In just a few short years, Chloe Gong (C ‘21) has built a literary empire. Since making her debut with the historical fantasy novel These Violent Delights during her time at Penn, she’s become a No. 1 New York Times bestselling author known for her Secret Shanghai series and the adult fantasy Flesh and False Gods trilogy. Now, she’s returning to her young adult roots with something completely different: Coldwire, the first book in a dystopian cyberpunk trilogy set to release this November.
“I have wanted to write cyberpunk forever,” Gong explains, her excitement palpable. “It's one of my favorite subgenres, but it is also such a complicated genre.” That complexity became clear to her after she took ENGL 200.301: Race and Dystopian Fiction, where she learned about techno–orientalism—a trope that appeared in early American cyberpunk works when authors subconsciously equated “a fallen future with the Asian future.”
Rather than shy away from this problematic history, Gong saw in it an opportunity. “I thought, well, this would be a fascinating [concept] to look at and to grapple with from a perspective that didn’t shrink from it.”
Coldwire presents a world where reality has become unlivable, and a mega–corporation has created a virtual reality indistinguishable from the real thing. “What will [it] look like for society when you cannot divorce your participation in society from this virtual reality, from this company that owns it?” Gong asks. It’s a premise that feels eerily relevant in our current tech–dominated landscape, where social media and artificial intelligence continue to blur the boundaries between what is real and what isn’t.
The story follows characters deeply entrenched in this system as they begin questioning their reality and attempt to break away from it. But despite its weighty themes, Gong emphasizes that much of the story “was a lot of fun to write. I think it always is fun when I get to write about teenagers just bantering … and the found family of it all.”
After spending time in the adult fantasy space with her Flesh and False Gods trilogy, Gong felt drawn back to young adult literature. “There is something special about young adult [literature] because the audience is so excited,” she reflects. “I love writing for this age cohort.”
The decision to make Coldwire YA wasn’t just about the audience—it was about the story itself. “Stories, as they come to me, are either inherently young adult or inherently adult,” Gong explains. “Ultimately, it’s a coming–of–age story. It’s something that concerns readers who are thinking about that next stage in their lives.”
Gong has become well known in the literary space for her unique reimaginings of William Shakespeare’s plays, with These Violent Delights retelling Romeo and Juliet in 1920s Shanghai, and Immortal Longings taking inspiration from Antony and Cleopatra. For the first time in her published career, Gong is writing a series that is not inspired in any way by Shakespeare. “I did feel like with Coldwire, I had enough in that concept where I wanted freedom in the story … and there was enough there to chew on that I didn't feel the need to kind of wrap in a Shakespeare play.”
Leaving Shakespeare behind marked a new chapter in her literary career, as she didn’t have to abide by the structural constraints that came with adapting such iconic works. “It’s very jarring for me to suddenly not be talking about Shakespeare in my promotional cycles,” she admits with a laugh. “Someone could sit me down and be like, ‘Give us your take about Romeo and Juliet’, and I could sit there talking for 45 minutes. I no longer have that to rely on anymore, sadly.”
Coldwire also marks another first for Gong—her first published novel written in first person. “I had practically forgotten how to write in first person,” she reveals. “I basically had to crash course myself into writing in first person again.”
The book features dual points of view from characters in different planes of reality—one in virtual reality, one in true reality. Creating distinct voices for each character proved challenging. “My editor finished reading the first draft and was like, ‘These two characters sound exactly the same,’” Gong recalls. She had to carefully consider how each character’s circumstances affected their worldview and speech patterns.
Gong’s return to dystopian fiction comes at a time when the genre is experiencing a resurgence, with the release of books like Sunrise on the Reaping by Suzanne Collins. She believes this timing isn’t coincidental. “I think dystopian is inherently political, just by virtue of the genre. It’s a genre that emerged as a way for authors to look at what’s around them and then to either envision futures as warnings [or] as precautionary tales.”
The connection between societal upheaval and dystopian fiction is particularly relevant for young adult readers. “We really need to give young people a lot more credit when it comes to wanting to engage with what is happening around them,” Gong emphasizes. “Having a way to talk about what is happening in reality around you, having some sort of parallel or comparison point is super effective.”
With the second book in her cyberpunk series already completed and the third outlined, Gong is excited for readers to experience the full trilogy. She’s particularly proud of the plot twists she’s woven throughout Coldwire. “I love it when readers are expecting a plot twist because there have been enough hints driving them toward it. I love it when they can expect one thing and then have more behind the wall waiting to attack them. I truly hope that the first read and the second read are different experiences.”
As for the future, Gong still has one more adult fantasy book to complete—the third installment of her Flesh and False Gods trilogy, which she admits “has been kicking my ass.” But she’s not ruling out a return to the Secret Shanghai series, either. “I would never strike the idea of revisiting it. I do love the idea of going back after many, many years and finding some new angle to it”
As Coldwire hits shelves Nov. 4, 2025, Gong hopes that her book not only entertains us but raises deeper questions about our relationship with technology and the powers that control it. “I think that [Coldwire] will definitely keep us thinking very mindfully about how our actions affect our future and hopefully that can inspire the younger generations to also take part in these discussions.”
