“Maybe that was why I kept trying. There was something to be said about the way that damaged people sought more pain, if only because it was familiar. Comforting, in a way? Maybe.”
Flux is an equally thrilling and thoughtful unique debut novel by Jinwoo Chong. This ambitious sci-fi story revolves around three characters: Bo, who is dealing with the aftermath of his mother’s death; Brandon, who has been fired from his publishing job and offered a new career with a tech company who promises to change the world with an advanced technology; and Blue, who is about to do a televised interview to speak out about a corporation responsible for almost killing him—and the actual death of three other people. Integrated in the timeline, throughout the book, there are also references to a 1980s detective show that all three characters are deeply attached to. Eventually, the lives of these three characters will intersect and it will become clear how much they all depend on each other.
The sci-fi elements are played really well but they’re mostly just a plot device to deal with the characters personal issues. First of all, it touches on how traumatic experiences can change the relationships and bonds people have with each other and how hard it can be to move forward after an impactful loss. Secondly, racial identity also plays a big part in the story with the main characters being half-Asian in a North American society. In addition, there is a big portrayal of the dominance of the tech industry and its predatory nature, focusing mainly on the venomous relationship between technology and power. The book also tackles themes about sexuality and how people can struggle with labels which may not fit them the same way throughout their life. Lastly, with the 80s detective show playing a big part on the characters’ psyche, the author used this to explore parasocial relationships, fandom, and the nature of celebrities. So, at its center, Flux truly is a powerful exploration of family dynamics, grief and loss (both from a child and parent perspective), and identity.
Chong’s writing is excellent and the plot is well structured. He has crafted a wonderful puzzle that plays with time and the conception of one’s reality. Since the perspective is from the inside experience of the characters, the confusion and mystery around what’s actually happening and what is memory or illusion only grows as the story progresses. The structure of the book and the time shifts are captured perfectly and accentuate this feeling of helplessness and disorientation that the characters feel. At some point all these knots in the plot could confuse the reader as well and there’s points that might make one fall out of the narrative but ultimately, the author pulls it off. Even though at the end there are questions left unanswered, it does not feel like a big issue, it kind of plays along with the spirit of the story itself. With it being a debut novel, Flux does have some rough edges but its experimental style is remarkable enough to keep the reader hooked until the very last page.
There’s also something about Flux that feels extremely “cinematic” in a way. Perhaps it’s the way the scenes are structured, and not just because of the sections focusing on the 80s tv show, but also the way Chong included sensory details (especially visual and auditory) in such a masterful way that makes the story so vivid in the readers eyes. It all helps enhance the experience of feeling a part of the story and living it just as the characters do.
So, all in all, with an interesting concept and style, Flux is a sci-fi and noir-inflected novel that at its core tells an intimate and sad story about trauma and identity whilst also touching on modern themes of power dynamics, sexuality, and cancel culture. It’s mindbending, emotional, mysterious, and reflective. It sure won’t leave readers indifferent. We’re excited to see what Jinwoo Chong has in store for his future works!
Flux is available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and other book retailers, like your local bookstore.
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Synopsis | Goodreads
A blazingly original and stylish debut novel about a young man whose reality unravels when he suspects his employers have inadvertently discovered time travel and are covering up a string of violent crimes.
Combining elements of neo-noir, speculative fiction, and ’80s detective shows, FLUX is a haunting and sometimes shocking exploration of the cyclical nature of grief, of moving past trauma, and of the pervasive nature of whiteness within the development of Asian identity in America.
In FLUX, a brilliant debut in the vein of William Gibson’s Neuromancer and Ling Ma’s Severance, Jinwoo Chong introduces us to three characters —Bo, Brandon and Blue— who are tortured by these questions as their lives spin out of control.
- After 8-year-old Bo loses his mother in a tragic accident, his white father, attempting to hold their lives together, begins to gradually retreat from the family.
- 28-year-old Brandon loses his job at a legacy magazine publisher and is offered a new position. Confused to find himself in an apartment he does not recognize, and an office he sometimes cannot remember leaving, he comes to suspect that something far more sinister is happening behind the walls.
- 48-year-old Blue participates in a television exposé of Flux, a failed bioelectric tech startup whose fraudulent activity eventually claimed the lives of three people and nearly killed him. Blue, who can only speak with the aid of cybernetic implants, stalks his old manager while holding his estranged family at arms-length.
Intertwined with the saga of a once-iconic ’80s detective show, Raider, whose star has fallen after decades of concealed abuse, the lives of Bo, Brandon and Blue intersect with each other, to the extent that it becomes clear that their lives are more interconnected and interdependent than the reader could have ever imagined.
Can we ever really change the past, or the future? What truth do we owe our families? What truth do we owe ourselves?
