BOOK REVIEW: Middlegame by Seanan McGuire, a fantasy book about alchemy

Cover of Middlegame. Review by Markus McDowell

Seanan McGuire. Middlegame. Tor, 2020. 528pp.

This is an intriguing fantasy book, dealing with good and evil among alchemists and their creation, told through two children who are not quite…human.

There has been an interest among fantasy riders and writers for some time with the concept of alchemy. Many of them repeat the tired old tropes, but McQuire has done something a bit different. Already a NYT best-selling, Hugo and Nebula Award-winning author, this book was selected as a finalist for the Hugo Award in 2020, as well as winning the Locus Award for best Fantasy Novel in the same year. Paste Magazine placed it as one of the 30 Best Fantasy Novels of the decade.

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 realize 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.
From Amazon

This is a complex story, revolving around two children who do not know each other, and do not know they are actually enhanced humans as a result of alchemy. They discover they can “talk” to each other in their minds, even though they live on opposite sides of the USA. Unknown to them until much later in life, they are being manipulated as part of a vast plan by a powerful alchemist to reshape the world, humanity, and reality. Among other powers they discover later in life, he is supremely gifted at language; she at mathematics.

The story is disturbing in many ways—some describe it as creepy and mortifying. But this is good writing: take the things that scare us in the shadows and make us face it.

McGuire’s writing style, as always, is compelling and readable. The pace varies, sometimes with long expositions or discussions, but do not take away from the story, though some have criticized it as being too repetitive and boring, I didn’t find it so, and I always wonder if such criticisms are a result of the modern reader’s limited attention span.

Some nice plot twists and unexpected reveals are found throughout, something I always appreciate. Too many books are too predictable. Rodger and Dodger’s characters are well-done. The third-person omniscience POV is perfect for letting them be children and not knowing (or understanding what is going on), while the reader has a bit more info. This keeps the reader from being too confused while still retaining some mystery. The older character of Erin is a nice addition; we are never sure (until the end) where her loyalties actually lie, and some of her actions are appalling and alarming. However, the primary antagonist is a flat, stereotypical evil man trying to take over the world. I almost expected him to twirl his handlebar mustache at times.

Critiques can also be leveled because it appears that some issues are never explained or resolved. What is the Impossible City? What was the antagonist actually trying to accomplish with his machinations? What would the world have looked like if he had succeeded? In other words, the that McGuire has built (where alchemy is real and in action) does have its rules and constraints, yet much is left out. I don’t think this is a fatal flaw—the things we don’t know are not crucial to this enjoyable, fascinating, and disturbing story.

Still, it was a fun book to read, unusual in its plotting and use of alchemy, and the plot twists and unexpected turns keep it interesting through all 500+ pages. If you enjoyed such books as Replica by Lauren Oliver or The Magicians by Lev Grossman, you will probably enjoy this book.