Middlegame

Seanan McGuire is known for writing some bizarre, beautifully developed science fiction and fantasy and this novel is nothing different.

Middlegame is about two twins, Roger and Dodger, they don’t live with each other in fact they don’t even know the other exists. Roger lives in Massachusetts, he is an expert with words, finding comfort in their existence and navigates the world with them. Dodger lives in California and finds power and ease in the world of numbers. She solves the unsolvable as a kid, impressing professional mathematicians. Until one day, they discover a connection between each other where they don’t even need to be in the same room.

The thing about Roger and Dodger is that they weren’t born into existence the way you or I were, they were created by an Alchemist whose goal is to create gods. Roger and Dodger are his latest success and he eagerly waits for them to access the impossible.

I really enjoyed this wild ride of a sci-fi story. There were so many twists and turns and layers to this story that I understand how people found it confusing. Fortunately, I was able to keep up with it… well as capable of keeping up with it that you are. I enjoyed getting to know Roger and Dodger and seeing their relationship develop and grow. It was not an easy nice and clean friendship, it has some pretty big ups and downs and it’s hard to figure out when those twists and turns happen. I don’t think I enjoyed this enough to keep reading the series. I know that this is a pretty mixed bag book, those who love it LOVE it and the rest are just like, “I enjoyed the story but I’m not committed to it.” I definitely fall into the latter category. I still recommend this to people though because of how fun and unpredictable it is.