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)

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.

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