Friday, July 20, 2018

The Crown's Game



I will admit it took me about three weeks to read the first 100 pages of this book but only 24 hours to read the last 300 pages.  Maybe because July started off rather rocky and I was more in the mood to watch a movie than read a book?  Or maybe it was because the book was set in Russia in the early 1800s?  Whatever the case, if you make it through to the end you will definitely be picking up the sequel very soon.

The Crown’s Game is an old tradition in Russia to choose the Royal Enchanter.  Typically there is only one person who holds Russia’s magical powers, but every so often, two people are given magical abilities.  When this happens they must duel to the death to figure out who will help the tsar rule Russia’s empire.  Vika is an odd girl who lives on a remote island near St. Petersburg with her father so she can practice her magic in private.  Nikolai is an orphan from the Steppe whose benefactor found him and trained him to be a magical killer.  What these two magicians don’t know is that magic pulls to magic, and their attraction may be unstoppable.  

If that’s not enough tension for you, add in an undead mother, a lying father, and Nikolai’s best friend—Pasha, the soon to be tsar of Russia—falling for an enchanting fire girl.  The action, though a little slow at the start, picks up quickly and the you will not be able to put the book down during the last 100 pages.

This book walks the tight rope between middle school and high school.  The tedious Russia names and titles may turn off some readers and there are some references to physical intimacy, but I think this book would hook most magic readers.

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