Paul DeSantis
Tomorrow, Tomorrow, and Tomorrow admittedly took me some time to get through. It packs a lot of feelings and ideas into one book, but it does a great job of making you feel connected to the characters. There were times where I hated the main characters, and sometimes that can be off-putting, but they are complex and they are not always acting their best. This is true for people in real life too, and there are points where I don't even like myself, but it can be hard to want to continue when you feel like the characters on the page are only making choices that destroy themselves.
Overall, I think the book is well written. There are points where I found some of the dialogue to be a bit cringey. I initially viewed this as being OK because the main characters are nerdy videogame developers, and of course they are going to make some cringey statements, but ultimately there are some points where I believe the author's cringe makes it through to the page.
I did appreciate that the subject was video game development and many of these aspects felt very accurate and informed. I was definitely immersed in the process of watching a new creative business form and grow with their success. People reading this book that are interested in games that aim to teach the player something new should look into "serious games," a bad name for a great genre where the intent of the game is more than just entertainment.
I do have to complain that there is a section of the book that takes place from the perspective of a player playing a farming simulator-esque game that is very immersion breaking. It's not realistic to how anyone could experience a game, and felt a bit more like a sequence where the main character was trapped inside of a video game, as opposed to just playing one. All of the other descriptions of playing games are very genuine and some of the ideas are great (I would love to play "Solution" and "Ichigo").
I must also say that including the sequence with the gunmen felt very cliche to me. It felt like an attempt to just shoehorn another issue into a book that is already filled to the brim with social commentary. I don't think there is a limit to how many different topics a book can cover, but I did feel emotionally drained after so many depressing sections.
Overall, I would recommend this book to someone who has an interest the video game industry. If someone had no interest I worry they might find the video game discussions completely unrelatable.
Tomorrow, Tomorrow, and Tomorrow admittedly took me some time to get through. It packs a lot of feelings and ideas into one book, but it does a great job of making you feel connected to the characters. There were times where I hated the main characters, and sometimes that can be off-putting, but they are complex and they are not always acting their best. This is true for people in real life too, and there are points where I don't even like myself, but it can be hard to want to continue when you feel like the characters on the page are only making choices that destroy themselves.
Overall, I think the book is well written. There are points where I found some of the dialogue to be a bit cringey. I initially viewed this as being OK because the main characters are nerdy videogame developers, and of course they are going to make some cringey statements, but ultimately there are some points where I believe the author's cringe makes it through to the page.
I did appreciate that the subject was video game development and many of these aspects felt very accurate and informed. I was definitely immersed in the process of watching a new creative business form and grow with their success. People reading this book that are interested in games that aim to teach the player something new should look into "serious games," a bad name for a great genre where the intent of the game is more than just entertainment.
I do have to complain that there is a section of the book that takes place from the perspective of a player playing a farming simulator-esque game that is very immersion breaking. It's not realistic to how anyone could experience a game, and felt a bit more like a sequence where the main character was trapped inside of a video game, as opposed to just playing one. All of the other descriptions of playing games are very genuine and some of the ideas are great (I would love to play "Solution" and "Ichigo").
I must also say that including the sequence with the gunmen felt very cliche to me. It felt like an attempt to just shoehorn another issue into a book that is already filled to the brim with social commentary. I don't think there is a limit to how many different topics a book can cover, but I did feel emotionally drained after so many depressing sections.
Overall, I would recommend this book to someone who has an interest the video game industry. If someone had no interest I worry they might find the video game discussions completely unrelatable.