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.
“I hereby swear my loyalty to the tsar,
And promise to abide by the rules of the Game,
A duel of enchantment, until a winner is declared.
To this and all traditions here before established, I commit myself
As an enchanter in the Crown's Game.”
I had very high hopes for The Crown’s Game but I’m sad to say this was not a 5 star book for me.
If you read the synopsis, it had an amazing premise. I mean, magical duels to the death between two enchanters to become the Imperial Enchanter? I was expecting all out death matches, obstacle courses, arenas, and the like, a la A Gathering of Shadows, but it was nothing like this. Instead it was much more like The Night Circus. Which, don’t get me wrong, isn’t a bad thing, it’s just not what I was expecting and not what I was lead to believe was going to happen.
Skye’s world building is wonderful. She created a 19th century Russia that no longer believes in magic, but once was surrounded by it. Only a select few still know of magic and the enchanters, including the Tsar, the enchanters themselves, and their mentors. A few more people find out along the way, but the masses pass of the enchantments as extremely detailed mechanics/engineering works, rational ways of explaining things that cannot be explained. She’s dedicated to the Russian theme and 19th century feel. The details used to describe St. Petersburg and Ovchinin Island left me feeling like I was there on those wintry days. I could have been walking down those cobblestone streets.
Where I feel it fell flat was with the characters and their story. Vika and Nikolai are supposed to be in the Crown’s Game, this ultimate game to the death, to reach their full potential and serve their Empire. Something they’ve each trained for their whole life, but when the time comes they, predictably, pull their punches and drag out the fight. Which, turns out, isn’t really even a fight but more of a back and forth competition to see who can impress the Tsar more – not what I was expecting to say the least. They manage to throw some barbs in here and there but with no real weight behind them. Ludmilla, Ovchinin’s resident baker and Vika’s friend/confidante/motherly figure, was one of the only characters I really liked and felt a real connection to. Not to mention I wanted to eat every one of her delectable treats!
This is a good read for fans of The Night Circus, which I loved, so don’t necessarily take my word for it. Read The Crown’s Game for yourself! I think I just went into this one expecting one thing and got blindsided by a completely different type of story.
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