You aren't just a gamer when you play anymore. You're a builder of worlds, and if you're a builder of worlds, your feelings are not as important as what your gamers are feeling. You must imagine them at all times. There is no artist more empathetic than the game designer.
- Gabrielle Zevi
The duo Sam & Sadie's passion reminded me of Daisy and Billy's passion for singing and lyrical writing from DJATS (Fleetwood Mac). Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow sparsely focuses on so many elements: friendship, passion for games, platonic relationships, millennial nostalgia, Greek mythologies, Shakespeare, arcade games to online games, obedience to teachers, Japanese & Korean traditions, chronic illness, city life in LA and NY, and trigger warnings such as S&M, gun violence, accidents, and grief.
In the real world, Sam is insecure, petty, and has practiced disregarding his physical pain since his early teens. In his other world, he has been the hero, writing his own algorithm to lodge in his PC's mind to become pain-free. In real life, Sadie is an innocent teenager with good programming and gaming skills. In her other world, she has been shedding her blood to create an engine to power her own world or to occasionally impress her lover.
Their Harvard & MIT brains gave me the impression that their passion and devotion to games are the ideal American dream. Their gaming emotions concoct unimaginable life anecdotes. Sam loves to fill a blank slate with grand ideas with his old friend Sadie to create his immortal identity. Sam & Sadie are resolutely optimistic, intending to be intellectual without being academic; dragging their personal trauma for the amusement of the game-buying public and shaping their Mapletown society is uplifting. Sam's creative driving force and boldness in facing life's challenges turn him from an anonymous academic into someone who is respected as a public figure.
Secondary characters almost played the role of primary characters. Sadie's drooling over her idol, 'Dov, made her tough, cynical, and dark, which created her multidimensional characteristics. Marx's positive outlook, creative thinking, and friendship with Sam won my heart more than the mysterious, underdeveloped friendship between Sam & Sadie.
The literary allusions Macbeth quotes for the title, Tamer of Horses, and Peach Orchard, Pioneers, are the artistic achievements of Gabrielle Zevin. This sort of blending of universal themes into the story is new to me. The narratives are fueled by her experiences in Harvard, LA, and NY.
The developer in me anticipated at least a few technical details (except the BASICS) and was disappointed, but I could still relish the story as a non-gamer. The book should have been shortened without getting into nonsensical flashbacks. So, this is a 4.5-star read.
But it is worth that it to be good at something is not quite the same as loving it.
- Gabrielle Zevin
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