation and adding progressive messages that empower and motivate her readers (like the ending of Wildcard, which I will not spoil).
Overall: if you’re here for a good time, go ahead and pick up Warcross and Wildcard by Marie Lu. It’s a fun, gripping duology that explores a very possible reality!
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