Book Review - Middlegame

[Aurelia West]

Title of the book: Middlegame
Author: Seanan McGuire
Series: Yes (second book not yet published)
Genres: Sci-fi, fantasy (due to some language/violence, I wouldn't recommend it for younger readers)

Short summary of the story:
Middlegame is a tale about a pair of twins named Roger and Dodger who have been created by an alchemist (who was created by another alchemist) to become the human incarnation of the forces that shape reality. Their creator, a man named Reed who has been alive for well over a hundred years, longs to keep the twins apart and in the dark about as much of their nature as possible in order to use their combined power to control the universe. The story follows the twins through their lives as they attempt to finally get the timeline in which they survive and become independent of the alchemists that shaped their beginning.

Good points:
Firstly, the story was incredibly well written. Even writing up a brief summary like this was difficult for me because I feel like the experience of the book is incredibly rewarding when you go in without ideas of what it might be like. McGuire's writing feels very alive and descriptive and I wanted to savor every word. Secondly, the characterization is brilliant. Once you get past the rhyming names of the characters, the story delves into their distinctly different personalities and it's fascinating to see how much of their personalities stem from the way they were created and what they were created for. Lastly, the way that McGuire discusses reality and how it manifests differently through the eyes of our two main characters (and how much they need each other in order to fully grasp reality and what they can do with it) is so intriguing to read.

I believe it was originally intended to be a standalone novel (from what I can ascertain from some of the writing on the dust jacket haha), but according to Goodreads, a second novel is expected to come out in 2022, likely detailing the twins' one last attempt to set everything right and save as many lives as they can. I am definitely looking forward to this sequel and will make sure to pick it up once published.

Bad points:
There are hardly any bad points, honestly. Personally, I found that I had to re-read several sections in order for things to really sink in and make sense, but I blame that on the fact that I haven't read such a large novel in a while, and many of the paragraphs I had to re-read detailed the makeup of reality which I figure is hard to digest at times.