This is my second Powers book and this and Overstory were both powerful works! The characters in Playground are well-developed, complex, intertwined, and yet, despite all that, some amount of mystery remains at the end. I couldn't get enough of Evie's storyline and so wish there had been more. Powers' description of La Jolla and Truk (both places I know well) are spot on and his description of the feeling, sights and sounds of SCUBA diving mirror mine...he must be a diver himself. I found the trajectory of Todd's life a bit too predictable and much like people and businesses. Perhaps the intention, but just didn't feel as creative and engaging as the other components of his tale. Perhaps it is this reader.

A Booker prize Longlist nominated novel!
In Playground, Powers explores the dangers and of technology and the quickly moving threat of climate change utilizing an international background and an unusual grouping of three best friends.

Rafi and Todd are a unique nerdy duo in their elite prep school that becomes three with the addition of Ina. Years later, the friends face off on the small island of Makatea of the Tahitian Islands. What happens between them all is an age old story made powerful and turbulent by Power's abilities. In the background of this relationship is a young woman who falls in love with the sea and her own work inspires millions.

Join Powers in his most powerful work to date - a commentary on culture, race and class, a work of utter beauty and above all, a hopeful yet clear call to action #wwnortoncompany #playground #richardpowers

If you're familiar with Powers' work, you'll be delighted to discover that his latest novel is yet another brilliant addition to his oeuvre. For those who haven't yet explored his writing, this book is an excellent starting point, but I highly recommend diving into his previous two novels as well. Together, they form a sort of thematic triptych, each echoing with the same intellectual depth, curiosity, and empathy that set Powers apart from other novelists. He's truly at the height of his powers with this one.

This novel is complex, with multiple narratives and perspectives, and it requires your full attention. But once you're immersed, you'll find yourself carried along by its literary force, never feeling lost at sea. Powers masterfully navigates through diverse realms, from the depths of the ocean to the intricacies of the cyber world, all the while weaving in a profoundly human love story. The result is a gripping, powerful read that reaffirms my gratitude for authors like Powers who continue to push boundaries and captivate readers. I have no doubt this book will be a strong contender on literary award shortlists this year.

In short, this is a spectacular novel. It's grand in its scope yet intimately rendered. Do yourself a favor and read it—it's already my top pick for 2024, and I can't imagine anything else surpassing it.

A heartfelt thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the ARC.

This may be one of my favorite books ever. It certainly is my favorite of Richard Powers so far--and I am a big fan of Powers. I loved The Overstory.

Powers manages to do so much in a single work--more than seems possible--and Playground shows just how much he can do. He juggles multiples story lines and seemingly divergent themes--managing to pull them together in a grand finale that is like the thundering yet melodic conclusion to a great symphony.

On one level, the story revolves a set of characters. Todd Keane and Rafi Young meet as young teens. On the surface, the two boys seem quite different. Keane is the son of a successful businessman, securely white and privileged while Rafi comes from an obviously dysfunctional home in an impoverished community. As poor and an African American, Rafi is at an obvious disadvantage at his elite school, while Todd seamlessly belongs. But both boys comes from pain-filled (and pain-inflicting) families, each dysfunctional in its own way and equally incapable of nurturing their children.

Rafi seeks refuge in literature. Todd, who as a young boy dreamed of being an oceanographer, is drawn to technology. After experiencing a tragedy, he gives himself entirely to coding and exploring the newly emerging technology that becomes the Internet.

And always throughout the book there is the theme and activity of game playing. As well as that of ecology, seen through the lens of the ocean and the overwhelming multiplicity of life it contains.

As Rafi and Todd abandon chess for the more intensely challenging game of Go, Evie Bourlieu is submerged into a water tank by her father to test out a new apparatus for breathing underwater. This experiment is the catalyst for Evie for a lifetime devoted to submerging herself in the depths of the ocean.

Somewhere in an island in the Pacific ocean, the inhabitants are trying to recover from an exploitation of their land by Europeans that first enriched and then devastated them. Now the western world is back with a new offer.

The title of this book resonates throughout this book in many levels, many tones, many different keys. Sometimes completely unexpectedly I would realize that I was witnessing yet another echo, another game, another form of play.

Play that is absorbing, exciting, freeing. And sometimes--maybe ultimately and inevitably--lethal.

I was left breathless at the beauty of Powers' descriptions of ocean life, full of poetic lists that overwhelmed--only to leave the reader that much more grief-stricken by how much death we have caused, what desolation we have wreaked.

I found The Overstory exciting and fascinating but Playground moved me to tears (not usual for me when reading). This is Powers at his most passionate.

And the balance between the personal--the friendships, the ways in which we love, and help, and hurt each other--and the more abstract themes which become personalized, particularly through Evie but through the people on the island as well--is delicate and beautiful.

I love books that push me to think as well as enable me to feel.

I couldn't follow all of the tech talk but Powers presents a convincingly ominous depiction of AI's dangerous potential for humanity.

So: frightening, beautiful, moving, exciting. And despite all the pain portrayed, the life force of humanity--and of the planet--and maybe just of the use of so much beautiful language left me energized (and not depressed which could easily have happened).

I would wish the good fortune of reading this book on everyone. For how it delivers pleasure, beauty, excitement. And for its potential to maybe reawaken--or just awaken--our love for this precious, fragile planet before it is too late.

I want to thank NetGalley for giving me this book, W. W Norton & Co. for publishing it, and Richard Powers for gifting the world with it.

Playground will be released in September, 2024.

I'm fairly new to Richard Powers writing, having only read his two previous novels, The Overstory and Bewilderment. Yet, after my reading of his latest, Playground, I can see the literary genius in him that is over and above any other author I've formerly read. In thinking about how to review this book, I have to admit that some of the subject matter in this novel is a little over my head. That being said, the rich, intelligent prose, and multiple learning opportunities presented for me, made this novel hard to put down. I looked forward to each time I'd be able to pick it up again.
Dwelling on themes of the environment, diving and oceanography, AI, technology, video gaming, chess and the Chinese board game Go, as well as the multiple characters whose lives eventually intersect on the island of Makatea in French Polynesia–this book is huge in scope. Delving into questions about the future, both of humans and nature, Playground is an important and multi-faceted work of art that I have no doubt will stay with me for some time.
Thank you NetGalley and W.W. Norton for the advance reading copy!

Richard Powers has crafted an epic tale of friendship, ambition, activism, marriage and community while slyly teaching us about the wonders of the oceans and a multitude of other subjects. Trying to put this book into a tidy little genre is like crabbing blindfolded as you are constantly enraptured by early oceanographer's explorations, the beginnings of A.I. , the ancient game of Go and warnings of climate change. A wide range of characters, each with a unique voice, grace the pages with the main story being about two childhood friends who take different paths and an oceanographer who felt more at ease under the water than above it. They and others will meet again on a the little resilient island nation of Makatea who once again face foreigners trying to use the island to "make life better" only to see their way of life and island paradise stripped. The cover is stunning but not as much as the picture Richard Powers paints of the ocean and its inhabitants. It is a subtle call to activism, a love letter to oceans and to the people with the smallest voice who thrive within them. For anyone who lives for National Geographic documentaries, happily looks for life on every watery horizon and also enjoys a variety of well developed characters. My thanks to the publisher for the advance copy.

Richard Power’s newest book, Playground, may have the words “A Novel” on the cover but don’t be fooled — it’s more a manifesto on 21st-century technology, climate destruction, and society in general with a little plot thrown in for good measure. Todd and Rafi become unlikely friends in high school who bond over a shared love of games. They attend the University of Illinois together, where Todd studies the burgeoning field of computer coding while Rafi follows his dreams of writing and studying literature and poetry. At U of I, they meet Ina, a Pacific Islander artist who they both fall for, but she only has eyes for Rafi. When philosophical differences and a misunderstanding come between them all, years pass where Todd becomes the famous billionaire behind the super website, Playground, and Rafi and Ina end up raising orphaned siblings on the tiny island of Makatea. For good measure, throw in Evie, one of the earliest scuba divers and world-renowned ocean scientists who also ends up on Makatea. It sounds like a lot of plot, but most of the 400 pages consist of Todd’s internal discourse as he tells us more of the story than we actually see happen. Despite my whining, there’s plenty to like including Power’s compelling writing, significant themes, and the parts when we escape from Todd’s monologuing to Makatea or the Evie sections where we learn to love the ocean with her. Like many books these days, an edit of 50 to 100 pages would have done wonders, and a lot less of Todd’s interior life and more action would have made it more readable. Those things aside, Powers still manages to produce a deep book about contemporary issues that many literary readers will enjoy.

Richard Powers has once again outdone himself in "Playground". This is a sweeping novel that plumbs the depths of our humanity and relationships. I was impressed by the depth of thought, the quality of the writing, the drawing of the characters, and the themes that play out. This is a book to be savored and explored.

There are interesting nuances to his writing and great wording. The story kept me interested and he has a nice flow to his writing. However, there are huge chasms in the continuity that affected negatively on the character development and story.

The jump of 30-50+/- years from new adult to later years with little explanation of character evolution was frustrating. I’m not a writer or creative person and I prefer for a complete story to be told instead of me making it up and filling in those blanks.

I was left wanting for the most interesting POV, a pioneering female diver; how did her relationship with her children eventually grow into or heal? She had huge spaces in showing her character development, 50 years +/-. Yet I guess this wasn’t necessary as she seemed to function as the reader’s glimpse into the magnificence of sea life.

Rafi was a tiresome, angry narcissist, with his self centeredness, and exaggerated sense of self importance, while expecting others to recognize his greatness, inhibiting relationships. Because of this, I found it hard to remember to empathize with him. That’s why I wish the author would have elucidated his transformation during those 30 some odd years that included a reconciliation with Ina and becoming a loving parent with ties to the small community. In contradiction to that, I disliked his character so much I was fine having fewer Rafi POVs.

I found it hard to believe Todd developed no relationships in building the infinite ‘game’ that was the PLAYGROUND framework. I’ve worked with awkward and isolating developers in the past, yet that camaraderie of achieving a common goal creates bonds, yet I’m to believe Todd developed no close relationships over the 30 years that he was no longer friends with Rafi.

I won’t be providing links as I prefer not to leave negative reviews on Goodreads. I appreciate his writing. Thank you to NetGalley and W.W. Norton & Company for the opportunity to read this ARC.

This was quite a book. Incredibly ambitious. It was a solid five stars for me up through the end, which knocked it back to a 4.5, but I’m going to round up because the prose is so beautiful and the four main characters are so richly drawn. I do wish the ending had been a bit more satisfying though.

We meet the four main characters at different points I. Theirs lives. Evie Beaulieu is a twelve year old in Montreal when her father has her try a prototype of the world’s first aqualung. This sets the course for her entire life.

Ina Avoila, part Pacific Islander, has grown up on naval bases throughout the Pacific. She comes to America for art and finds love.

Rafi Young and Todd Keane are two very different students at a Chicago private school. Their love of games creates a lifelong bond between them. Rafi later studies literature while Todd make his fortune in computers, then has an AI breakthrough.

And that’s it. Except for the lives of the four, plus the residents of Makatea an island in French Polynesia, which has been pillaged once before and now its residents must decide if it will serve as home to proposed “”seatenders,” floating, autonomous cities in the ocean.

There’s just so much here. Really enjoyed this.

This is an Oceanic version of The Overstory and Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow. There are two parallel stories. Both characters and stories are multilayered. They are interwoven with the story moving backward and forward in time.
The first is Evelyn, the first ever woman research diver. We see her journey from child to old women. Her love of the ocean, her immense drive and what she has to do and give up to be that woman researcher. To record the wonders of the playground of the deep. I could taste the brine and feel the velvet of the rays. The heartbreak of global warming and extinction of species was powerful. Powers wrote a wonderfully visual book and taught me about ocean life like he opened the world of trees to me in The Overstory.
The second is between two boys in Chicago. Todd is boy in St. Ignacius prep school who meets Rafi, a boy from the wrong side of Chicago, who is there on a scholarship. Probably the two smartest boys in the school, they become chess partners, Go partners and fast friends. It exams their different lives, poor vs. rich, white vs. black. Like Evelyn, they both are driven. What are they willing to give up to achieve their dreams? We follow them to college where we meet Ina and then the story branches onto another journey. One to Silicon Valley success, the other to French Polynesia.
Then, of course, he pulls them together.
Powers brings you from coding and gaming to AI. He brings you from coral blooms to dying coral beds due to global warming. Playground delves into the richness of the characters but also the richness of the planet. We are not only introduced to the beauty of Chess and Go but also the beauty of literature and art. He brings the heartache of loneliness and dementia. Another tour de force, he leaves nothing on the table. Love this book. One of the best this year!! Can not recommend enough. 5 stars
Great thanks to NetGalley and W. W. Norton & Company for an advance copy of this amazing book. Much appreciated.