Digital Dreams and Harsh Realities

Of Floating Isles: On Growing Pains and Video Games
Kawika Guillermo
Arsenal Pulp Press
September 2, 2025
$26.95 CAD

Of Floating Isles: On Growing Pains and Video Games is a tightly-woven memoir that contemplates the ways video games reflected, influenced, and stunted author Kawika Guillermo’s identity and sense of belonging in a tumultuous coming-of-age story. The collection of personal stories from Guillermo’s life ranges from memories of sleepless nights on the streets of Seattle to sexual discovery in Final Fantasy chatrooms on dial-up internet. These formative moments in their life are paralleled by the ever-changing landscape of video games. “Through the five countries and many cities I’ve lived in, through the fluctuations of love, career, grief, and joy, games have been there,” they write.

Guillermo, also known as Christopher B. Patterson, is a queer, neurodivergent, mixed-race video game scholar and award-winning novelist. They’re also a lifelong gamer. Guillermo meticulously balances every story of love, hate, discovery, and despair in their real life with an equally formative digital counterpart. Sonic 2’s main protagonists mimic the relationship of Guillermo and their brother, Cameron. The relationship the siblings built while being raised by “Nanny Nintendo” would later spark a cross-country road trip that changed Guillermo’s life. Counter-Strike channels the anger they harboured while living in a post 9/11 America—it spurred analysis and a rejection of the biases of the western world, a transformation that would lead Guillermo to teach in China, travel the world, and uncover the atrocities and beauty that inhabit every corner of it.

These game worlds, or “floating isles” as Guillermo calls them, become the lenses that shape their world view. “I tell these stories from the view of my floating isles, which have always been there, hovering just above my real-world self,” writes Guillermo.

Isles become the landing points the reader bounces along as Guillermo’s story unfolds on the page.  Some isles seem foggy at first, like when Guillermo connects Morrowind to their experience driving through the Sierra Nevada mountains in a whiteout: “I glance over the ledge and see the drop—a deep, foggy nothingness, dragging me toward it.”  This perfectly encapsulates Of Floating Isles; just like in Morrowind, that fog is beckoning you to explore on.

The sometimes-hazy progression often leads to an epic discovery. As Guillermo connects their virtual and human worlds, the reader is treated to a plethora of video game factoids and compelling stories, and as they flesh out these worlds, the floating islands begin to connect—and from the fog emerges a tapestry of life lessons and compelling narratives.

The breadth of genres in the games they play pales in comparison to the scope of personal discoveries Guillermo so vulnerably shares. Explorations of queerness, neurodivergence, depression, and substance abuse punctuate the writing as Guillermo comes to terms with their identity, both digitally and physically. This raw glimpse into the struggles they overcome on their journey makes this a poignant collection of lessons and lesions for anyone who may have experienced similar hardships. It’s a harrowing account of unfair treatment, personal tragedy, and harmful societal norms tearing a person down to the studs; it’s also an inspirational tale of personal acceptance, rejection of stereotypes, and overcoming obstacles.

Guillermo’s narrative culminates in the depiction of a person that has transcended the rigid definitions the world around them imposed, making this the perfect read for anyone on their own journey of self-discovery.

Of Floating Isles is equal parts tragedy and achievement, set in reality and virtuality, told through a collection of memories that explore vitally important issues in our world today. This motif of balance and parallelism is a microcosm of Guillermo’s story, and it equates to a heartbreaking—and heartwarming—hero’s journey that, much like the author, refuses to be shoehorned into one identity.