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Norumbegan Quartet #1
The Game of Sunken Places
When Brian and Gregory receive an invitation to stay at a distant relative's strange manse . . . well, they should know better than to go, since this is a middle-grade adventure novel. But they go anyway. Why not? Once there, they stumble upon The Game of Sunken Places, a board game that mirrors a greater game in which they have suddenly become players. Soon the boys are dealing with attitudinal trolls, warring kingdoms, and some very starchy britches. Luckily, they have wit, deadpan observation, and a keen sense of adventure on their side.
288 pages, Paperback
First published July 1, 2004
About the author
M.T. Anderson
59 books1,112 followersMatthew Tobin Anderson (M. T. Anderson), (1968- ) is an author, primarily of picture books for children and novels for young adults. Anderson lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
His picture books include Handel Who Knew What He Liked; Strange Mr. Satie; The Serpent Came to Gloucester; and Me, All Alone, at the End of the World. He has written such young adult books as Thirsty, Burger Wuss, Feed, The Game of Sunken Places, and Octavian Nothing. For middle grader readers, his novels include Whales on Stilts: M. T. Anderson's Thrilling Tales and its sequel, The Clue of the Linoleum Lederhosen.
-Wikipedia
His picture books include Handel Who Knew What He Liked; Strange Mr. Satie; The Serpent Came to Gloucester; and Me, All Alone, at the End of the World. He has written such young adult books as Thirsty, Burger Wuss, Feed, The Game of Sunken Places, and Octavian Nothing. For middle grader readers, his novels include Whales on Stilts: M. T. Anderson's Thrilling Tales and its sequel, The Clue of the Linoleum Lederhosen.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 246 reviews
October 26, 2010
Reviewed by Rusty Key Writer: Jordan B. Nielsen
Recommended for: There’s nothing in particular to exclude girls from this book, but it’s likely better suited to boys with its tendency to skip past all that boring emotional and character development business and get right into the action. Ages 10 and Up
One Word Summary: Messy.
It was Anton Chekhov who said, “If you say in the first chapter that there is a rifle hanging on the wall, in the second or third chapter it absolutely must go off. If it's not going to be fired, it shouldn't be hanging there.” Well Chekhov might well have thrown ‘The Game of Sunken Places’ out the window in frustration, a book tantamount to a gun store full of empty chambers.
The promising premise of The Game of Sunken Places concerns two thirteen-year-old boys, Gregory and his friend Brian, who for some reason are permitted by their parents (who allegedly exist though there is no evidence of them) to take up the invitation (literal, calligraphic paper invitation) of Gregory’s ‘Uncle Max’ (who of course isn’t actually related to the family, but is some sort of friend of Gregory’s father) who Gregory himself has only met once as a young child, to come and stay at his strange mansion in the countryside of Vermont for the boys’ “October Vacation” (two inexplicable weeks off at the start of the school year, which according to Wikipedia actually does happen in Ireland, The Netherlands, the UK and Germany, but they’re only afforded one week, and guess where this book isn’t set.) Have you swallowed those pills? Ok, lets keep going.
Once at the house, things obviously start to get weird. Uncle Max, predictably senile, forces Gregory and Brian to don 19th century boys’ clothes, (which he happens to have lying around in his childless house) just, you know, because. Gregory’s actual cousin, the twenty-year-old Prudence is something of a ward to Uncle Max, and through years of potential mental reconditioning seems to be in on the Victorian era fun, wearing giant starched collars and needlepointing up a storm. In the creepily frozen ‘nursery’ that the boys sleep in they first encounter the game board, a dirty, ancient thing that spring to life as they stare at it. By turning over the hourglass in the center, Gregory commits both himself and Brian as pawns in a kind of live-action-role play game that takes them into the surreal forest surrounding Uncle Max’s property. Riddles must be solved, objects must be found, and the boys follow through with unwavering conviction though nothing is personally at stake for them, their lives are continually threatened by the game’s obstacles, and neither of them seem to be having any fun in the process.
Early on I was tempted to describe this book as ‘What would have happened if David Lynch wrote Jumangi’, but I think that would be giving the book too much credit. Even in Lynch’s ludicrous and delightfully absurd world of ‘Twin Peaks’ there was a linear narrative and you had the sense that you were at least playing with the same deck of cards as the bizarre characters.
As ‘Sunken Places’ went on I found it more akin to listening to a seven year-old boy try to explain his fantastic imaginings to you: there are glimmers of a rich and incredibly complex world coming through in the story that occasionally draw you into the phantasmagoria, but the rest of it is basically incoherent. Anderson may know what’s going on intimately, but all you’re given are broken ends. As a great fan of his previous work ‘Feed’ I was stunned by the chaotic sloppiness of this book. Whether it was arrogance or laziness that led to this mess I’m not sure, but as the boys wandered through dark, subterranean caverns able to see only what their feeble lantern illuminated, I couldn’t help but feel that image was the perfect metaphor for the experience of reading this story.
Time travel, trolls, robots, parallel dimensions, Elvin creatures, ancient empires and teleporting wormholes all make appearances, in this story, as if Scholastic’s entire children’s book catalogue vomited into Uncle Max’s woods. It’s eventually discovered that the boys aren’t just playing this shapeless game for the joys of sleeping on the ground in the rain, but in fact the fate of two supernatural races hangs in the balance, and this ritual that the boys have either clumsily wandered into or have been purposely chosen for (it isn’t made clear) has been going on for centuries. The Scooby-Doo style ending where all is reveled and some of the questions are given answers that only spawn more questions, doesn’t cause so much of an “Oh!” as an “Oh? Oh.”
I have to take a moment to talk about the strangeness of the writing itself, because for a book that’s only 260 pages long it seemed to take an eternity to read, and I realized that was because on nearly every page there were sentences and paragraphs that I had to go back and read again because they were so puzzling. For example at one point, Gregory climbs to the top of a mound overlooking the forest, which is continually described as being in the height of Autumnal splendor, but as he reaches the top, “Leaves and branches stretched before him like a metallic fog.” Sorry, but how exactly is that? Yes it was somewhat overcast that day, but then would you describe the SKY as looking like a metallic fog? And what’s a metallic fog? Fog is already gray. When they first encounter the troll he is described as “a spindly being that was squat like a kettle.” How can something be spindly and squat at the same time? Spindly means tall and thin, squat means short and fat. Pray tell? In describing Prudence sewing he says “She sewed a fancy-work pattern onto a handkerchief. Her hand moved rhythmically and quickly across the fabric, like a well-handle pumping –as if at any moment, she wound start drooling out water.” It’s possible that M.T. Anderson has never seen anyone sew in his entire life, but suffice it to say that if Prudence was sewing in a way that one might compare to the action of pumping a well she would both stab herself repeatedly with the needle and have an awful mess of a handkerchief pattern. You can say I’m being picky, but it’s like this on almost every page; these little throw away asides that are actually huge stumbling points for anyone who is even halfway paying attention.
In the edition of this book that I read there is a lengthy Q&A with the author at the end that seems both like an apology from the publisher and an attempt to explain what in the world he was talking about. When asked about the development of the story Anderson says “I first wrote this novel when I was about eighteen years old. It was much longer and the plot was much more obvious. At the time, as I recall it, I sent it out to publishers, but of course received nothing but rejections – because it was far too clearly the work of someone who didn’t know what he was doing.” One wonders if he re-drafted.
For more reviews from The Rusty Key, visit us at www.therustykey.com
Recommended for: There’s nothing in particular to exclude girls from this book, but it’s likely better suited to boys with its tendency to skip past all that boring emotional and character development business and get right into the action. Ages 10 and Up
One Word Summary: Messy.
It was Anton Chekhov who said, “If you say in the first chapter that there is a rifle hanging on the wall, in the second or third chapter it absolutely must go off. If it's not going to be fired, it shouldn't be hanging there.” Well Chekhov might well have thrown ‘The Game of Sunken Places’ out the window in frustration, a book tantamount to a gun store full of empty chambers.
The promising premise of The Game of Sunken Places concerns two thirteen-year-old boys, Gregory and his friend Brian, who for some reason are permitted by their parents (who allegedly exist though there is no evidence of them) to take up the invitation (literal, calligraphic paper invitation) of Gregory’s ‘Uncle Max’ (who of course isn’t actually related to the family, but is some sort of friend of Gregory’s father) who Gregory himself has only met once as a young child, to come and stay at his strange mansion in the countryside of Vermont for the boys’ “October Vacation” (two inexplicable weeks off at the start of the school year, which according to Wikipedia actually does happen in Ireland, The Netherlands, the UK and Germany, but they’re only afforded one week, and guess where this book isn’t set.) Have you swallowed those pills? Ok, lets keep going.
Once at the house, things obviously start to get weird. Uncle Max, predictably senile, forces Gregory and Brian to don 19th century boys’ clothes, (which he happens to have lying around in his childless house) just, you know, because. Gregory’s actual cousin, the twenty-year-old Prudence is something of a ward to Uncle Max, and through years of potential mental reconditioning seems to be in on the Victorian era fun, wearing giant starched collars and needlepointing up a storm. In the creepily frozen ‘nursery’ that the boys sleep in they first encounter the game board, a dirty, ancient thing that spring to life as they stare at it. By turning over the hourglass in the center, Gregory commits both himself and Brian as pawns in a kind of live-action-role play game that takes them into the surreal forest surrounding Uncle Max’s property. Riddles must be solved, objects must be found, and the boys follow through with unwavering conviction though nothing is personally at stake for them, their lives are continually threatened by the game’s obstacles, and neither of them seem to be having any fun in the process.
Early on I was tempted to describe this book as ‘What would have happened if David Lynch wrote Jumangi’, but I think that would be giving the book too much credit. Even in Lynch’s ludicrous and delightfully absurd world of ‘Twin Peaks’ there was a linear narrative and you had the sense that you were at least playing with the same deck of cards as the bizarre characters.
As ‘Sunken Places’ went on I found it more akin to listening to a seven year-old boy try to explain his fantastic imaginings to you: there are glimmers of a rich and incredibly complex world coming through in the story that occasionally draw you into the phantasmagoria, but the rest of it is basically incoherent. Anderson may know what’s going on intimately, but all you’re given are broken ends. As a great fan of his previous work ‘Feed’ I was stunned by the chaotic sloppiness of this book. Whether it was arrogance or laziness that led to this mess I’m not sure, but as the boys wandered through dark, subterranean caverns able to see only what their feeble lantern illuminated, I couldn’t help but feel that image was the perfect metaphor for the experience of reading this story.
Time travel, trolls, robots, parallel dimensions, Elvin creatures, ancient empires and teleporting wormholes all make appearances, in this story, as if Scholastic’s entire children’s book catalogue vomited into Uncle Max’s woods. It’s eventually discovered that the boys aren’t just playing this shapeless game for the joys of sleeping on the ground in the rain, but in fact the fate of two supernatural races hangs in the balance, and this ritual that the boys have either clumsily wandered into or have been purposely chosen for (it isn’t made clear) has been going on for centuries. The Scooby-Doo style ending where all is reveled and some of the questions are given answers that only spawn more questions, doesn’t cause so much of an “Oh!” as an “Oh? Oh.”
I have to take a moment to talk about the strangeness of the writing itself, because for a book that’s only 260 pages long it seemed to take an eternity to read, and I realized that was because on nearly every page there were sentences and paragraphs that I had to go back and read again because they were so puzzling. For example at one point, Gregory climbs to the top of a mound overlooking the forest, which is continually described as being in the height of Autumnal splendor, but as he reaches the top, “Leaves and branches stretched before him like a metallic fog.” Sorry, but how exactly is that? Yes it was somewhat overcast that day, but then would you describe the SKY as looking like a metallic fog? And what’s a metallic fog? Fog is already gray. When they first encounter the troll he is described as “a spindly being that was squat like a kettle.” How can something be spindly and squat at the same time? Spindly means tall and thin, squat means short and fat. Pray tell? In describing Prudence sewing he says “She sewed a fancy-work pattern onto a handkerchief. Her hand moved rhythmically and quickly across the fabric, like a well-handle pumping –as if at any moment, she wound start drooling out water.” It’s possible that M.T. Anderson has never seen anyone sew in his entire life, but suffice it to say that if Prudence was sewing in a way that one might compare to the action of pumping a well she would both stab herself repeatedly with the needle and have an awful mess of a handkerchief pattern. You can say I’m being picky, but it’s like this on almost every page; these little throw away asides that are actually huge stumbling points for anyone who is even halfway paying attention.
In the edition of this book that I read there is a lengthy Q&A with the author at the end that seems both like an apology from the publisher and an attempt to explain what in the world he was talking about. When asked about the development of the story Anderson says “I first wrote this novel when I was about eighteen years old. It was much longer and the plot was much more obvious. At the time, as I recall it, I sent it out to publishers, but of course received nothing but rejections – because it was far too clearly the work of someone who didn’t know what he was doing.” One wonders if he re-drafted.
For more reviews from The Rusty Key, visit us at www.therustykey.com
March 7, 2015
I really, really enjoyed this book. I loved how it was unpredictable and I never knew what would happen next. I also loved the characters of Brian and Kalgrash. The only thing I didn't like was part of the ending, but I still found the book funny, intriguing, suspenseful, surprising, and, at times, tragic and scary.
I listened to this on tape, and much of my enjoyment came from the narrator's wonderful ability to put so much personality into the different voices!
I listened to this on tape, and much of my enjoyment came from the narrator's wonderful ability to put so much personality into the different voices!
September 10, 2012
I discovered this series because Anderson came out with the final installment recently. It promises to be a fantasy series that engages and challenges middle readers. Plus it is a wonderful way to introduce younger readers to M.T. Anderson--one of today's preeminent YA authors. Originally written as a stand-alone novel in 2004, Anderson came back in 2010-2012 to publish three more novels composing the Norumbegan Quartet. I expect these novels to be stronger than the first, but "The Game of Sunken Places" is a good start. I look forward to reading more about 13-year-old protagonists Gregory and Brian, "friends for life."
Written in the vein of Susan Cooper and C.S. Lewis, our two young heroes head off to wilds of Vermont for school break, to visit Cousin Prudence and eccentric Uncle Max. There a magical adventure awaits them in the form of a life-and-death game. With Victorian and Gothic overtones, the boys venture into the woods and underground, where creatures from another world await. The friendship dynamic between the boys is more complex and interesting than other such middle-reader fantasy adventures, and the characters and terrain of their fantasy world are equally appealing and dangerous (again, promising good stories to come in the series). What I like about Anderson is that he is equally entertaining, cerebral, and original. This novel is more mainstream than some of his other works, but he still throws in good doses of quirky humor and horror, with splashes of the bizarre. Plus, Brian is an especially thoughtful character, which I appreciated.
Written in the vein of Susan Cooper and C.S. Lewis, our two young heroes head off to wilds of Vermont for school break, to visit Cousin Prudence and eccentric Uncle Max. There a magical adventure awaits them in the form of a life-and-death game. With Victorian and Gothic overtones, the boys venture into the woods and underground, where creatures from another world await. The friendship dynamic between the boys is more complex and interesting than other such middle-reader fantasy adventures, and the characters and terrain of their fantasy world are equally appealing and dangerous (again, promising good stories to come in the series). What I like about Anderson is that he is equally entertaining, cerebral, and original. This novel is more mainstream than some of his other works, but he still throws in good doses of quirky humor and horror, with splashes of the bizarre. Plus, Brian is an especially thoughtful character, which I appreciated.
April 4, 2012
Despite some wildly funny lines and an unusual setting, not enough of this story worked well enough to make it a very enjoyable read. The basic problem is one many "boy" adventure books have: the main character (or here, characters) have plenty of opponents, but we never know what their motivation is, other than a vague notion that games are cool, even ones that threaten your life, and ought to be played just, well, cuz. Their relationship doesn't change, and the only place in the story where they become aware that their experience is kind of strange is when they have a single "we're not in Kansas anymore" moment.
The only really interesting characters are the bizarre uncle, who gets off a few hilarious lines, and a troll who is in fact the only one whose character actually develops. I'll give M.T. Anderson props for coming up with some wild ideas and some entertaining sequences, but by and large the story has too many sunken places of its own.
(BTW I met Mr. Anderson at a conference, he's a delightfully funny fellow, and clearly knows how to write. Which is why I found this book so puzzlingly unsatisfying.)
The only really interesting characters are the bizarre uncle, who gets off a few hilarious lines, and a troll who is in fact the only one whose character actually develops. I'll give M.T. Anderson props for coming up with some wild ideas and some entertaining sequences, but by and large the story has too many sunken places of its own.
(BTW I met Mr. Anderson at a conference, he's a delightfully funny fellow, and clearly knows how to write. Which is why I found this book so puzzlingly unsatisfying.)
October 2, 2011
This was a fantasy novel by M.T. Anderson, a YA author that I have never read before. I will say that this book dragged a little for me, but I think that was more due to the fact that I didn't really have time to give it the attention that it deserved, so I think that might have been part of the problem--starting and stopping so sporadically. I thought that the concept was really fun and that kids would probably love it. It is about two friends who go to visit one of the boys' great-uncle at his old victorian mansion out in the forests of Vermont. Gregory's uncle insists on living the life of an old-fashioned estate owner and he s singularly odd and creepy. The boys stumble upon this board game that looks like the grounds of Uncle Max's home, and they start playing. Mayhem ensues as they are sucked into this scary and fantastical world where they are playing a game against an ancient hidden race of people that live below the earth. I was suspecting that this would be like the movie "Jumanji" because it sounded a lot like is from the book jacket, but it was more like a Harry Potter book. The boys are on a quest and have enemies along the way that try to hinder their progress. It had some violence and scary parts but it wasn't too gory and there was humor in parts. It did the annoying thing of trying to have really suspenseful cliff-hangers at the end of the chapters and then you turn the page and find out that it isn't actually as scary as the last page made it sound, which bothered me a lot and rattled my trust in the author a little because I stopped believing him. All in all, although this kind of book isn't my cup of tea I thought that it was fun and an interesting concept that mixed fantasy with suspense.
January 24, 2014
In my own opinion, the book, “The Game of Sunken Places,” was intense at the ending but it didn't really catch my attention at all in the beginning. Some parts of the book had no meaning or any point of being there for that matter such as the instance of meeting the beast that dwells in the silver lined cave of metallic webs.
The characters in the story all work together to get the same outcome. In order to beat the game and win, the two boys must work together to solve puzzles and defeat incredible foes and outsmart many creatures in order to get to the end. They get some help from a crazy Uncle which still thinks he lives in the past and an unknowing cousin, named Prudence, who knows more about the game than you might think. Their choices lead to the outcome of a hidden race and the determining move in an unseen war.
The settings change dramatically depending on what the situation is going from surrounded by hills into a cave that is the home of a disfigured giant. In one of the chapters it displays a little house off the path, and when one of the characters venture into the house, they see many horrors as there is a blood like substance splashed on the walls and floor. This particular story takes place in the secluded woods of Vermont, where everything seems normal besides one house which looks very unusual, seeing as how they are in modern times and the house looks as if it's from two hundred years ago.
I would recommend this book to all people age ten and up. The reason as to being ten and up is, in the one of the last chapters of the book there is a scene filled with gore as where a man brutally bashes a poor kid’s head into a stone floor and blood is leaking out of his head.
The characters in the story all work together to get the same outcome. In order to beat the game and win, the two boys must work together to solve puzzles and defeat incredible foes and outsmart many creatures in order to get to the end. They get some help from a crazy Uncle which still thinks he lives in the past and an unknowing cousin, named Prudence, who knows more about the game than you might think. Their choices lead to the outcome of a hidden race and the determining move in an unseen war.
The settings change dramatically depending on what the situation is going from surrounded by hills into a cave that is the home of a disfigured giant. In one of the chapters it displays a little house off the path, and when one of the characters venture into the house, they see many horrors as there is a blood like substance splashed on the walls and floor. This particular story takes place in the secluded woods of Vermont, where everything seems normal besides one house which looks very unusual, seeing as how they are in modern times and the house looks as if it's from two hundred years ago.
I would recommend this book to all people age ten and up. The reason as to being ten and up is, in the one of the last chapters of the book there is a scene filled with gore as where a man brutally bashes a poor kid’s head into a stone floor and blood is leaking out of his head.
August 7, 2013
I read this in middle school and really loved it.
I found it to be a winding story that never seemed to reveal just everything you needed to know and the ending was really a "twist ending". I truly had no idea that THAT was what was coming.
I really love the whole "giant game o' death" theme. I find that all these kinds of choices of where to go, what to do, and the like was interesting. I just love thinking about all these different "variations" that a game could go.
I felt that the game wasn't completely revealed to the reader. Like, the main characters only traveled outward here and here this much, but on the map there is so much "shrouded in darkness" that could be waiting for them to find it.
I really had no problem with this book. I loved it. I guess I'll read the reviews as to why this was rated so low.
Hey, at least it isn't Twilight, right?
3-minutes-after-uploading-this-edit: Okay, so quite a few people are saying this book would appeal more to boys than girls. Okay? I don't really see how gender could factor into this. I mean, if this book was about a wrestling team or a book about racing go karts or something I would understand. I think the lack of emotional development or whatever was PERFECT for this book and me at the time, since I was like, twelve years old and didn't give a shit about people acting all "sentimental" and "weak" like a girl who's just pumping out hormones would be. Twelve year old girl, woo hoo?
I found it to be a winding story that never seemed to reveal just everything you needed to know and the ending was really a "twist ending". I truly had no idea that THAT was what was coming.
I really love the whole "giant game o' death" theme. I find that all these kinds of choices of where to go, what to do, and the like was interesting. I just love thinking about all these different "variations" that a game could go.
I felt that the game wasn't completely revealed to the reader. Like, the main characters only traveled outward here and here this much, but on the map there is so much "shrouded in darkness" that could be waiting for them to find it.
I really had no problem with this book. I loved it. I guess I'll read the reviews as to why this was rated so low.
Hey, at least it isn't Twilight, right?
3-minutes-after-uploading-this-edit: Okay, so quite a few people are saying this book would appeal more to boys than girls. Okay? I don't really see how gender could factor into this. I mean, if this book was about a wrestling team or a book about racing go karts or something I would understand. I think the lack of emotional development or whatever was PERFECT for this book and me at the time, since I was like, twelve years old and didn't give a shit about people acting all "sentimental" and "weak" like a girl who's just pumping out hormones would be. Twelve year old girl, woo hoo?
November 22, 2010
M.T. Anderson--Fantasy Fiction
Brian and Gregory take their Holiday at Gregory's Uncle's mansion (however, the actual relation is somewhat debatable). When Brian and Gregory get there they find themselves transported into a time when denim and video games are unheard of. Forced to wear bloomers, the boys search the house to find a means to entertain themselves. They then come across a board game that seems a little bit more real than would be expected.The board game soon starts to come alive in respect to solving riddles and passing through bridges guarded by trolls in order to unlock the next clues of the game. The boys think they are playing against a mysterious figure Jack Stimple, when in the end they discover that they are actually playing against each other and every creature involved and Uncle Max himself are in reality robots. In order to save themselves and let the game end, Brian lets Gregory win the game.
This was the most odd book...okay one of them, that I have ever read. From the beginning the story really did not make sense and the twist in the conclusion just serves to further confuse the audience rather than clarify anything. Anderson's writing was at times quite humorous, but then at other times unorganized and slow. All in all, I didn't enjoy this book and would rarely recommend it to anyone.
Brian and Gregory take their Holiday at Gregory's Uncle's mansion (however, the actual relation is somewhat debatable). When Brian and Gregory get there they find themselves transported into a time when denim and video games are unheard of. Forced to wear bloomers, the boys search the house to find a means to entertain themselves. They then come across a board game that seems a little bit more real than would be expected.The board game soon starts to come alive in respect to solving riddles and passing through bridges guarded by trolls in order to unlock the next clues of the game. The boys think they are playing against a mysterious figure Jack Stimple, when in the end they discover that they are actually playing against each other and every creature involved and Uncle Max himself are in reality robots. In order to save themselves and let the game end, Brian lets Gregory win the game.
This was the most odd book...okay one of them, that I have ever read. From the beginning the story really did not make sense and the twist in the conclusion just serves to further confuse the audience rather than clarify anything. Anderson's writing was at times quite humorous, but then at other times unorganized and slow. All in all, I didn't enjoy this book and would rarely recommend it to anyone.
February 4, 2014
I didn't like this book. It is confusing and hard to get into. I just don't understand it. I know it is part of a quartet but there should be some explanation as to what is going on. It is too unbelievable that anyone's parents would send their young son off to stay with a man that isn't really part of the family. Also someone that they have very little contact with and haven't seen in a few years. I just don't buy it. Not to mention the fact that he requests him bring another male friend with him. Okay as a parent that right there would bring up some red flags. Then once at the creepy Uncle's house the guy burns everything you have brought with you and makes you wear special outfits that just happen to fit you and your friend. That is all without adding the mysterious game that you are suppose to play. I only finish this story to see if I find out what is going on. It is creepy and too far out for my liking.
Okay I finished it. I still don't like it and it still confuses me. It has a vague explanation at the end but, while I know what is going on, I don't fully understand why or how. The descriptions of the surroundings are unclear. It is hard to picture the landscape and so it is difficult to really get into the book. I am just glad it's over.
Okay I finished it. I still don't like it and it still confuses me. It has a vague explanation at the end but, while I know what is going on, I don't fully understand why or how. The descriptions of the surroundings are unclear. It is hard to picture the landscape and so it is difficult to really get into the book. I am just glad it's over.
December 19, 2015
Wow. This is weird, and occasionally macabre, and sure, often it reads like a story propelled solely by an idea, and there are elements that don't make much sense - but the novel is creepy enough - and action-y enough - that it compensates for that.
June 14, 2021
I picked this up at a used bookstore because I was desperate for more books and couldn't go to the library and I hate reading books on my phone. I'm really glad I took a chance on it, because I enjoyed it a lot.
July 18, 2023
Dang, this book was a mess! But not so much of a mess as to stop me going through it. Just enough that I don't really understand why anyone did anything. The plot just kind of jumped around and introduced things without ever really building them. Read like mediocre Jumanji-style fanfic.
January 11, 2019
This story follows Gregory and Brian on their adventures. They decide to take a vacation at Uncle Max's house it all seems normal. But then they find a board game in a hidden room that is based on the house and the area surrounding. So they decide they have to figure out how to finish the game.
September 26, 2023
Lots of twists and turns. I would have liked more character development. I like this author’s sense of humor.
November 16, 2018
So, I actually have a bit of an interesting history with this book. This paperback sat on various shelves in my various bedrooms for the entirety of my childhood, collecting dust. I got it at a book-fair in third grade, unable to find anything that seemed more interesting. I'm now twenty years old, and the fact that the book remains in near-mint condition is testament to the fact that I never cracked it open once in the thirteen or fourteen years I've owned it. I was inspired to finally give it a chance when I noticed recently that it was written by M.T. Anderson (I had never even looked at the cover long enough to realize.) I read Thirsty early on in the year and I thought it was pretty enjoyable, so I was interested in seeing what one of his other books were like. No single piece of story-based media can live up to a fourteen year build-up, but I was still disappointed.
Not as much as I thought I would be, to be honest, but still disappointed. I feel like Thirsty did a good job of keeping the narrative concise and focused, The Game of Sunken Places does not. There's a lot of complexity here regarding long-dead races, archaic ruins and ancient cultures of war-and-game, but the book just isn't long enough to flesh these ideas out. There are actually a couple loose threads here in general, now that I think about it. A character conflict is set up between Brian and Gregory in regards to Gregory's inability to take anything seriously. It's sort of hinted that Gregory uses his humor as an emotional block of sorts a la Dead Pool, but this is promptly forgotten about and not built upon. I also feel like the Troll's sub-plot wasn't adequately concluded, even thought all the main points were hit. I just feels... Slap-dash, thrown together, not really thought out all the way.
Even considering all these flaws, though, I don't think it's a bad story. If you can get past the occasional cringe-y joke, relatively shallow characters and a time-travelling narrative that doesn't really stand-up to major scrutiny, you'll probably enjoy The Game of Sunken Places. Taken as a piece of non-intensive genre fiction, it's an entertaining adventure that rolls through some of my favorite types of settings, even reminding me of Dark Souls sometimes with the way this semi-linear world is laid out and the medieval-gothic architecture and atmospheres it displays. It doesn't overstay its welcome either. At around two-hundred-fifty pages, some of the more complex ideas get lost in the noise, but the whole thing stands as a whimsical adventure more-so than a literary phenomena. To judge it in that way is unfair, in my mind.
Not as much as I thought I would be, to be honest, but still disappointed. I feel like Thirsty did a good job of keeping the narrative concise and focused, The Game of Sunken Places does not. There's a lot of complexity here regarding long-dead races, archaic ruins and ancient cultures of war-and-game, but the book just isn't long enough to flesh these ideas out. There are actually a couple loose threads here in general, now that I think about it. A character conflict is set up between Brian and Gregory in regards to Gregory's inability to take anything seriously. It's sort of hinted that Gregory uses his humor as an emotional block of sorts a la Dead Pool, but this is promptly forgotten about and not built upon. I also feel like the Troll's sub-plot wasn't adequately concluded, even thought all the main points were hit. I just feels... Slap-dash, thrown together, not really thought out all the way.
Even considering all these flaws, though, I don't think it's a bad story. If you can get past the occasional cringe-y joke, relatively shallow characters and a time-travelling narrative that doesn't really stand-up to major scrutiny, you'll probably enjoy The Game of Sunken Places. Taken as a piece of non-intensive genre fiction, it's an entertaining adventure that rolls through some of my favorite types of settings, even reminding me of Dark Souls sometimes with the way this semi-linear world is laid out and the medieval-gothic architecture and atmospheres it displays. It doesn't overstay its welcome either. At around two-hundred-fifty pages, some of the more complex ideas get lost in the noise, but the whole thing stands as a whimsical adventure more-so than a literary phenomena. To judge it in that way is unfair, in my mind.
June 30, 2011
"To all those authors who showed me that evil could be fought while on vacation, wearing knee socks," reads the dedication at the front of M. T. Anderson's The Game of Sunken Places. Indeed, The Game is written in the vein of a classic children's adventure novel: two thirteen year-old best friends, Brian & Gregory, receive an invitation to spend two weeks at the sprawling, secluded mansion of Gregory's uncle in Vermont. Shortly after arriving, the boys find themselves forced into playing a real-life board game with unknown rules and mysterious stakes, where the mansion, mountains, and woods are the board.
But this adventure novel has a few twists. To begin with, the dialogue is much funnier than your average YA adventure novel. Secondly, M. T. Anderson's unusual sense of creativity shines through: even though this general plot set-up has been done a thousand times, The Game of Sunken Places contains all of the best elements of the genre but feels completely fresh. So halfway through, I felt like this book was a perfect, five star YA adventure. But with about one quarter of the book left to go, I felt a a star start to slip simply because it was 10:30 p.m., I had sixty pages left, and I needed to go to bed--but the story had become so sinister that I didn't want to fall asleep without reaching the ending! I guess I prefer my adventures a little less grim. But even if it wasn't 100% to my tastes in that department, I still think it was a great book. True, Anderson never really does explain everything, but I actually found that kind of refreshing since sometimes it seems like authors are always tying everything up into nice little bows. Recommended especially to fans of John Bellairs.
But this adventure novel has a few twists. To begin with, the dialogue is much funnier than your average YA adventure novel. Secondly, M. T. Anderson's unusual sense of creativity shines through: even though this general plot set-up has been done a thousand times, The Game of Sunken Places contains all of the best elements of the genre but feels completely fresh. So halfway through, I felt like this book was a perfect, five star YA adventure. But with about one quarter of the book left to go, I felt a a star start to slip simply because it was 10:30 p.m., I had sixty pages left, and I needed to go to bed--but the story had become so sinister that I didn't want to fall asleep without reaching the ending! I guess I prefer my adventures a little less grim. But even if it wasn't 100% to my tastes in that department, I still think it was a great book. True, Anderson never really does explain everything, but I actually found that kind of refreshing since sometimes it seems like authors are always tying everything up into nice little bows. Recommended especially to fans of John Bellairs.
September 9, 2017
Sometimes, when you read a book that doesn't seem to make much sense, your mind is later blown as the author brings everything together in an awesome way. Sadly, that's not what happens here. 150 pages into the book and I still didn't feel a cohesive thread or feel like I had a handle on what, exactly, was my reason for continuing to the next page. And by the end, even though there were a couple of surprises, I was very disappointed in the plot, all the loose ends, and the way that everything gets explained to you on the last 5 pages. Too late! By that point, I no longer really cared what the point of it all was; I just wanted to finish the book so I could get credit on bookreads for reading it!
Also, there's one female character. One. And she says maybe five sentences total. And is very boring (it is pointed out how boring she is). The rest are male, and while nobody in the book finds them boring, I DID! Such generic characters. The most interesting, relatable, and human character is barely a side character, and he isn't even actually human.
So, yeah. I guess I really didn't like this book. Thumbs down from me. And it's a quadrilogy?! No thanks.
Editing to add: I've heard great things about his book Feed, and Octavian Nothing was brilliant. So I don't understand how he wrote this terrible book.
Also, there's one female character. One. And she says maybe five sentences total. And is very boring (it is pointed out how boring she is). The rest are male, and while nobody in the book finds them boring, I DID! Such generic characters. The most interesting, relatable, and human character is barely a side character, and he isn't even actually human.
So, yeah. I guess I really didn't like this book. Thumbs down from me. And it's a quadrilogy?! No thanks.
Editing to add: I've heard great things about his book Feed, and Octavian Nothing was brilliant. So I don't understand how he wrote this terrible book.
September 6, 2016
The Game of Sunken Places has at its core several relatively humdrum concepts: a board game that plays for real, a hidden kingdom, two friends (one timid, one outgoing), a race to save the (or a) world. This isn't so bad since so much fantasy works with the same basic materials. The question is whether the author transcends the familiar and here the answer tends to be no.
The story follows a pair of thirteen-year-old friends, Gregory and Brian, as they go up to Vermont to visit Uncle Max (not really related) and cousin Prudence. Tension is set from the start by a surprisingly dark intro piece set at Max's. Once the boys arrive, they become quickly embroiled in playing the game, or, as it's referred to by everyone, The Game, the board version of which they found in the old nursery. The boys must solve riddles; avoid near-fatal run-ins with their ... Read More: http://www.fantasyliterature.com/revi...
The story follows a pair of thirteen-year-old friends, Gregory and Brian, as they go up to Vermont to visit Uncle Max (not really related) and cousin Prudence. Tension is set from the start by a surprisingly dark intro piece set at Max's. Once the boys arrive, they become quickly embroiled in playing the game, or, as it's referred to by everyone, The Game, the board version of which they found in the old nursery. The boys must solve riddles; avoid near-fatal run-ins with their ... Read More: http://www.fantasyliterature.com/revi...
April 5, 2007
I really want another book by this author! "Sunken Places" is a great young-adult fantasy - don't be put off by the fact that your first reaction will be "This is Jumanji", because it isn't. The plot is great, original, and moves quickly.
September 28, 2018
Big M.T. Anderson fan but this one didn't live up to my (adult) expectations. It would have been pretty good if anyone else had written it, someone who hadn't written Feed, Octavian Nothing and Whales on Stilts. Fine for juvenile/young adult.
May 17, 2017
Awful! Couldn't suspend disbelief on this one.
September 13, 2008
Some first rate story-telling by Mr. Anderson.
August 4, 2009
This one was okay in the beginning but it got boring halfway through. I don't often not finish books I start, but this one just wasn't worth it.
December 18, 2018
6.5/7 --
June 14, 2021
The book starts with the murder of a real estate developer who's wandering in the forest around Gerenford, Vermont, dreaming of the suburb he plans to build, when he stumbles on an ancient rite with runes and chanting over a flaming snowmobile and finds himself -- the required sacrifice.
Shortly after, 11-year-old Gregory Buchanan receives an invitation from his Uncle Maximilian Grendle (like the beast, from Beowulf) and cousin Prudence to visit their huge mansion for summer vacation. He invites his best friend, Brian Thatz, to come along.
Creepy weird things start happening right away, on the train and at the station. Uncle Max is bizarre and doesn't behave quite right. The butler burns all their belonging and the boys have to dress in "knickers."
They're encouraged to roam the forest, even though the residents of the town warn the boys not to -- citing the real estate developer who disappeared, of course.
There's a game board in their shared room, The Game of Sunken Places, and as the boys explore, more "places" appear on the board.
At this point, you kinda clue in that this is, essentially, an outright creepier-than-Jumanji gaming book. The boys aren't big on strategizing, so it's not a role playing game, not per se.
But the boys have to
1) discover they're playing a game,
2) discover people are not who or what they seem,
3) figure out the objective of the game.
There's two sides to this game -- the Norumbegans, a sort of elf-race that used to live in the mountain, before the Thusser invaded and they came to a stalemate.
The game rules remain sketchy right up to the end, and frequently change beneath the boys' feet.
There's a troll, Kalgrash, who's anything but the expected hideous and enjoys a spot of tea, and Jack Stimple, who isn't at all what he seems.
I can't say more, I'd ruin it, so read and enjoy this thoroughly creepy sci-fi / fantasy read.
Looking for more book suggestions for your 7th/8th grade classroom and students?
Visit my blog for more great middle grade book recommendations, free teaching materials and fiction writing tips: https://amb.mystrikingly.com/
Shortly after, 11-year-old Gregory Buchanan receives an invitation from his Uncle Maximilian Grendle (like the beast, from Beowulf) and cousin Prudence to visit their huge mansion for summer vacation. He invites his best friend, Brian Thatz, to come along.
Creepy weird things start happening right away, on the train and at the station. Uncle Max is bizarre and doesn't behave quite right. The butler burns all their belonging and the boys have to dress in "knickers."
They're encouraged to roam the forest, even though the residents of the town warn the boys not to -- citing the real estate developer who disappeared, of course.
There's a game board in their shared room, The Game of Sunken Places, and as the boys explore, more "places" appear on the board.
At this point, you kinda clue in that this is, essentially, an outright creepier-than-Jumanji gaming book. The boys aren't big on strategizing, so it's not a role playing game, not per se.
But the boys have to
1) discover they're playing a game,
2) discover people are not who or what they seem,
3) figure out the objective of the game.
There's two sides to this game -- the Norumbegans, a sort of elf-race that used to live in the mountain, before the Thusser invaded and they came to a stalemate.
The game rules remain sketchy right up to the end, and frequently change beneath the boys' feet.
There's a troll, Kalgrash, who's anything but the expected hideous and enjoys a spot of tea, and Jack Stimple, who isn't at all what he seems.
I can't say more, I'd ruin it, so read and enjoy this thoroughly creepy sci-fi / fantasy read.
Looking for more book suggestions for your 7th/8th grade classroom and students?
Visit my blog for more great middle grade book recommendations, free teaching materials and fiction writing tips: https://amb.mystrikingly.com/
April 13, 2019
Pretty dang good. Gave me Spiderwick Chronicles but more edgier. I felt like these kids were playing a more dangerous game than those from the Spiderwick Chronicles. The imagery throughout the book is good and it makes the book feel very real because they talk about not wanting to die but also needing to take risks. There's also a bit about machines and purposes and its a really good subplot. I really like how there's a forced suspense or else you'll die but also how they don't necessarily want you to die but if you aren't proving cooperative then they'll kill you. We follow Gregor and Brian as they get invited to a relatives house in the mountains where they end up being pulled into an adventure that has to do with elves and trolls and other fantastical beasts that deal with riddles and magic. They almost die multiple times and as they go on this adventure come to learn that they're a part of a game to determine the rightful owner of a certain bout of land and though initially they think it's them against Jack, an antagonistic character, it turns it it was Brian against Gregory with Jack running interference to help the Thrusser Horde, the invading party, win the game. In the end, Brian winds for the Norumbegans, the original people, and learns that he must officiate the next, and final, game.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 25, 2019
first fun story regarding this book..
I actually had part 2 from (Azbakya) which is like a big used-book market ,and been having it on my shelf for almost three years, looking for part 1 all over my favorite book stores but with no luck, even on line it was out of stock, then went to the local used book shop in another country ,and surprise it is part one,and I think I wouldn't have recognized it, but for the number of times i actually searched for it, so the cover looked familiar, and checked quickly that it was the first volume, I even gave up hope no finding it , to the point that I was not sure if I already donated the second half or not, it was a close call that hesitated and still kept it.
as for the novel, well, it is weird, i was confused most of the time with some of the words that I didn't understand.and I think I was hitting a book slump with it, but by the second half it took another turn, and by the time I reached the last few chapters, I found myself actually caring for the char. the plot is unique and it is pure adventure and fantasy. and man it has some surprises, that i did NOT see coming.
it was worth waiting for.and now I can finally read the second book.
I actually had part 2 from (Azbakya) which is like a big used-book market ,and been having it on my shelf for almost three years, looking for part 1 all over my favorite book stores but with no luck, even on line it was out of stock, then went to the local used book shop in another country ,and surprise it is part one,and I think I wouldn't have recognized it, but for the number of times i actually searched for it, so the cover looked familiar, and checked quickly that it was the first volume, I even gave up hope no finding it , to the point that I was not sure if I already donated the second half or not, it was a close call that hesitated and still kept it.
as for the novel, well, it is weird, i was confused most of the time with some of the words that I didn't understand.and I think I was hitting a book slump with it, but by the second half it took another turn, and by the time I reached the last few chapters, I found myself actually caring for the char. the plot is unique and it is pure adventure and fantasy. and man it has some surprises, that i did NOT see coming.
it was worth waiting for.and now I can finally read the second book.
May 25, 2017
I finished the book “The Game of Sunken Places”. It’s about Two boys “friends” That went to one of the boy’s Uncle’s house for a week because of an invitation the Uncle. They packed up and there uncle sent his butler to go pick up the boy’s in a limousine. The boy’s went there and arrived at the uncle’s mansion that was old and dusty, the butler grab their luggage and it was time for bed and they still don’t know where their luggage is, but they went to sleep as the butler used the last of the tube socks to keep the fire going. It was really slow the beginning was good but then it got slow fast. I even lost track what was going on then I would have to read it two more times just to know what was happening. I think the author could have done a lot more to keep more of a variety of people reading the book and and keep them entertained and have them know what was happening. I can’t relate myself with any of the characters. The two boy’s were the most important part of the story of what I could tell. I think that this is a good book for someone who want’s a book that will last them awhile unless your a fast reader. I rate it from 2-3 stars.
October 22, 2022
Receiving an invitation to stay with an eccentric relative can hardly be classed as unusual in children’s fiction, but it is rarely accompanied with quite such a creative turn of events. Reminiscent of Chris Van Allsburg’s Jumanji, The Game of Sunken Places, by M.T. Anderson draws the reader into the battle between two rival peoples—peoples whose fate rests on the outcome of a board game.
Plot Summary
It’s hardly surprising that Brian and Gregory are curious about the board game when they find it in Uncle Max’s Victorian-style nursery. After all, there’s not much else to keep two boys occupied in the old Vermont mansion. It’s a wet October outside, and inside they are faced with a staid butler who likes to burn tube socks, an unfriendly maid, a sweet but boring cousin who wouldn’t recognize a joke if it bit her in the bustle, and Uncle Max, who uses a horse and buggy instead of a car, shouts nonsense about Basement Lurkers when he gets agitated, and insists that Gregory and Brian wear knickerbockers and starched collars rather than jeans.
At first, the Game provides a welcome element of mystery. Its spaces are equivalent to locations on Uncle Max’s property, and as the boys navigate their way through it they find trolls, riddles, and a dark stranger whose motives are unclear. But the longer they play, the more dangerous things become, until the lives of everyone at the mansion are at risk. There’s only one way to stop it, and that’s to win the game.
The odds are not in their favor though. If they don’t get snatched by Gelt the Winnower, they’re likely to be crushed to a pulp under the feet of an ogre. And if they manage to escape those fates, they’ll either freeze to death in an underground cavern amid the ghosts of a lost kingdom, or end up murdered by the rival side. If they survive, this could turn out to be the coolest vacation ever. If not. . .
Themes
While the fashion of tacking morals onto the ends of stories went out with fables, most stories only become deeply meaningful when they inspire the reader in some way. Anderson’s tale does not rise to this category, but it still manages to touch on themes of identity, friendship, and courage.
Brian and Gregory are portrayed as vastly different from one another in both appearance and nature. Brian is stocky, dark, and quiet. He takes a serious view of life and is shy around strangers. Yet he is inseparable from his friend Gregory: slim, fair, talkative, and always cracking wise about something or other. Throughout the story, as though axe-wielding trolls aren’t enough, Brian has to deal with frequent judgments from others about his courage—or lack thereof. Uncle Max makes no secret of the fact that he views Brian as a “clever little whey-faced baggage [w]hose pallor and moody silences suggest nothing so much as the physiognomy and conduct of a third-generation safe-cracker” and even the mysterious stranger who dogs Brian’s footsteps does his best to persuade him that he’s really not up to the task of playing the Game, let alone winning it.
While these unflattering opinions may seem superficially accurate, Brian surprises even himself with his determination to win the Game, even when Gregory falters. It is Brian who goes exploring in the woods on his own, Brian who decides to play the Game instead of playing it safe by leaving, and Brian who uncovers the secret that neither he nor Gregory ever guessed at. Then is Brian the hero of the story? Yes—but so is Gregory. It is Gregory who initiates the start of the Game, and it is Gregory’s sarcastic wit and undeviating friendship that ensure that play will continue.
There is an equality born of friendship, and both Brian and Gregory experience this as they take turns being brave and as they deal with life-threatening challenges together, yet each in their own personal way. In an AfterWords interview with the author, Anderson stated, “I think that I still have a strong sense of what friendship feels like when you’re young—the intensity of it—the drama of learning about the world together and creating a world together.” It is that intensity of togetherness, that drama of creative exploration, that Anderson portrays so vividly through the boys’ teamwork as they play the all-important Game.
Setting
One of the most intriguing aspects of this story is its setting: a pleasingly bizarre juxtaposition of Gothic romance, Indiana-Jones adventure, and the unapologetically modern. Duct tape features in a cavernous underground kingdom, Funyuns and Coke appear alongside mulled cider and funnel cakes, dark strangers wield bladed yo-yo’s, and an ancient tome must be unearthed from beneath a dirt-filled aquarium in the basement before it can be read. It’s whimsical touches like these that make the book equally appealing to both the reader of Victorian mysteries and the video game aficionado.
Style
Anderson has a quick wit, a sure-footed understanding of boys’ humor, and a sarcastic, cliché-killing style. The prose in The Game of Sunken Places consists primarily of short, terse sentences that contribute to the overall tension, and disjointed snippets of description evoke a light, horror-film-esque mood, appropriately diluted for the age of the audience.
The Game of Sunken Places is based on a story the author wrote in his teens, and while the maturity of the writing has doubtless come far since the creation of the original manuscript, the energy and enthusiasm are still fresh. Clearly the idea was compelling enough to bring the author back to it across several years’ distance, and it’s easy to see why.
Conclusion
A riveting fantasy-adventure that leaves itself wide open for a sequel, The Game of Sunken Places provides a playground for the imagination that boys (and girls) of all ages will enjoy exploring. It’s funky, funny, and just a little dangerous, and topped off with a couple of stunning twists that will leave the reader dazzled.
Check out www.the-book-wyrm.com for reviews, recipes, and more!
Plot Summary
It’s hardly surprising that Brian and Gregory are curious about the board game when they find it in Uncle Max’s Victorian-style nursery. After all, there’s not much else to keep two boys occupied in the old Vermont mansion. It’s a wet October outside, and inside they are faced with a staid butler who likes to burn tube socks, an unfriendly maid, a sweet but boring cousin who wouldn’t recognize a joke if it bit her in the bustle, and Uncle Max, who uses a horse and buggy instead of a car, shouts nonsense about Basement Lurkers when he gets agitated, and insists that Gregory and Brian wear knickerbockers and starched collars rather than jeans.
At first, the Game provides a welcome element of mystery. Its spaces are equivalent to locations on Uncle Max’s property, and as the boys navigate their way through it they find trolls, riddles, and a dark stranger whose motives are unclear. But the longer they play, the more dangerous things become, until the lives of everyone at the mansion are at risk. There’s only one way to stop it, and that’s to win the game.
The odds are not in their favor though. If they don’t get snatched by Gelt the Winnower, they’re likely to be crushed to a pulp under the feet of an ogre. And if they manage to escape those fates, they’ll either freeze to death in an underground cavern amid the ghosts of a lost kingdom, or end up murdered by the rival side. If they survive, this could turn out to be the coolest vacation ever. If not. . .
Themes
While the fashion of tacking morals onto the ends of stories went out with fables, most stories only become deeply meaningful when they inspire the reader in some way. Anderson’s tale does not rise to this category, but it still manages to touch on themes of identity, friendship, and courage.
Brian and Gregory are portrayed as vastly different from one another in both appearance and nature. Brian is stocky, dark, and quiet. He takes a serious view of life and is shy around strangers. Yet he is inseparable from his friend Gregory: slim, fair, talkative, and always cracking wise about something or other. Throughout the story, as though axe-wielding trolls aren’t enough, Brian has to deal with frequent judgments from others about his courage—or lack thereof. Uncle Max makes no secret of the fact that he views Brian as a “clever little whey-faced baggage [w]hose pallor and moody silences suggest nothing so much as the physiognomy and conduct of a third-generation safe-cracker” and even the mysterious stranger who dogs Brian’s footsteps does his best to persuade him that he’s really not up to the task of playing the Game, let alone winning it.
While these unflattering opinions may seem superficially accurate, Brian surprises even himself with his determination to win the Game, even when Gregory falters. It is Brian who goes exploring in the woods on his own, Brian who decides to play the Game instead of playing it safe by leaving, and Brian who uncovers the secret that neither he nor Gregory ever guessed at. Then is Brian the hero of the story? Yes—but so is Gregory. It is Gregory who initiates the start of the Game, and it is Gregory’s sarcastic wit and undeviating friendship that ensure that play will continue.
There is an equality born of friendship, and both Brian and Gregory experience this as they take turns being brave and as they deal with life-threatening challenges together, yet each in their own personal way. In an AfterWords interview with the author, Anderson stated, “I think that I still have a strong sense of what friendship feels like when you’re young—the intensity of it—the drama of learning about the world together and creating a world together.” It is that intensity of togetherness, that drama of creative exploration, that Anderson portrays so vividly through the boys’ teamwork as they play the all-important Game.
Setting
One of the most intriguing aspects of this story is its setting: a pleasingly bizarre juxtaposition of Gothic romance, Indiana-Jones adventure, and the unapologetically modern. Duct tape features in a cavernous underground kingdom, Funyuns and Coke appear alongside mulled cider and funnel cakes, dark strangers wield bladed yo-yo’s, and an ancient tome must be unearthed from beneath a dirt-filled aquarium in the basement before it can be read. It’s whimsical touches like these that make the book equally appealing to both the reader of Victorian mysteries and the video game aficionado.
Style
Anderson has a quick wit, a sure-footed understanding of boys’ humor, and a sarcastic, cliché-killing style. The prose in The Game of Sunken Places consists primarily of short, terse sentences that contribute to the overall tension, and disjointed snippets of description evoke a light, horror-film-esque mood, appropriately diluted for the age of the audience.
The Game of Sunken Places is based on a story the author wrote in his teens, and while the maturity of the writing has doubtless come far since the creation of the original manuscript, the energy and enthusiasm are still fresh. Clearly the idea was compelling enough to bring the author back to it across several years’ distance, and it’s easy to see why.
Conclusion
A riveting fantasy-adventure that leaves itself wide open for a sequel, The Game of Sunken Places provides a playground for the imagination that boys (and girls) of all ages will enjoy exploring. It’s funky, funny, and just a little dangerous, and topped off with a couple of stunning twists that will leave the reader dazzled.
Check out www.the-book-wyrm.com for reviews, recipes, and more!
March 29, 2021
I am not a fan of this book. I have never been more aggravated by characters. Not Brian and Gregory, they were fine. The two boys were written well enough in my opinion. Their decisions seemed reasonable considering their ages. Although I do think they should have reacted more to being forced to wear period clothing that is itchy and uncomfortable. And the troll was delightful, although a little sad too. But everyone else were a bunch of assholes. I couldn't stand the "uncle" and I have never wanted to slap someone as much as I did Prudence. Her attitude at the end completely rubbed me the wrong way.
I do not care what happens in the next book. I have absolutely no interest in reading any more of this series.
I do not care what happens in the next book. I have absolutely no interest in reading any more of this series.
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