I received this book for free from the Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Middlegame by Seanan McGuire Published by Tor.com on May 7 2019
Genres: Adult, Fantasy
Pages: 528
Format: eARC
Source: Publisher
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The nitty-gritty: Ambitious in scope and imagery, Middlegame is an epic tale of friendship, both uplifting and heartbreaking.
I’m a huge fan of Seanan McGuire/Mira Grant, although I’ve barely scratched the surface when it comes to her huge backlist. But I have been trying to keep up with new releases, and when I heard about Middlegame I knew it would be high on my list of anticipated 2019 reads. And I was not disappointed. Middlegame is a complex story that not only delves into the dark art of alchemy, but also gives readers a time-bending, ambitious tale about the lives of two special twins who are destined to be weapons for an evil genius.
Roger and Dodger are twins, but not the kind you’re familiar with. They were created in a lab by an alchemist named James Reed, whose life’s goal is to reach alchemical nirvana and find a place called the Impossible City, where he will literally become a god and rule the world. Roger and Dodger are brought to term inside an unwilling host, and yanked from the womb after nine months, killing the mother in the process. During their creation, Reed imbued his twins with different qualities. As he grows up, Roger becomes adept at using words and languages, while Dodger is a mathematical genius and sees everything around her in terms of math equations. Sent away to different foster homes at birth, the twins grow up apart from each other, never knowing the other exists. Until they are seven, that is.
One day, Roger is struggling with math homework when he hears a voice in his head, offering to help him. It turns out it’s Dodger, who lives on the other side of the country but is somehow able to communicate with him. This discovery begins a long and sometimes torturous relationship, which evolves from childhood to their college years, as the two finally meet in person, separate and come together again multiple times. Always on the fringes of their relationship is James Reed and his diabolical assistant Leigh, both determined that their grand experiment will end in success. And so they observe Roger and Dodger as they grow and change, until the day when the experiment is threatened by outside forces.
There is a lot going on in this story, maybe too much (which I’ll get to later in this review). When I say Middlegame is ambitious, I’m not kidding. McGuire actually starts her story in 1896 and introduces a famous alchemist named Asphodel Baker who was attempting to embody the Greek idea of the Doctrine of Ethos. She became famous for writing children’s stories into which she hid her teachings (in much the same way C.S. Lewis did with his Chronicles of Narnia), and McGuire cleverly starts each chapter with snippets from Baker’s most famous book, Over the Woodward Wall, which eerily parallels the lives of Roger and Dodger. From there she describes how Baker “created” James Reed out of the bodies of corpses (like Frankenstein, and just one of many literary references in this book!) and Reed’s rise to power and his single minded goal of reaching Baker’s Impossible City. All of this history might not be necessary, but I thought it added an extra layer and made McGuire’s villains even more villainous than they might have been without it.
But the real story is the one between Roger and Dodger, and what a joy it was. One of McGuire’s strengths is getting to the heart of relationships, and what better relationship to tackle than that of twins, separated at birth but who nevertheless are able to find each other, over and over again? Because of their uncanny abilities with math and language, both kids are shunned by their peers, bullied and lonely, trying to fit in but unable to do so. When they “meet” the first time, they realize they’ve found something special in each other, a friendship that transcends the normal boundaries of space and time. Unfortunately, this friendship will be tested over and over, in heartbreaking and sometimes horrifying ways, which is also a trademark of McGuire’s writing.
One of my favorite characters turned out to be a girl named Erin, who was also born a constructed twin in Reed’s lab. Erin and her twin Darren, however, stayed in the lab and became assistants to Leigh, rather than being separated like Roger and Dodger. Erin has been raised by a cruel woman, and so she herself is cruel. But Erin’s character was the most surprising, as her role in the story goes way beyond Leigh’s assistant when she is sent to keep an eye on Dodger during her graduate school years at UC Berkeley.
I loved McGuire’s use of literary references, in particular the parallels with The Wizard of Oz. Clearly, Baker’s book Over the Woodward Wall is a reference to “Over the Rainbow.” Roger and Dodger must follow the “improbable path” (yellow brick road) to the Impossible City (the Emerald City). There is one scene where the characters are walking through a vast field of corn that reminded me of the poppy fields of Oz. McGuire has a knack for stunning imagery and she uses it to great effect in this story.
Other random things I loved about Middlegame: McGuire shines a positive light (for once!) on foster care and adoption. Both Roger and Dodger love their adoptive parents and will do anything for them. I truly loved their wonderful childhoods, full of holiday traditions and supportive and sometimes strict parents. Roger is color blind and sees color for the first time through Dodger’s eyes! That was pretty cool. Dodger’s incredible math skills literally save their lives, on more than one occasion. I mean, I’ve always hated math, but wow, if I could see the world they way she does, a world made up of complex equations, I might like it a little! Bill the cat! He lives with Dodger, Erin and their roommate Smita and he’s almost indestructible. And the creepiest part of the story, the Hand of Glory (on the cover). If you don’t know what it is, you’ll have to read this book to find out, but it’s disturbing as hell!
I did have a couple of issues with the story. First, it’s too long. I think fifty pages could have easily been shaved off and it would still be just as good, if not better. In conjunction with the length, I thought there was a lot of repetition at times. James Reed in particular loves to spout his beliefs and nonsense whenever he’s on the page, and he tends to repeat himself. I also found some of Roger and Dodger’s scenes to be repetitive, although perhaps that’s because, due to them having the ability to “reset” time, they did actually repeat parts of their lives! Also, the book takes some time to get going. There’s a lot of set-up involved, and truthfully, the story doesn’t really take off until about the halfway point. But I was fascinated by the ways that Roger and Dodger manage to keep finding each other over the years, and this slow pace didn’t really matter that much to me.
Overall, I thought this book was pretty special. Seanan McGuire has a way of making readers care for her characters, and this book is no exception. Roger’s and Dodger’s story may have ended on the page, but I’ll remember them for a long time.
Big thanks to the publisher for supplying a review copy.
this sounds a little too sad for me (the poor twins being separated and then continuing to have their bond tested instead of getting to be happy together, aaagh), but it sounds like an awesome story. and I am SO IMPRESSED at how prolific the author is, while still turning out polished books? she just had Alien: Echo come out recently under Mira Grant (sci-fi horror, yaaas, I enjoyed it) and now this, how on earth?? what am I doing with my life!
She is SO prolific! Not only is she actually two people (!) but she’s constantly adding to the series she already has going. Crazy.
That’s a great review and now makes me want a copy – I don’t know why but when I first saw this it just didn’t appeal to me for some reason, even though I really like McGuire – plus I couldn’t really fit it in and was trying to behave – but, now I want a copy.
Lynn 😀
It’s definitely worth reading, especially if you’re a McGuire fan. But hey, I know what you mean, I’ve definitely had to pick and choose books lately because I just can’t read them all.
Loved, loved your review. I always look forward to reading your reviews and find out which “not a run-of-the-mill” book you are reading.
Debjani recently posted…A Killer’s Alibi by William L. Myers, Jr. – Review
Thanks Debjani! I do seem to read a lot of those, don’t I??;-)
Yes, you do. 🙂
What a superb review of this complex, slightly awkward book, Tammy! I think you’ve magnificently summed up its main strengths and weaknesses:))
Thanks Sarah, it’s a story that will stay with me for a long time:-D
Lovely review, Tammy! I loved what you said about the author making you care for her characters. I think that shows how much she cares for them, too. One of these days I’ll get to my books from her! I know I have a couple!
Oh you should definitely check her out, she’s very unique:-)
Yes, this is indeed a very ambitious project, as you so correctly stressed out, and despite a few “hiccups” it worked really well: McGuire main strength lies indeed in the way she shapes her characters and turns them into flesh-and-blood people we end up caring about in a deep way.
And now I will not be able to look at a candle – any candle – in the same way… 😀
Great review, thank you so much for sharing this!
Maddalena@spaceandsorcery recently posted…Wyrd & Wonder 2019 – MIDDLEGAME, by Seanan McGuire
I know what you mean, candles are probably going to freak me out now too!
Great review! I loved this book. Roger’s color-blindness and his ability to see color through Dodger’s eyes was incredible — I loved that part of the story so much. When I went to Seanan McGuire’s book signing a couple of weeks ago, she said that she’s actually written Over the Woodward Wall and it’ll be published in the next year or so — how cool is that? She’s such an amazing writer — basically, I’ll read anything she writes!
Oh my god I am so excited to hear about Over the Woodward Wall! How cool!!
I have heard nothing but raves about this book, so glad you also enjoyed it! It sounds so intriguing and different, I really can’t wait to pick up a copy myself. Wonderful review!
It’s very different, but if you’ve read McGuire you’ll understand that it’s definitely a “good” different:-D
I will read ANYTHING McGuire writes and this one is high on my list. Now I’m even more exciting to read it. Great review!
I hope you get to read it, I’m definitely curious to see if you like it!
Great review, Tammy. I enjoyed this one as well. 🙂
It was so ambitious and you have to applaud her for what she did.
Have a feeling this might be a tad too offbeat for me, but I’ve been hearing great things from everyone!
I can see this being one of those books you might not connect with. It’s very weird in places and the length and pacing are not always the best. But I still loved it:-)
This is an awesome review! Middlegame sounds super dark. But also- not sure how I feel about it not picking up until the 50% mark. I’ll be sure to wait until I’m in the mood for it before I try. Otherwise I’ll just get annoyed, lol.
Well to be honest, the slow beginning was necessary because there was so much to set up. But I loved it! All interesting stuff and it didn’t personally bother me that it was a slower pace.
I’m really glad Middlegame worked better for you than it did for me. I think your paragraph about the weaknesses nicely hit on everything that made me struggle with it. Erin was one of my favorite characters too though. I agree that she ended up being a very surprising character with a lot more depth than I was expecting her to have.
Suzanne @ The Bookish Libra recently posted…Top Ten Tuesday – Top 10 Favorite Books Released in the Last 10 Years
For me the things I loved outshined the problems, so I ended up really loving it. And yes, Erin was a surprise, I hated her so much in the beginning!!
Yesssss! I didn’t read your review I only checked the star rating since I want to go into this one with a blank slate. Very excited 😀
I can’t wait to hear what you think!
Fantastic review. I’ve heard a lot of praise for this one. I’m not sure if it’s up my alley but will definitely keep it in mind as I do like Seanan’s work.
Awesome review! This sounds very cool. I’ve not read any McGuire and only the one Grant, so I should probably redress the balance asap. 😀
Ooh, this sounds awesome! I can’t wait to read it!
I love Seanan’s books, and this one was so refreshing and original. I didn’t want it to end. I really hope she will write more books that take place in this world
Loved your review. I’ve read a few of this author’s books. I may have to check this out. Sounds a bit creepy, which is right up my alley, lol
Wow! what a story! Your review was incredible. I enjoyed your explanation and your making sense of it. Great work! Great review! Roger Dodger lol.
She must be very creative and hardworking to come up with so much great stuff!
I think I was a little put-off by the blurb for this one, which is why I found this review so great. Thank you for highlighting both the strengths and weaknesses. It sounds really complex and ambitious.
Thanks for a great review. The premise and story sound interesting.