Gabrielle Zevin

“What touched him the most was the sound of Sadie’s voice, untouched and clarion, speaking to him through a game, across time and space…. Sadie was speaking to Sam. After a long silence, he could hear her voice again, and he determined that what he felt was hope” (337).

This is an archaic story—a hero’s journey through worlds both known and unknown—encoded with a perfectly ‘90s-retro vibe. This is a story about the duality of a game in all its seriousness and playfulness; it’s about life as a game and the birth of an idea into a narrative and then into a game, something anyone can participate in, winning or restarting.

There are two main players in this story—Sadie and Sam, the sometimes collaborators, sometimes best friends, sometimes frenemies. Regardless of their status, though, they are unequivocally connected (always have been) so much so that “[Sadie] almost seemed to be an extension of [Sam], and he, of her” (120). In the cold, grey months of their late-college years, these childhood gamers reconnect in order to collaborate on creating the perfect game—Sam wanting to escape into worlds he builds and controls and Sadie wanting to prove her worth as an elite programmer and artist. Through a series of circumstances, including their authentic chemistry as creators, their relationships with friends and mentors in Cambridge, and the fortuitous time and place of the turn of the century, Sam and Sadie beat the odds, building an overnight success. But their newfound fame, past traumas and insecurities, and complicated working-personal relationships cause a perfect storm, leading to a decades-long odyssey of obstacles and possibility.

This book about gaming and relationships and storytelling is such a worthwhile read, causing a maelstrom of emotions, most especially the slight sting of nostalgia. And it’s that perfectly unique moment in time—right on the cusp of a technological explosion but still in the nascent gaming era—where we get to watch two tragic characters respond to the passing of time; the longing for absent people; and the contrast between an escapist, fantasy world and the reality of a sometimes dark, broken world. In the end, this is a story that you’ll want to restart again and again.… (mehr)

Games People Play

Two young gamers, Sadie and Sam, begin a friendship passing the time during a hospital stay. The friendship develops into a creative relationship and a gaming company.
Along the way the relationship she became strained as the friends begin to play mind games with each other.
I enjoyed the writing, it was a fast read.
The story had insights into relationships, grief, disability as well as the creative process.
Unfortunately I am not a gamer, so the endless description of games bored me.… (mehr)

Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin is a story of friendship and video games. Initially, the story had a slow start, and it took long enough to get to the point. I am myself a video game lover, and it was fascinating to read the technical details of developing a video game. Apart from that, the story focuses on love and friendship. I chose the book as a part of the #52booksin52weeks challenge.

Somewhere, I felt myself dragging myself along with the story. The characters were also not interesting. Although I have heard so much about the book, maybe it was not for me. I would give the book 3 stars.… (mehr)