‘Game Changer’ was a bit of a game changer for me in that I
have never read anything like it. As you know, I have just discovered this incredible
author, and on the strength of reading ‘Scythe’
I smashed through the trilogy in that series. (Prequel coming out Dec 1 – Yay!!)
I was curious to read something else by Shusterman, and he did not disappoint.
The protagonist, Ash, finds that he is a crucial player in literally
holding the universe together. That is to say, there are multiple universes,
and the integrity of the current world and its peoples (think wealth and
poverty, racism and equality, gender roles…) rests on Ash successfully navigating
some sort of portal. He’s just an ordinary teen living an ordinary life when
all this is discovered through a run-of-the-mill football head tackle which
knocks him out. Confused? I certainly was. And why were there twins in the mix,
standing with their respective skate boards explaining ‘the meaning of life’ to
him?
Every event in the novel has that ‘sliding doors’ potential to
change the outcome of the next event. That’s not new; that’s life:
You rarely stop to think about how life hinges on the
smallest events. Things so small you can’t even really call them events.
Looking right instead of looking left, and missing the person who could have
been the love of your life. Picking the package of meat in the supermarket right
next to the one contaminated with E. coli. Arriving at a door just in time to
hear something you weren’t supposed to hear… (pp.74-5)
That said, the most compelling part of the novel is right up
there with the magic faraway tree – what ‘land’ will the portal take him to the
next time he smashes his head? I was beginning to think the ending of the story
would be that he wakes up in hospital and he has dreamt the whole shebang.
Thankfully Shusterman did not take that route, and the ending proved to be very
satisfying in a sci-fi kinda way.
“But here’s the thing. You know that scientist guy –
Stephen Hawking? Well, right before he died, he published a paper saying that parallel
universes probably exist. They say he would’ve gotten a Nobel Prize for it, but
you gotta be alive to get one of those.”
So you’re saying you believe me now?” …
“If you need my help with this thing that is going
on,” Leo said, “you got my number.” (pp.163 – 4)
This is not a good book for reading on the fly. It would be
too confusing trying to remember which ‘world’ Ash is in. Or maybe that’s just
me.
