The Crown's Game by Evelyn Skye
Series: The Crown's Game #1
Rating: 3.5 stars
Published: May 17th 2016
Goodreads Synopsis:
Vika Andreyeva can summon the snow and turn ash into gold. Nikolai Karimov can see through walls and conjure bridges out of thin air. They are enchanters—the only two in Russia—and with the Ottoman Empire and the Kazakhs threatening, the Tsar needs a powerful enchanter by his side.
And so he initiates the Crown’s Game, an ancient duel of magical skill—the greatest test an enchanter will ever know. The victor becomes the Imperial Enchanter and the Tsar’s most respected adviser. The defeated is sentenced to death.
Raised on tiny Ovchinin Island her whole life, Vika is eager for the chance to show off her talent in the grand capital of Saint Petersburg. But can she kill another enchanter—even when his magic calls to her like nothing else ever has?
For Nikolai, an orphan, the Crown’s Game is the chance of a lifetime. But his deadly opponent is a force to be reckoned with—beautiful, whip smart, imaginative—and he can’t stop thinking about her.
And when Pasha, Nikolai’s best friend and heir to the throne, also starts to fall for the mysterious enchantress, Nikolai must defeat the girl they both love... or be killed himself.
As long-buried secrets emerge, threatening the future of the empire, it becomes dangerously clear... the Crown’s Game is not one to lose.
Let's think of some other games in fiction that involve a "winner-take-all" style.
The Hunger Games.
Essen Tasch. The Element Games.
Battle Royale.
And so forth.
Two of them were kill to survive. Essen Tasch was disable your opponent to advance.
The Crown's Game? Not really much of a game if we're going by these standards of competing. The game itself took on a more eloquent, artistic approach to it. While it was nice to see magic being used to magnify St. Petersburg's beauty (and I did visit the city while I was reading this book), I only wish that there was more action, and was left disappointed by the lack of it.
