Richard Powers is a magnificent writer. A champion of the environment and an amplifier for the underdog. He is the seer of the unseen - in nature and in life, and this novel is no exception. There is a great reason it was longlisted for the Booker Prize (and I'm very surprised it didn't make the shortlist recently) and I can assure readers (especially those who value the work of this author) that it is a stunning and important novel. I won't go into details (nor quote, reveal spoilers) and it will be out shortly (9/24) so preorder if you haven't.

I had the joy of receiving it on audiobook (my favorite modality) and it is extremely well-narrated by a cast of professionals who bring the truly special and unique characters to life. I was extra smitten by the characters Rafi and Evelyn, but enjoyed every single player within the grand story of the novel which, again, illustrates the peril of our planet (this time within oceans and oceanlife primarily). The book does a wonderful job moving through space and time to define what is at stake -- everything!

It's a story of progress vs. greed vs. ignorance vs. power and it is certainly as timely in our modern day culture (around the entire world) as it was in the setting of the novel. Nothing but praise for this book. I've never wanted to drop out of the day-to-day world and immerse myself in the study of oceanography and the mysteries of the ocean than I do now after listening to this book. Richard Powers' research and the depth of his investment in relating the areas he writes about is profound and I just loved "Playground." Thank you to #NetGalley and #WWNorton and #SpotifyAudiobooks for trusting me with this gem.

Playground is a novel with a grand perspective that takes the reader on an adventure of exploration and progress on both personal and global levels, dropping us off right at a precipice of time and choice in the present day.
Written from the perspective of four wildly divergent and remarkable characters the reader travelswith these characters through years of growth and development til we reach the dawn and progression of AI, and the destruction of our environment- with a conclusion that will leave readers pondering on serious issues of our time.
My only drawback was that the novel stops short- with a somewhat vague and dreamlike ending that... for me was less satisfying.
Many Thanks to Net Galley, Spotify Audiobooks, for the advanced copy. Cheers to Eunice Wong who always makes a book better with her smooth and energetic narration.

I listened to the ARC of this novel on audio and I believe that was the main reason I found it so hard to follow vs pay attention to. By the end of the story I still didn't understand the connection between all of the characters or the overall point of the book other than what I can assume was the broad purpose. There were a lot of pieces I loved, most specifically the imagery of the ocean. Thank you to Spotify Audiobooks for the ARC of this story

Playground has all the hallmarks of a Richard Powers book. Multiple timelines, deep concepts, philosophy and fastidious research. In fact I enjoyed this more than Overstory because it was more concise.

The book follows several stories: Billionaire Todd Keen telling us his and his best friend Raffi's stories. Ina Aroita and her family living on a small island in Micronesia and Evie Beaulieu, a famous oceanologist and diver. For most of the book it is unknown how these stories intersect.

I really enjoyed all perspectives. This book deals with soul mates, friendship and the question of humanity. AI has been in the news a lot over the last few years and I find some of the implications terrifying. One thing the book delves into is humanities extinction at the "hands" of AI.

I listened to this book on a road trip with my parents. And our discussions about the book were very interesting. This is definitely a buzzy book that deserves a read.

I also felt that the narration enhanced the story.

One of the most anticipated books of the year! Wow…Playground is epic. The novel is long listed for the Booker. I will skip trying to summarize this book because I will fail to do it justice. It is a book you will want to take your time with. Themes are: technology, environment, AI, art, humanity, play and our vast and glorious unexplored oceans. If you loved the Overstory you will continued to be awed by Richard Powers. 🌊🪸🪼🐋

Evie is obsessed with the sea from a young age, going on countless dives throughout her life. Todd and Rafi become fast friends despite their different upbringings, bonding over their love of games. The inhabitants of a Polynesian island debate whether to allow foreigners to begin a new enterprise on their shores. These stories come together in Richard Powers’s latest novel, a tale of the bonds and joys of life.

I really liked a lot about this book, particularly in the beginning and middle. I found the characters and their stories extremely interesting, in particular Evie and Todd/Rafi in their school days. I genuinely enjoyed reading about them. I think it’s a great depiction of wonder and awe, the things that shock and astound us, large and small. Powers’s writing only serves to highlight this; it is rich, vivid, and lovely.

I do, however, think that an author reaches a certain status at which their editors just don’t edit their books. It doesn’t feel like there is enough here to warrant its length, and it definitely drags in many places. It would definitely have benefited from some cuts. There are lots of descriptions of sea life that go on for pages, and, while beautiful, they don’t add much or drive the plot forward. There are also some problematic sections about people of color, Rafi in particular, that had me cringing.

The ending was an issue for me too, in that I have no idea what happened. I’m not sure whether I missed something, but I truly cannot figure it out.

I think my biggest issue is that much of this feels derivative of THE OVERSTORY, which I loved. Reading this almost cheapened that story for me. The overall structure of the story, the computer portion, even some of the characters — the similarities kept piling up. It was extremely frustrating.

Overall, intriguing and engaging with great style, but definitely has its issues in the end. Three stars.

There were so many interesting explorations here of oceanography, AI, board games, and more. I was so impressed by the breadth of research Powers does for his books—this one and The Overstory. The plot and character relationships were so moving, though the ending left me a bit conflicted. I also struggled with some of the dialogue and descriptions he attributed to his Black character, Rafi, which at times felt like it devolved into stereotypes.

If you’re like me and are fascinated by the ocean, its vastness, eco system, and all the creatures that reside there then I think you’re going to enjoy this one just as much as I did.

Told from multiple perspective that all connect in one way or another. This story tackles so much, from the first female deep sea diver, to the creation of the internet, and eventually the world of AI. It’s hard to put into words just how fantastic, beautiful, and heartbreaking story was. I was profoundly impacted by it and I’m confident it will stay with me for the rest of my life.

With multiple narrators this was an absolutely superb audio, highly recommend!

4 ⭐️

I really enjoyed listening to this one! Chapters followed various characters’ points of view and I loved that each character had their own narrator. The narrators were fantastic and I was fully immersed in the story.

I did not enjoy Overstory, but the characters and story in Playground captivated me and kept my attention. Yes, there is still a powerful message, but, in my opinion, it was more subtly done and less in your face than in Overstory.

Thank you to NetGalley and Spotify Audiobooks for an advanced copy of this audiobook.

This was a beautifully written novel with different storylines that come together around the beauty of the ocean. It will certainly make the best reads of 2024.

Thank you for this ARC.#Spotify #PlaygroundRichardPowers #NetGalley

I think I would have enjoyed this book in print, rather than as an audiobook. The narration was good, and the writing is beautiful, but there was just too much going on to follow it as a listener. I found myself drifting off and needing to rewind to try not to miss anything. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing this ALC in exchange for an honest review.

This is a stunning story. This is a story about Rafi and Todd, two brilliant boys, who meet in high school and become fast friends. While Todd hails from a white, well-off background, Rafi is African American from the underprivileged sections of Chicago. Both boys however have dysfunctional families. It is the story of Ina, Rafi's girlfriend with a Pacific Islander for a mother. It is also the story of Evie Beaulieu who is an expert and passionate female diver, a pioneer in her time. It is the story of Makatea, an island in the French Polynesian cluster with barely 82 inhabitants and a painful history. However, at its heart and soul, this is the of the ocean in all its magical glory and its abundance of fascinating marine creatures, It is the story of the never-ending battle between nature and human quest for development. There is an ever-present theme of evolution through the story, whether it be evolution in nature, human friendships or technology. The author has done a fantastic job of melding myth, folklore, history with modern technology like AI. This is also a beautiful tale about human relationships, love, loss and redemption. If you are a fan of Labutat's Maniac or Zevin's Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow you will love this book. Listening to the audiobook definitely is the way to savor this beautiful prose. Ethereal!!
Thank you Netgalley and Spotify Audiobooks for the ALC.

PLAYGROUND
Richard Powers

Although Richard Powers’ PLAYGROUND is not published in the US yet, it has been longlisted for THE BOOKER PRIZE 2024. It is due to be released on September 24, 2024. The themes in this book are indicative of and like many other titles on the list.

If all the books have a similar theme it is SYMBIOSIS.

But I’m getting ahead of myself and we’re only talking about PLAYGROUND here today. So let’s take a step back and talk about it.

My first experience with Richard Powers didn’t go over well. I DNF’d OVERSTORY and although it was an Oprah Book Club choice, I decided it wasn’t for me. Then I read BEWILDERMENT and was blown away. Powers’ connection to language and to the Earth is extraordinary. And to be a part of it as a reader is a wonderful experience.

PLAYGROUND features characters, but it is more about how we interact with our environment and secondly how we interact with each other. One prominent storyline features a curious young boy who grows into a successful businessman. To have that success he essentially must unbecome a lot of who he is. The two identities cannot exist in the same body.

Is there a version of you that you need to let go of to allow a new rendition to come in?

PLAYGROUND is about symbiosis. How when two things come together a new thing is born. There is no end of us and a beginning to the universe. We extend beyond our human form and part of our expression as humans is how we treat this part of us that is the universe.

You are not a human in the universe. You are the universe.

It is a lot about how we interact with our environment. It’s also about the lasting changes we make to our environment. How all of us who inhabit the EARTH change it for the worse.

In some ways Powers is a literary boy scout. Who wants us to leave this Earth better than we found it. It is in our nature to have dominion over all. To do that we must first have dominion over ourselves.

And every single choice we make as we make it through our days and nights makes a difference. Sam recycling in New York, helps the fish in the deep blue sea in California. Every time we litter or drive our cars, or water our yards unnecessarily, we take. From the forests to the oceans and everything in and between continents.
If you want a flavor of all the books, PLAYGROUND is the one I recommend. An easy Five Stars.

*Full-cast narration


Thanks to W.W. Norton, Netgalley and Spotify Audiobooks for the advanced copies!

PLAYGROUND… ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

3/5 ⭐️
Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity of giving me this ARC in exchange of my honest review. This is the first novel I read of Richard Powers and I really enjoyed the depth he goes on characters development, as well as how interesting they were. I must confess the ending threw me off, I am not sure if I miss something but I couldn’t understand it at all. I am looking forward however, reading more books by this author.

The audio narrators were excellent. The story is told from many different perspectives and I liked some characters more than others. The ending left me confused.

Playground by Richard Powers was an absolute joy to read. The rich cast of characters pulled me in right from the start, and I loved how deeply we got to know each of them. While there were a few moments where certain traits were stated rather than shown, it didn’t take away from the experience. The storytelling kept me on my toes the entire time—I found myself constantly guessing how everything would come together, and the way it unfolded was both surprising and beautiful. The writing itself was gorgeous, adding even more layers to the already captivating narrative. A five-star read for sure!
The audiobook and the various narrators were also really good and made it a very enjoyable experience.

Thanks to NetGalley and Spotify Audiobooks for the advanced copy!

I have never previously read a book by Powers, despite owning a copy of The Overstory. I picked this particular book up in an effort to read the entire 2024 Booker Longlist. Upon finishing it, I’m not quite sure what to think.

Playground is a long, meandering journey. Nothing is straight to the point and at first everything seems disconnected, but the beauty is that as the story progresses everything seems to weave together through our 4 different main characters. It leaves the story feeling both fragmented and complete which is an odd combination.

For me, the best part of this story was Evelyne a forward thinking, deep sea scuba diver. I related very much to her for a multitude of reasons, but primarily in her breaking into the boys club attitude and her passion for the underwater world. As a scuba diver myself, I really loved the descriptions of the ocean.

I did struggle with following everything that was happening in the book. This is clearly really smart writing and I think it would be easy for the average reader to miss bits and pieces.

All in all, this was an interesting experience. I can’t say that I absolutely loved this book, but I didn’t hate it either. I appreciated a lot of its messaging around tech and nature in particular.

The audiobook is also a fantastic option. The narrator reads the various portions very well.

Playground, in this novel, has layers of meaning. To a young islander, it is the world that opens up to her when her father literally throws her in the sea with one of the first types of self-contained underwater breathing apparatus (SCUBA). She is weighted down and scared. He tells her to just breathe. When she does, her life - and the world of the ocean - opens up before her. Playground is a chessboard and then a Go board for two young boys from very different backgrounds who meet in high school and room together at university. They, too, have fathers who demand much (but in their case, give little). One of them later names his software Playground. It also refers to the way in which traditional colonizers view the rest of the world: theirs to extract resources, “civilize” inhabitants, and then neglect.
So it’s no surprise that there are heavy messages underlying all the gorgeous descriptions of underwater life and the accessible stories of the boys’ fraught pasts.
So many things in this novel resonated with me: SCUBA diving, Chicago, a love of books and reading, beachcombing, the game of Go, when my father threw one of my brothers into a pool so he’d learn to swim, creating art by upcycling….the list goes on!
Playground is a book about relationships with people, with nature, and with ourselves. I have enjoyed the Richard Powers novels I have read to date, and this one does not disappoint.
My thanks to the author, publisher, producer, and #NetGalley for early access to #Playground for review purposes.

Playground by Richard Powers is a mind-bending masterpiece that left me utterly captivated. The ending was so unexpected and thought-provoking that I couldn't help but go back and reread it immediately. After diving into another ocean-themed book with magic, this one was a refreshing change of pace. Powers' ability to weave together complex themes and characters is truly remarkable. If you're looking for a thought-provoking and intellectually stimulating read, I highly recommend Playground. It's a 5-star experience that will stay with you long after you finish the last page.

I really wanted to love this, but it was so hard to read. I don't mean to say I shy away from hard to read texts. I mean it in that it felt heavy despite the content being not especially emotionally charged for me. There is just too much. There are too many POVs with an entirely epic setting in terms of both time and place from the depths of the Pacific Ocean to Chicago to Makatea Island. There are beautiful little moments, such as every conversation about the industrialization of Makatea. If the entire book focused on just the simplicity of this island over the years, I'd have loved it perfectly. Instead, this novel sprawls through backstory and modern AI concerns and a midlife sexuality crisis.
I listened to the audiobook and each narrator did a great job of bringing life to their POV. I found each distinct and especially loved the speaker reading Evelyne's chapters.
Thanks to NetGalley and Spotify Audiobooks for this advanced copy to review!