I read Middlegame, by Seanan McGuire, and it is pretty dang good.
I read mainly sci-fi, so this was a departure for me. It’s sort of a modern fantasy book, but the fantasy trappings are alchemical. A boy and girl are separated at birth and have the fundamental characteristics of math and language. They’re supposed to grow up and become embodiments of the core tenets of the universe, and then be used by some Mastermind asshole alchemist, but their connection develops and connects them telepathically across the country, and the story is about them coming into themselves to thwart the asshole. It’s about the relationship between two people under some very strange circumstances, and there’s a lot of lovely little moments as they connect and split apart. I particularly enjoyed the early days when they were young and learning how to share a head with someone else, and also not feeling so alone in the world. Overall some pretty good writing, a really good example of fantasy writing that is about characters while also feeling a little elevated, occasionally almost poetic.
I rolled my eyes at some early chapters that really felt like the villains were standing around and twirling their mustaches. It feels like that high fantasy style that’s pretty annoying, with the villians being super expository as they talk about their plans to rule the world. There’s also lots of murder and little betrayals throughout these sections, so they read as fairly melodramatic. I’m also not sure the ending was very good, but I enjoyed getting there.
Everything else is good. (Apparently the author also writes under Mira Grant, who wrote a bunch of popular zombie novels I see at every library I’ve been to in the last 10 years)
