Middlegame

Pretty good!



## Why I Picked It Up ##



It was on the 2019 Best Fantasy list, and was available, so I scooped it up!



## What I Liked ##



It was fun. Very immersive. Fun trip.



I liked the book-within-a-book shtick with Over The Woodward Wall.



I thought it was cute that Rodge and Dodge each had a visual impairment unique to their talents: he literally saw the world in black and white, and she saw the world as flat like a whiteboard.



EDIT: oh yeah, almost forgot: I thought it was hilarious that they decided to throw Frank Baum in as an ally of the evil alchemists, and make the entire Oz series a kind of hypersigil to dominate and erase the narrative of the magical children book series by the good guy alchemists.



## What I Didn't Like ##



The story was good and I enjoyed it, but the pacing was weird, some of the characters didn't really work.



It was kind of hokey? All the twins have rhyming names. I think the Math / Language split worked, but was also kind of right brain / left brain, which is a division I don't care for.



The villains were ruh-diculous and cartoonish. I feel like I spent nearly the whole book waiting for Lee to move onto the board, but then she and Reed were just kind of finished off really quickly at the end.

Everything is perfect. Everything is doomed.

My journey through the unknown of Hugo and Goodreads awards takes me to Middlegame. This book is strange, unique, engaging and with a surprising amount of sci-fi mixed in. I knew nothing of the story before I began and was happily entertained throughout.

"Architecture is chaos theory in sheetrock and two-by-fours. I can figure out where the weak spots are."
"Math isn't a superpower."
"Says you," says Dodger.

If I was a Math or Word person the Dodger and Roger characters would be rock stars for me. They would be the educated version of a Marvel Cinematic Universe. Even still, as a layperson their powers were like nothing I have read about before and learning what they could do separately, and together, as they also learned was a fun read.

Words can be whispered bullet-quick when no one's looking, and words don't leave blood or bruises behind. Words disappear without a trace. That's what makes them so powerful. That's what makes them so important. That's what makes them hurt so much.

I had no problems with the non linear narrative and when you realize plot devices later in the book this is an appropriate way for telling the story. Unfortunately information about Darren (Erin's other half) may have been glossed over because I took it as an interlude from the main story and didn't understand how it would fit in to the broader picture.

You can't save the world with math unless you can change it with a question.

Other readers commented on the direction of the book and would share those sentiments but didn't find it to be a negative to the story. I enjoyed reading about the Twins, their powers and was happy with the ride even if the specifics of what manifesting powers or Impossible City were a bit unclear.

None of this makes sense, and because of that, every bit of it makes perfect sense.

Motives of Reed were driven by the Doctrine, but what did it really mean? It was a good read and faults appear retrospectively but they are not significant enough to detract further stars from the review.

Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go. T.S. Eliot