Title: The Crown’s Game and The Crown’s Fate
Series: The Crown’s Game
Author: Evelyn Skye
The Crown’s Game
Pages: 399
3.5 Stars
Books filled with Magical competition, beautiful lyrical writing which is reminiscent of the Night Circus set in a fantastical version of tsarists Russia. It is filled with descriptions of sweet treats to die for and beautiful and romantic displays of magic.
As this is a series review it may contain Spoilers, I have tried my best to keep it spoiler free:
“Cinnamon with a dash of death”
THE STORY
The Tsar’s reign is threatened by the approaching Ottoman and Kazakh empires so the Tsar turns to an old protection. Russia has a source of magic which can be tapped into by the imperial enchanter. Vika Andreyeva and Nikolai Kirmerov both can control magic and have been training their whole lives. Now that the Tsar has activated the Crown’s game , a magical duel to decide the next imperial enchanter, they must battle to the death. Things are further complicated when it is revealed to the heir to the throne, Pasha, that the two competitors are his best friend and the woman they are both in love with. This threatens to reveal the secrets of the game, expose magic and to the collapse of the tsardom.
MY THOUGHTS
To me this was very like the Night Circus in both the set up and the magic system. Both magicians work with very different forms of magic one more elemental and one more mechanical, this makes for a beautiful juxtaposition when they have to battle that comes across clearly. I was hoping that the player’s of the crown’s game would be more detached from each other to allow for more of a battle. Though the twist at the end does up the steaks considerably.
The Crown’s Fate
Pages: 438
4 stars
THE STORY
The Crown’s Fate follows directly on from The Crown’s game, however all is not happy for our group. The game did not end as expected but Russia has its new enchanter and for the victor it is not the boon they thought. The loser has lost more than just their love and their friends, their mind has been left in taters and the seeds in revenge have been planted for the events of The Crown’s Game and the revelations that occurred.
MY THOUGHTS
This story was so much darker than the first, it was more of what I wanted the first one to be. The descriptions of the fantastical version of Russia, the magic and the sweet treats were just as beautiful and moreish as they were in The Crown’s Game. The introduction of revenge game and the almost slave like nature of the imperial enchanters position gave this a lot darker tone. The only part I was not enamoured with was with the love “square” it seems to be overly complicated and was kind of shoehorned into the plot when it wasn’t necessary.
This was a solid little duology that if you love magic and pastry you will adore. I can’t emphasise how beautiful the description of magic is, it really does make the book. The atmosphere and elements of each of the magical displays are gorgeous and I could have read books and books based on them alone.
Have you read this series. What did you think? What was your favourite display of magic? who was your favourite character?
Until next time Happy Reading!
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