Of Floating Isles

""A mind-blowing odyssey through the 'person-shaping' world of gaming. Of Floating Isles is a reckoning with the wicked and violent ways society under late capitalism plays us, winnowing us into narrower and narrower spaces of existence, and it's an exploration of how--through one of its most villainized 'pastimes'--we might imagine wider ways of living and reclaim our most tender creative selves. Kawika Guillermo is a wildly original writer, and this is a piercing, profound book."" --Kyo Maclear, author of Unearthing ""Kawika Guillermo's experiences with games and gamers may be shocking to some, but they reflect the everyday lives of people I've known who sought games in their most challenging times, and who now have this book to call their own."" --Minh Le (aka Gooseman), designer and co-creator of Counter-Strike ""Of Floating Isles is an invigorating work of gaming memoir and history that reveals how our virtual experiences are inextricably linked with our off-screen lives. Through his own story, Guillermo convincingly demonstrates that the time spent in games is as real as anything else--that games construct monuments within our memory, engraved with hidden facets of ourselves. Of Floating Isles is a testament not just to the power of video games as art, but to the kaleidoscopic meanings that can result from recognizing games as an active element within our lives."" --Marina Kittaka and Melos Han-Tani, game designers of Sephonie and Anodyne 2: Return to Dust