Several of my cousins and friends were involved in the gaming industry going way back to the 80’s. They debugged and tested at Nintendo and later developed more complicated PC games like Portal. Having this inside scoop made the book enjoyable as the author did paint a fairly accurate picture of the industry.

I thoroughly enjoyed the initial character development of Sadie and Sam. Sam and Sadie have depth, feeling and human flaws with which we can identify.

As the book reached the 2nd movement, it felt like certain cultural topics of the day were included for the sole purpose of checking boxes. Debate about a genderless character, check. A nod to #metoo and Hollywood’s issues, check. Systemic race issues, check. The book was published in July 2022. Considering the time it takes to bring a modern novel to market, this particular book’s release means that its authoring would have occurred from 2019 to early 2022. At the exact time these particular topics were top-of-mind for just about anybody who happened to be paying attention.

Now this observation isn’t necessarily negative. Plenty of classics are reflective of their respective eras’ issues. Dicken’s “A Tale of Two Cities” and Sinclare’s “The Jungle”. However, in T & T &T, their inclusion felt forced. As if GZ was trying really hard to be current and topical rather than allowing the story and characters to stand on their own merit.

A further frustration is that quite a few of the cultural check-off-the-list topics Gabrielle included in the book did not drive the story materially forward. Not all, but some, were marginally relevant asides. I’m not sure that their inclusion met the intended purpose unless the purpose was to indeed tip one’s hat to social issues and be melodramatic. Thus, to me their inclusion felt awkward and contrived.

Life contains chaos, there’s a heightened level of chaos in fiction for the sake of story. Then there’s this book, which tries to fit 10 lbs of drama in a 5 lb bag. The cultural hot topic check boxes mentioned previously were only the beginning. Physical handicap, check. Suicide, check. Misogyny, check. Sexism, check. Toxic masculinity, check. Abortion, check. Gay marriage and repeal, check. Abuse, check. Possible bisexuality, check. Drug fueled almost threesome, check. Then the gun violence episode (which was of course material to the story). Yet even that was flavored with homophobic elements. Quite a collection! Throw in a fatal car crash for good measure and it’s quite a bowl of drama soup. A soup with too much spice. Enough with the coriander already! What, now clove oil? No, not more garlic! What started out so well just doesn’t taste like anything but a bunch of unnecessary chaos.

This thought does require some explanation for clarity’s sake. These issues are certainly relevant and worthy of dissection and discussion. I’m not denying the existence and varying degree of problems and circumstances we must navigate in life. What turned me off in the case of the book was the volume of issues conveniently coinciding with the exact widely discussed issues of the day. This felt contrived, as if the writer was purposefully wedging in hot topics first, and secondarily writing a novel. It was overboard in my opinion. Drama for drama’s sake. “Drama, and Drama, and Drama” could have been the book’s title.

The overall story is strong and entertaining. Some sections of prose are particularly elegant. Marx’s coma and death in first person captures the imagination and was engrossing. The penultimate “Pioneer’s” chapter highlights the talents of the author. Experiencing two characters in a book separately involved in a role-playing game requires bringing the reader into another level of consciousness. Think of “Inception” and the movie’s dream within a dream abstraction.

A fine choice and I’m happy to have read this book. Movie rights already secured. Looking forward to it.

Rating 3 Stars (4 for plot, 5 for prose, 1 for melodrama)