This story is about Roger (linguistic and emotional) and Doger (mathematical and logical) who are twins synthetically created in an alchemy lab, two halves of a whole. The peanut-butter to each other's jelly. Reed (the owner of the laboratory) separates them at birth and places them with two separate foster families on completely opposite sides of the country so the children can grow up as separate individuals. This is all in an effort to create the ideal conditions so the Doctrine of Ethos (the forces that hold the universe together) can manifest between two siblings that will round out all the elements needed for enlightenment. Reed had to battle to keep Roger and Doger apart long enough to allow conditions to become ideal, but no amount of distance can sever their connection.

This story is composed of so many facets and elements and they all blend together.
First off, Middlegame is defined as "the portion of the chess game in between the opening and the endgame. There is no clear line between the opening and the middlegame, and between the middlegame and the endgame." This is import to my discussion of this book as the vast majority of this book does take place in the in-between which makes for a slow burn novel which almost made me lose interest. I understand that it was essential to to story line, but it felt like it took forever for the book to really get interesting and the really interesting parts were over before I knew it. This is my only complaint though regarding this book.

The premise for this book is quite complex and my description of the book is quite simplistic and really only grazes the surface of the more material components. There is so much going on below the surface and so many different things involved. This is a science fiction book, a story of alchemy, a story of belonging and feeling like a misfit, a story of two siblings who's fate repeatedly brings them together and then separates them, facing who you are in the reality even though it's scary as hell.

This book does an excellent job of rooting magic in the real world and making it feel like a tangible entity and possibility in everyday life. It brings an element of realism to something that seems impossible. It also brings science into the mix to solidify this realism.

Overall I enjoyed this book and all the elements. It was so unique and different and was really amazing how all these different elements had such a natural flow and fit so neatly together.
It's really one of those books you have to be patient with to get through, but still enjoyable.

WOW. Okay, why did I put this off for so long? This was such an amazing book. I was fully expecting it to be overwhelming and convoluted for some reason and I didn't think it'd be something I was super into, but boyyyyy was I wrong. This book combines magic and alchemy with everyday struggles and hardships in a way that somehow makes urban fantasy feel within reach. It was fast-paced and yet allowed you to get really intimate and close with each character. I really felt so much for both Roger and Dodger and had a hard time letting them go at the end of the book. This also had way more intense action than I thought, which I actually really enjoyed as well. Overall it was just a fantastic story with such amazing character and story development.

4 stars instead of 5 only because I REALLY still don't think it needed to be 500 pages. While it went fast, there's just still so much that could have been cut to make it a bit more put together and concise. In my opinion, obviously! Still such an amazing read though. I really can't decide if I want to pretend this is a standalone or if I should give Seasonal Fears a shot. I've heard not super good things about it and it kinda makes me want to just pretend it doesn't exist lol. But let me know what I should do!

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan-Tor/Forge for an advanced copy. Although my digital ARC was corrupt and I couldn't read it when I was approved three years ago and had to wait until it was at the library, still, thank you! I really do appreciate it. And all thoughts and opinions are still, as always, my very own.

Middlegame is a book I enjoyed but not as much as I wanted to. I liked Rodger and Dodger and was invested in their story but there was something about the book that felt hard for me to fully immerse myself in. I know a lot of people would enjoy this book, it just wasn't for me.

An interesting premise, with Seanan Mcguire's signature breakneck pace. It wasn't for me, seemed a little on the clinical end of things, I prefer lushness of setting and words and couldn't get into this one. But it will absolutely appeal to other.s

Is there anything better than a new Seanen McGuire book? Very little. Her plots and characters are amazing. She can do no wrong and will always be an auto-read for me.

I thought this was a good book! I wish I could remember more about it but I forget my reading and that I had this as an arc

I hate being proven wrong.

They say practice makes perfect, and it rarely happens to me, so I don't have the experience to be good at it. On the once-every-several-years occasions that it occurs, I will often try to smoothly change the subject in order to subvert having to say the second-most dreaded three words in the English language ("you were right"). That leads to situations where I go from arguing about whether Joe Exotic is still in prison to suddenly saying "have you been following that thing about the guy finding shrimp tails in his Cinnamon Toast Crunch?"

I'm a conversational genius.

Anyway. Unfortunately, it appears hell has frozen over, because I was wrong about one thing: my ability to like adult fantasy novels with a page count over 500.

This was so fun.

It took me FOREVER to get into it. I had to read it in 50-page chunks every 5 days for several weeks before I actually sat down and read the thing, but once I did I didn't put it down.

This is incredibly unique in every way. The character dynamics and development are so wonderful - I felt like I grew to KNOW these characters, more than I can say whether I like or dislike them. The world is cool. Once the pacing gets ahold of itself it's a blast.

Other than the first 40% of this being a crime against humanity, I only have nice things to say. And one of them includes that I, in a miraculously infrequent event, was incorrect.

Bottom line: I liked it!

Middlegame is not your typical urban fantasy. For most of the book the fantastical element is low key, twins separated at birth who can communicate telepathically even though one is in Boston and the other in California. But there is a lot more going on that the twins only learn about through the course of the book and in the end the magic proves to be quite powerful.

At this stage in her career, McGuire should be beyond the old trick of starting a story (or novel in this case) with an exciting scene from the ending and then jumping back to tell most of the story as a flashback. But that is what she does, opening the book with “Book VII:The End” Timeline: five minutes too late, thirty seconds from the end of the world. Dodger is dying and Rodger is shocked by the amount of blood. At this point the reader
does not know who these characters are or anything but that Dodger could calculate the amount of blood on the floor while Rodger is not reassured by words the way Dodger is by numbers. Then the book cuts to a quote from an invented children’s story Over the Woodward Wall by Deborah Baker, which is the source for the quest for the Impossible City mentioned throughout the book, and a quote from Asphodel Baker to the American Alchemical Congress. Later in Middlegame, the reader learns that the children’s book was written as a way for Baker to communicate her alchemical ideas.

The alchemist Asphodel Baker has animated a man, James Reed, from pieces of the dead to prove her right and do what she cannot. In turn, he creates pairs of children who will enable him to control the universe through the Doctrine of Ethos divided into component parts of mathematics and language. Two of these children, mathematical genius Dodger in California and linguistics genius Rodger in Boston make telepathic contact as young children. The sections on the loneliness of gifted children ring true.

The two stop communicating at times, once when Reed’s assistant pretends to be a doctor who threatens to remove Rodger from his home unless he gives up the delusion and once after Dodger attempts suicide. But then the two are reunited at college and start living up to their potential including the ability to turn back time. They are aided by Dodger’s murderous roommate, a spy for Reed. Gradually, through attempts by Reed’s assistants to interfere with their lives, they discover their alchemical origins and decide to use their powers to save the world.

Although the main characters are children for the first quarter of the book and graduate students for the remainder, this book does not have the normal concerns of YA fantasy – romantic triangles and proving oneself an adult. There is the self-discovery of what they can do, but this is more equivalent to a superhero learning his powers (that can happen at any age) rather than a young person trying to determine who he is as an adult.

Middlegame was a Hugo finalist and deserves the accolades as one of the best books of the year. If this is what Seanan McGuire can do when not writing one in one of her series, I hope she does many more of these experiments. Recommended.

The first novel in a new series.
The synopsis describes the setting of MIDDLEGAME as "a world of amoral alchemy, shadowy organizations, and impossible cities". McGuire does a great job building this world, and bringing it to life on the page.
An interesting and well-written opening novel, populated with interesting and well-drawn characters. As a first novel, the ending was a little bit disappointing, but it's clear there is more to come. I haven't read many of McGuire's works (there are so many!), but I'm looking forward to reading the next in this series.

Rating: 2.5 I love how Seanan McGuire writes. She has a way with words and imagery but I just can never get totally on board with her plots. I wanted to love this but ended up skimming the last hundred pages or so. It felt like such a long book. Also pass on the audiobook not worth it!
I received an ARC of this book via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Probably my least fave from this author and I am definitely the camp of the black sheep for this particular book. Creative and weird and utterly different from anything she’s tried before. The characterization just wasn’t there for this sci-fi that explores alchemy as the middle ground between science and magic.

This was definitely very good, no doubt about it, but I think I liked the idea of it far more than I liked the execution. The idea, at its core, is just so, so very cool! It's all about alchemy and incarnating ideas into human bodies and trying to control the universe. It's awesome! Very confusing at first, but not so much that I couldn't follow along, and things (mostly) make sense at the end, even if some ideas remain rather abstract.

I just am not sure that I am a fan of which parts of the story were prioritized: Roger and Dodger's lives. There was just so much time spent on them growing up and getting to know one another and this book is so long. And I completely understand the purpose of giving the siblings time to grow close and develop their bond, which was really one of the best things about the book, but the narrative definitely dragged at times. This was especially noticeable in the last 80%, where the pacing was just utterly bizarre and things took way, way too long to happen.

But! It is still Very Cool! I loved learning so much about alchemy. I loved these characters, especially Erin. I enjoyed the big, abstract ideas and the time travel (even when it was confusing as hell). The writing is beautiful. The story unfolds expertly, like a slowly-blooming flower. It is definitely a very weird and strange book and I completely see why it's been nominated for a Hugo.

As much as I loved all the other books I've read by McGuire, I couldn't finish this one. It was just too disjointed and scattered for me to make sense of it, so I couldn't become invested in the story or characters.

Seanan McGuire is a prolific writer of SFF and her work is consistently amazing. The author herself has called this her masterpiece, and I agree (even though comparing her work is hard as it's all great). Ambitious, thought-provoking, and engaging on both the emotional and intellectual level, you don't want to miss this one. Middlegame thoroughly deserved its nomination for the Best Novel Hugo. It may not have won the trophy, but reading this is its own reward.

3.5 Stars

Thank you to Netgalley and Tor for a review copy!

What a bizarre read, and one that I don't think I can properly summarize without some level of confusion either by me or for you. However, I do think this will be a book that on some level is going to be a hard sell for most. It's not a bad read, it's just...confusing in an odd way that makes sense once you understand the shape of it but it's hard to really see that shape until you've made your way into the meat of the story itself. It reads a bit like a children's fable, fittingly like a slightly more logical Wizard of Oz and Wonderland, and like those stories, there is an edge to it that makes it something else entirely.
I seriously love the ideas that were at play here, and I love the complicated way that McGuire chose to express those ideas. It does make it hard to approach, hard to sink into, but the end result is something that stands out as completely unique. The only book I can think of that has some grain of similarity in terms of actual storyline and scope is The Library at Mount Char.

I'm definitely curious to see where this story leads us, and what more McGuire has to share about this version of our world she has given us.

This was still a good read, but I really am sad I didn't end up loving it more.


Trigger and Content Warnings for very descriptive gore, many scenes with blood depiction, murder, death, drug use, seizures, cutting, attempted suicide, overdosing, natural disasters (earthquakes), and loss of loved ones.

This wasn't my favorite Seanan McGuire book, her Wayward Children series is still my favorite. This title took a bit to get into and I never felt fully invested

This book was phenomenal! I am so grateful to the publisher for providing me with an arc of this! Also a huge thanks to netgalley. This book has it all: well-written characters, astounding world-building, super complex plot and a conclusion that would excite just about any reader. I absolutely recommend everyone pick this up asap! One of my new favorites for sure! It has a twin pairing that works so well together, but at the same time feel so distinct from one another. One of them are exceptionally good at math and could solve the hardest problems you could ever think of, while the other part of the two commands language and you can't do anything else than just fall in love with both of them. The thriller aspects of this are so well done and I honestly were scared and on the edge of my seat for a big chunk of this book. Sooooo good!

One of the best magical realism books, readers will thoroughly enjoy this creepy masterpiece. For fans of Doctor Who, The Magicians, and Joe Hill.

Review:

Ah, I feel so accomplished. This is a book I've been putting off for far too long and ah I finally read this one. The main thing that put me off this book was the fact that no one seemed able to describe the plot and a lot of people said this book was confusing. 

After reading it, I definitely agree that it's hard to describe this book, but that's mostly because you need to spoil like half the book to accurately discuss what's going on. Part of this is because there are a couple of different plot lines that intersect. 

“You can't skip to the end of the story just because you're tired of being in the middle. You'd never survive.”

The book is told in a non-linear structure that allows for some really cool storytelling devices. The book starts at the end of the timeline, where Roger and Dodger have presumably lost something due to Dodger being covered in blood. We then jump back to the past where A. Deborah Baker is finishing up a creation, an Frankenstein's monster analog made up of various donors, tasked with the goal of completing Baker's work. We then jump forward 100 years to where Reed is on the verge of completing Baker's work and aims to split the Doctrine of Ethos and personify it in a set of twins with to goal of ascending to godhood. The book then follows Roger and Dodger throughout their life as the figure out their role in this alchemic quest. Oh, and there are also snippets of Over the Woodward Wall, a book written by Baker with a deeper connection to the overarching narrative. 

“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 was pleasantly surprised by how easy this book was to consume. I listened to the audiobook and followed along with a digital copy and found myself flying through the story. I purposely took some breaks to make sure I didn't rush through anything and allowed myself to fully consume the story. 

I really liked how the story was spliced between Roger and Dodger growing up and discovering their connections to each other and showing some behind the scenes with Reed. There were some genuinely touching moments and some really sad moments. 

I think my only complaint about this book is that it really dragged in some places. I found myself very aware of how long this book was, especially when I felt like things were supposed to be wrapping up, but I was only like 60% of the way through the book. 

I was pleasantly surprised with how this book ended. It was just open enough to not feel like everything was wrapped in a nice little bow, but still felt like the major points were resolved. 

Final Thoughts:

This was a super fun, compelling story that explored some really dark aspects of alchemy. I was shocked at how downright creepy some chapters got. The amount of control Reed has over the characters allows for some huge stakes and compelling conflicts. Roger and Dodger were both so likable and were really easy protagonists to route for. I really don't have much to say about this book without going into more spoilers, but I also really don't want to spoil this book. I am so excited to get to Over the Woodward Wall now. I am craving Zib and Avery's story and seeing how much of this tale overlaps with Rogers and Dodgers. The lovely people at Tor were kind enough to send me an eARC and I am diving in right away.