In celebration of Gabrielle Zevin’s Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow releasing in July 2020, Knopf designed this interactive 90’s inspired video game called Emily Blaster based on a game created in Zevin’s novel.
In Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, Sadie Green creates video games, and Emily Blaster is one of the first games she creates, inspired by poetry from Emily Dickinson.
In an interview with Lit Hub, Zevin explained how this simple game had to be convincingly something a college student might be able to make with limited resources in the 90s. Zevin stated that the game was inspired by Emily Dickinson’s poetry and games in the 1980s like Math Blaster. The objection is to shoot poetry in the order it appears while words fly across the screen.
She said, “Emily Blaster is one of Sadie Green’s earliest games and one of the first games I invented for Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow as well. It’s the simplest game in the book.
“I thought that Emily Dickinson’s compact verse style and memorable phrasings would make for perfect targets,” Zevin continued. “Emily Dickinson’s poem ‘That Love Is All There Is’ is featured in Emily Blaster, and it also provides the epigraph for the novel. I’ve been obsessed with this poem for roughly half my life: Dickinson begins with a riddle about love and answers it with a machine-based metaphor. I joked to my editor that this poem is basically Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, but in four lines.”
In her interview with Lit Hub, Zevin recalls how playing Emily Blaster for the first time was mind-blowing. This game is a great representation of how she described it in her new book Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow.
“Emily Blaster is a little bit addictive and the right amount hard. It might take you a couple of tries to become the Belle of Amherst. Luckily, it turns out that it is fun to shoot poetry. I believe this is Knopf’s first foray into computer games, and I hope they make more!” says Gabrielle Zevin.
Play Emily Blaster here!
In addition to this amazingly addictive video game, her book Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow has amazing reviews and seems like it will be a great read.
John Green, a famous author, and educator writes, “Utterly brilliant. In this sweeping, gorgeously written novel, Gabrielle Zevin charts the beauty, tenacity, and fragility of human love and creativity. Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow is one of the best books I’ve ever read.”
Another raving review from Nathan Hill, author of The Nix, reads, “Is there such a thing as the Great American Gamer Novel? Because if not, I believe Gabrielle Zevin just invented it. She has crafted a brilliant story about life’s most challenging puzzles: friendship, family, love, and loss. By turns funny, poignant, wistful, and occasionally devastating, this book absolutely pawned me—in the very best way.”
Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow is set to release on July 5, 2022. Pre-order this promising read here!
