I loved this remarkable, complex book by the Pulitzer Prize winning author of Overstory.  This novel takes us on a deep dive into the wonders of the ocean, through themes of game playing, to contemplate the ramifications of AI, and the power of friendship.

It follows four characters: a tall, French Canadian woman who was one of the first deep sea divers, a Polynesian artist, a poor, bright, black scholarship kid from Chicago, and the rich, bright, white son of the scholarship’s benefactor. You could also argue that AI itself is a fifth character.

Like in Overstory, the characters seem unrelated until eventually woven tightly. Each character has an arc from beginning to end, which can bounce between past and present, or present and future. Any disorientation along the way, will melt away if you let it flow over you like the ocean itself.

I concur with the reviewer that wrote this about the unusual twist at the end, “He juggles multiples story lines and seemingly divergent themes–managing to pull them together in a grand finale that is like the thundering yet melodic conclusion to a great symphony.” It is not a completely satisfying ending exactly, but one you’ll keep thinking about.

You need to read this book with a limber mind and some patience, but I found it worth the time. It not only gives you a lot to think about with the sea being the only place on earth yet to be colonized– but also a deep appreciation of all the beauty and mystery there, showing just a fraction of what we have to lose. The descriptions of wildlife and their idiosyncrasies are marvelous, as is the poetic, metaphoric prose.

There are also themes about play examined here. Play can be fun, invigorating, and life-giving, or contrariwise, obsessive, corrosive, and exterminating, so we need to moderate the way we engage with it. We must maintain objective awareness, which is easy to forfeit, if we get too close or involved. We are quietly reminded that there is value too in humility and moderation.

And the value of human relationships? Incalculable, and not surprisingly, that’s where hope lies. But AI? Hum, not so much; reader beware.

Both profoundly philosophical and palpably emotional, this book makes you question reality, presenting a world that is both beautifully inspiring and deeply flawed.  To me, the moral is to value sustainability and community over ambition, but I’m left to wonder if that will be enough to counter unchecked technological progress, in the face of environmental degradation. Ultimately, the world needs stewards, not masters, but how do stewards stop the self appointed masters from ruining it all?

How do you balance progress with preservation? How do we live meaningfully when facing decline? What does it mean to leave a legacy?

As with Overstory when I read it, Playground will win my choice as the best fiction of the year.

I listened to this book on audio with a full cast, which I also recommend. I give this five stars.