This is book number 1 in the Alchemical Journeys series.
Some of my favorite stories are the ones that grab you by the hand and gently, yet resolutely lead you through our familiar, shared world until both you and the story come upon the fragile and ever-flexible boundaries of reality and fantasy. Typically, if I’m in the mood for such a tale, I turn to anything Neil Gaiman or Brom. This time, Seanan McGuire’s Middlegame ticked all the boxes for me: believable world, fully-developed characters with their own thoughts and motivations, fantastical and gripping imagery, moments of terror offset by humor, and more. Her references to other famous works and authors were also a delight, akin to Easter Eggs in video games. Oftentimes brutal, gut wrenching, and gory, Middlegame was at the same time touching, heartfelt, and inspiring. Overall, a coming of age tale for the likes of teens, adults, and wannabe gods.
— Nicholas
Some of my favorite stories are the ones that grab you by the hand and gently, yet resolutely lead you through our familiar, shared world until both you and the story come upon the fragile and ever-flexible boundaries of reality and fantasy. Typically, if I’m in the mood for such a tale, I turn to anything Neil Gaiman or Brom. This time, Seanan McGuire’s Middlegame ticked all the boxes for me: believable world, fully-developed characters with their own thoughts and motivations, fantastical and gripping imagery, moments of terror offset by humor, and more. Her references to other famous works and authors were also a delight, akin to Easter Eggs in video games. Oftentimes brutal, gut wrenching, and gory, Middlegamewas at the same time touching, heartfelt, and inspiring. Overall, a coming of age tale for the likes of teens, adults, and wannabe gods.
— From Nick's Staff PicksA HUGO AWARD FINALIST!
WINNER OF THE LOCUS AWARD FOR BEST FANTASY NOVEL, 2020!
A Pick on the 2020 RUSA Reading List!
New York Times bestselling and Alex, Nebula, and Hugo-Award-winning author Seanan McGuire introduces readers to a world of amoral alchemy, shadowy organizations, and impossible cities in the standalone fantasy, Middlegame.
Meet Roger. Skilled with words, languages come easily to him. He instinctively understands how the world works through the power of story.
Meet Dodger, his twin. Numbers are her world, her obsession, her everything. All she understands, she does so through the power of math.
Roger and Dodger aren’t exactly human, though they don’t realise it. They aren’t exactly gods, either. Not entirely. Not yet.
Meet Reed, skilled in the alchemical arts like his progenitor before him. Reed created Dodger and her brother. He’s not their father. Not quite. But he has a plan: to raise the twins to the highest power, to ascend with them and claim their authority as his own.
Godhood is attainable. Pray it isn’t attained.
A USA Today Bestseller, and named as one of Paste Magazine's 30 Best Fantasy Novels of the Decade!
"McGuire has an uncanny knack for taking the worst things that lurk in the shadows and weaving them into an absolute delight."—Becky Chambers
"Roger and Dodger are the heart of this story. They're its pulse and purpose — these two supernaturally gifted kids who come off like kids. And this is the greatest trick McGuire pulls here … It's the kind of book where you want to reach into the page just to help them out, to warn them of what's coming. It blossoms."—NPR
"This is a fascinating novel by an author of consummate skill."—Publishers Weekly, starred review
"Satisfying on all levels of the reading experience: thrilling, emotionally resonant, and cerebral.”
—Kirkus Reviews, starred review
"McGuire sets a high bar for alchemy-based stories in this new stand-alone, twisting themes of time and space as seen through the eyes of children. . . . This singular work keeps readers thinking long after the final page."—Library Journal, starred review
"An excellent recommendation for those who enjoyed Lev Grossman's The Magicians and Lauren Oliver's Replica."—School Library Journal, starred review
“[A]n ambitious piece of world building from a master of the craft . . . thoroughly engaging.”—Booklist
"Readers should come for the tightly constructed world and stay for the pleasure of watching the twins choose each other, come what may."—Shelf Awareness
"This is a tricky book to pull off, no doubt about it. But that trickery is pulled off with the kind of aplomb that has become one of McGuire’s great skills. What a story to read (and re-read). If you’ve got a love for fantasy, you should read Middlegame."—Entertainment Weekly's Cultures
"Imaginatively conceived, carefully constructed, fantastically written ... another delightful and captivating outing from Seanan McGuire."—bookreporter
"An excellent recommendation for those who enjoyed Lev Grossman's The Magicians and Lauren Oliver's Replica."—School Library Journal
"Readers should come for the tightly constructed world and stay for the pleasure of watching the twins choose each other, come what may."—Shelf Awareness
