Mañana, y mañana, y mañana

No tenía ni idea de lo que iba a leer, solo sabía que era bueno y que iba de videojuegos, había referencias y eso. Así que imaginé que sería algo de ciencia ficción tipo "Ready player one", iba yo muy despistado 😅.

Pero lo he disfrutado mucho mucho, es una novela, que por supuesto va de la vida misma, y de sus personajes, y que gira en torno a los videojuegos, que disfrutarás más si has jugado y conoces las referencias, pero que tampoco son necesarias.

Me ha tenido muy enganchado, MUY bien escrita, de verdad. Se nota que hay un trabajazo detrás, de personajes que evolucionan y cambian y son verosímiles, y de hilar cosas, para soltar información en el momento adecuado, con desplazamientos en el tiempo que no se sienten como flashbacks/flashforwards típicos (de esos que interrumpen la narración para darte una pieza que justo es necesaria para avanzar la trama) sino muy bien integrados, además del trabajo de documentación sobre el tema.

También me ha gustado mucho que toma riesgos, intenta innovar en formatos, en los títulos de cada parte, en estilos... Y conseguir unir todo esto, consiguiendo que cada cosa aporte en lugar de restar...

En definitiva, me parece una novela muy bien atada, y lo he disfrutado muchísimo. Recomendada!

Never has a book made me feel so nostalgic for all the computer games I played growing up. The book is littered with references to games, both real and the ones created by book's characters, which tell a tale of friendship.

structurally flexible. engaging characters. lightly nostalgic (but not too much!). devoured in 4 days: it was enjoyable!

it was sad, at times. i think i enjoyed all characters? except for probably dov. the rendition of relationships over such a span of time is something i don't recall ever reading. the internal monologues and renditions of conflicts from different points of view were something special, i feel

This is one of those books that attracts you from the very beginning and you can't stop reading (until you realise that you don't want it to end that soon, either!). An interesting and well-written story that follows the successes and failures of its complex characters, driven by their passion for video games and full of lights and shadows. This is a story about gamers, and video games. But it also about life, passion, success and failure but, above all, about human relationships, and lives and worlds that could be but are not. Like a video game with the greatest engine: our imagination. Like a book.

This is the first book in a while that I've had trouble putting down, it kept me reading later than I intended more than once. It's a complex, touching story about friendship and the value of play, which spans several decades. During that time Sam and Sadie meet, have quarrels, make up again, quarrel again, fall in love with other people, and make video games both together and separately.

It's set in the world of video game development so knowing some of those terms probably helps a little but I don't think it's really necessary; it's more about creating art together than the games themselves. (The game making is a little simplified, and as someone who works in the game industry I found it a little unbelievable in places - making an MMO with the staff they appeared to have? No way.) But waving those beside in suspension of disbelief, I doubt they'd bother anyone who doesn't actually make games for a living.

Really the book is about friendship, and flawed, complex characters, and art, and loss, and being human. It's refreshing to read an entire book about a couple that is about friendship rather than romance. It was sweet, and touching, and thought-provoking, and also occasionally annoying when the characters are clearly being idiots, but they're so well written that at least you can understand why they're being idiots. I would highly recommend this book.

Trigger warnings: there are a couple of violent deaths mentioned, and there's non-graphic description of an inappropriate teacher-student relationship with non-consensual bondage elements. These are not dwelled on any more than needed for the story's purposes, but are unavoidable elements of the plot.