The Gameshouse

The Serpent, The Thief and The Master

By: Claire North

Narrated by: Peter Kenny

From the author of the word-of-mouth phenomenon The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August comes a mesmerising tale of a mystical 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 though chess, backgammon - every game under the sun.

But those whom fortune favours may be invited to compete in the higher league...where the games played are of politics and nations, of economics and kings. It is a contest where Capture the Castle involves real castles and 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....

From Claire North, author of word-of-mouth best-seller The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August and one of the most original new voices in modern fiction, comes the mesmerising tale of the Gameshouse, where games of chance and skill control the fate of empires.

Originally published as three digital-only instalments: The Serpent, The Thief and The Master.

©2015 Claire North (P)2015 Hachette Audio

Critic reviews

"Utterly readable, utterly believable and compelling...one of the fiction highlights of the decade." (Judy Finnigan on The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August)

"Beautiful and gripping." (Guardian on The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August)

"North's talent shines out." (Sunday Times)

Slow at the beginning, almost annoying but then

it's really worth listening or reading, the final part is so rewarding. Very unique narrative. And the reader is great, specially for accents !

A serialized trilogy released simultaneously

I became a fan of Claire North after reading The First Fifteen Lives Of Harry August. The Gameshouse is my second experience with her writing. I enjoyed the story, while I feel like I would have had a better time with it if didn't go all-in with the three books contained in this trilogy in one go. I was drawn into The Serpent and when it ended, my motivation to learn about a new protagonist in a different setting was flagging. After a short delay, I got back on board and enjoyed the second book as much as the first.

Peter Kenny carries every character with respect and, in giving each a unique voice, presents an experience akin to a full-cast dramatization. I found no slips or anything worth complaining about in his performance. It was exceptional.

The Gameshouse itself is the big mystery. As we gain more knowledge of the rules and systems that define it, more questions roll in. There aren't any threads left untied by the end of the third book. The wrap-up and the ending were fitting while not wholly predictable, even with a hefty amount of foreshadowing and tells dropped from the very start.

Time for the complaint section: As I mentioned previously, swapping protagonists and settings was a kind of a bust, but worth pushing past to encounter a second story as good as the first. At times during the story, our omniscient narrator directly tells the reader how to feel or think about a character or action. I was jolted out of my immersion when I vehemently disagreed with one of those directives. By the time I reached book three, The Master, I would probably have enjoyed a few more stand-alone stories about individual players. Perhaps one of the late additions to the story that is rather pivotal while having a very limited amount of time on the page would have provided more thrill to the series as a whole if they'd had a more developed hand in play.

I'll rate this one, "A mystery about the ultimate game of chance with solid development and great characters."

Wonderful

I found this book completely mesmerizing. Wonderfully performed and so well written. Clair North is a writer I will continue to follow, I have enjoyed all her books so far

Uninspired

This should be a compelling story. Maybe it doesn’t work as an audiobook. Maybe it is too many insufficiently developed, too similar characters. But I just couldn’t get through it.

conspiracy theory anyone?

this is a very long chase scene, already perfect for a Hollywood adaptation. it is the mother of all conspiracy theories. the audio is superb but far outclasses the story.

Excellent! North and Kenny are perfect.

My favorite author after Iain Banks and Paolo Bacigalupi. Engaging story, excellent narration, just a wonderful book to listen to. Now I'm out of Claire North novels... frustrating!

Sterling narration

Even reading the book would not be as enjoyable since Peter Kenny’s narration is so outstanding. Absolute class and really adds to what is a very well crafted tale.

Best Book Ever

Takes you on 3 amazing journeys! I think this book is highly underrated! Just read it!

Simple Premise, Brilliant Execution

I could not have enjoyed this more :) listened to it in it's entirety on a single car trip, which turned the experience from a chore to a delight. The entire book is modeled around the players of the game of kings and empires. It has all the fun of the political machinations of the great fantasy series, with some absolutely stunning prose to boot. This narrator and writer both have quickly become some of my absolute favorites.

what a great story

this book had me hooked the entire time. i would recomend this to anyone. read this