The Gameshouse, Claire North
The Gameshouse, Claire North
List: $27.99 | Sale: $19.59
Club: $13.99

The Gameshouse

Author: Claire North

Series: Gameshouse

Narrator: Peter Kenny

Unabridged: 11 hr 25 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Orbit

Published: 05/28/2019

Synopsis

The World Fantasy Award-winning author of The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August presents a mesmerizing tale of a gambling house whose deadly games of chance and skill control the fate of empires.

Everyone has heard of the Gameshouse. But few know all its secrets. . .

It is the place where fortunes can be made and lost through chess, backgammon -- every game under the sun.

But those whom fortune favors may be invited to compete in the higher league. . . a league where the games played are of politics and empires, of economics and kings. It is a league where Capture the Castle involves real castles, where hide and seek takes place on the scale of a continent.

Among those worthy of competing in the higher league, three unusually talented contestants play for the highest stakes of all. . .

About Claire North

Claire North is a pseudonym for Catherine Webb, who wrote several novels in various genres before publishing her first major work as Claire North, The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August. It was a critically acclaimed success, receiving rave reviews and becoming a word-of-mouth bestseller. She has since published several hugely popular and critically acclaimed novels, won the World Fantasy Award and the John W. Campbell Memorial Award, and been shortlisted for the Sunday Times/PFD Young Writer of the Year Award, the Arthur C. Clarke Award and the Philip K. Dick Award. She lives in London.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Bradley on May 18, 2017

I had to waffle between 3 and 4 stars, so call this 3.5. But WHY? It's Claire North! You've never read anything of hers that you've disliked! Well, I didn't exactly dislike this one. The first of the three novellas was pretty raveworthy, like a Machiavellian back-stabby game of thrones for people in V......more

Goodreads review by Liz on June 08, 2019

The Gameshouse has an excellent premise executed with some beautifully absorbing and quirky writing, telling a fascinating story of games played at a level that the most ardent of gamer’s would struggle to comprehend.. Imagine if you will that most of the turmoil in our world is caused not by chance,......more

Goodreads review by Stevie on April 19, 2017

Book 1 The Serpent was a 5 star novella. I love my intrigue books and this one drew me into its world and had me on the edge of my seat throughout. I loved the concept of the gameshouse, the setting and was actively cheering for our main character Thenie. I could not wait to read the other novellas......more

Goodreads review by Jennifer on April 01, 2023

Say, four stars for the first novella and three plus for the remaining two. Claire North does well with big ideas, stories that span huge amounts of space and time, told with a curious sense of dettachment - even the third, which has a first person narrator. I liked the concept of the Gameshouse, wh......more

Goodreads review by Holly (The GrimDragon) on April 22, 2020

"Dice roll. Cards fall. Kingdoms topple. Emperors burn. The young are born and the old pass away. And always the Gameshouse, the Gameshouse, it lives, it turns, the Gamehouse waits. And my love too. The coin turns. The coin turns. And we are gone." Did I pick this book from my shelf randomly during a global p......more

Quotes

"An eerily plausible dystopian masterpiece, as harrowing as it is brilliant"—Emily St. John Mandel, bestselling author of Station Eleven, on 84K

"An extraordinary novel that stands with the best of dystopian fiction, with dashes of The Handmaid's Tale."—Cory Doctorow on 84K

"Everybody needs to read 84K. Consistently thoughtful fiction like this needs to be championed. I'll admit it, I'm a little in awe of the author. Her work is sublime.... Claire North deserves your undivided attention. Buy the book, read it. Your brain will thank you.... If there was a rating higher than highly recommended this book would receive it."—The Eloquent Page

"A terrifying setting that feels rooted to the present day.... Imbued with a menace that feels both recognizable and urgent, and the decisions the characters make as a result feel uncomfortably real."—RT Book Reviews on 84K

"Another captivating novel from one of the most intriguing and genre-bending novelists currently working in the intersection between thriller and science fiction."—Booklist (starred review) on 84K

"A furious, confrontational book that's extremely smart... its energy is infectious and its ideas are fiercely provocative."—SciFiNow on 84K

"Put simply, this book just blew my mind. A remarkable writer, doing extraordinary things, and I think this is her best book yet."—Blue Book Balloon on 84K

"Claire North goes from strength to strength.... A tense, moving story."—Guardian on 84K

"One of the most distinct and compelling SF novels of the year thus far."—Toronto Star on 84K

"A dystopian anthem for the modern activist... a cracking thriller.... Quite simply, North's best book so far."—Starburst on 84K

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