The Gameshouse book review

The Gameshouse by Claire North
Published by Orbit on May 28, 2019
Pages: 448
Goodreads

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...This novel was originally published as three digital-only novellas: The Serpent, The Thief, and The Master.
Previous books by Claire North:The First Fifteen Lives of Harry AugustTouchThe Sudden Appearance of HopeThe End of the Day84K
By the same author, writing as Kate Griffin:A Madness of AngelsThe Midnight MayorThe Neon CourtThe Minority CouncilThe Glass GodStray Souls

When I bought The Gameshouse I wasn’t aware that it was going to be three separate yet entwined stories, but I have to say it definitely worked out better that way. I think it made way more sense to have the story set out this way then try and have a time jump or fill a load of time to make them make sense. I loved the three stories, each for different reasons. I think they each showcased how wonderfully diverse and different each game could be and how they worked. I loved trying to figure out what was going on and how each game ended up working. The second novella was definitely my favourite, I loved the intricacies within that story. What I will say is that all the endings felt a little rushed and I wasn’t completely satisfied with how the entire book ended.

There are three main characters throughout The Gameshouse, Thene, Remy and Silver. Each of them play their own game and we get to know them intricately as they work their way through the games and figure out how to win. I think I loved each of them for different reasons, but the one I really ended up rooting for was Remy due to the fact that his game is so brutal and seemingly more personal than the others. I did feel a little bit of a disconnect to Thene, but I think that was because I struggled with the writing style of her game and I struggled to understand what was going on which mean that I spent a lot of her game trying to figure everything out which meant I didn’t have any capacity to root for her and work out my feelings towards her.

The best bits of The Gameshouse for me was definitely the second novella with the game of hide and seek. I think this one really showed me how high the stakes were and how the games were formulated and how they worked. I actually think this book would have made a little bit more sense if this novella was the first one because I think it shows the ins and outs of The Gameshouse better than the first one. I loved the stakes and I ended up feeling super tense all the way through this novella!

I have a few bits of this book that didn’t hit the mark for me. Every novella in The Gameshouse was well written until the end. I felt that every end was a little predictable and rushed. Although I think that this format worked for the series of stories, I do think there was space for the endings to be fluffed out a little more.

I would recommend The Gameshouse. It was such a great read, and I was on the edge of my seat all the way through this book and I really loved the way that the novellas span all the way through time and entwined. It was a really great read and to say I’m not surprised when it came down to Claire North.

Have you read The Gameshouse? What is your favourite Claire North novel? I think mine would be The Sudden Appearance of Hope.