A novel of spectacular thematic scope and surreal drama... The author's genius shows in his formidable descriptive talents and the graceful clarity of his densely woven plot... Powers meticulously sets the stage with vivid, immersive details to ignite the readers imagination.--Shahina Piyarali "Shelf Awareness"
An epic drama of AI, neocolonialism, and oceanography ... dazzling. ... [T]he elegance of [Powers's] prose, the scope of his ambition, and the exacting reverence with which he writes about the imperiled world serve as reminders of why he ranks among America's foremost novelists. ... Readers will be awed.-- "Publishers Weekly"
Is there anything Richard Powers cannot write? The world here is complete, seductive, and promising. The writing feels like the ocean. Vast, mysterious, deep, and alive.--Percival Everett
An extraordinarily immersive journey through lives linked in mysterious ways--gripping, alarming, and uplifting.--Emma Donoghue
Powers is a master of taking important topics of our times--from threats to our oceans and climate change to AI--and turning them into riveting and fiercely relevant books imbued with psychological insight and a deep awe for nature. This eloquent dance of the scientific and emotional makes him one of our finest storytellers. Playground is brilliant, captivating, and important--and the best book I've read this year.--Andrea Wulf
Compelling, with fine writing on friendship and its loss and on the awe and delight the ocean inspires.... An engaging, eloquent message for this fragile planet.--Kirkus Reviews, starred review
A characterful, capacious and engaging novel, distilling subjects as diverse as oceanography, climate change, the legacies of colonialism and the arc of a lifelong friendship into an exhilaratingly entangled narrative in which Powers' unparalleled gifts for revealing the magic and mystery of the natural world are on full display.--The 2024 Booker Prize Judges
History unspools in this luminous journey that interweaves a 3,000-year-old board game, AI and floating cities....all-around delightful.-- "People"
Vivid and ambitious...a love letter to the natural world....Playground is ravishing in its descriptions of an underwater universe as fragile as it is ancient and unyielding.--Taylor Antrim "Vogue"
Evocatively nuanced.... Rhapsodic with wonder, electric with cautionary facts and insights, Powers' profound and involving novel illuminates the conundrums of human nature.--Booklist, starred review
Ambitious, rapturous... A transcendentalist deep dive of a novel... What a lush, opaque world Powers conjures... A fabulous exploration.--Xan Brooks "Guardian"
Glorious...a transcendent novel about love....Powers's extraordinary novels are a rebuttal to the notion that what stirs the mind can't also stir the heart.--David Keymer "Library Journal"