Nany
Written on Jan 25, 2017
The truth is, when you banish the gods from the world, they eventually come back—with a vengeance.
In the near future, Justin March lives in exile from the Republic of United North America. After failing in his job as an investigator of religious groups and supernatural claims, Justin is surprised when he is sent back with a peculiar assignment—to solve a string of ritualistic murders steeped in seemingly unexplainable phenomena.
Justin’s return comes with an even bigger shock: His new partner and bodyguard, Mae Koskinen, is a prætorian, one of the Republic’s technologically enhanced supersoldiers. Mae’s inexplicable beauty and aristocratic upbringing attract Justin’s curiosity and desire, but her true nature holds more danger than anyone realizes.
As their investigation unfolds, Justin and Mae find themselves in the crosshairs of mysterious enemies. Powers greater than they can imagine have started to assemble in the shadows, preparing to reclaim a world that has renounced religion and where humans are merely gamepieces on their board.
- ISBN10 045146799X
- ISBN13 9780451467997
- Publish Date 3 June 2014 (first published 4 June 2013)
- Publish Status Active
- Publish Country US
- Publisher Penguin Putnam Inc
- Imprint Berkley Publishing Corporation,U.S.
- Format Paperback (US Mass Market)
- Pages 496
- Language English
- URL https://penguinrandomhouse.com/books/isbn/9780451467997
Reviews
Chelsea
Written on Nov 19, 2015
1. A little hard to read as an audio book. Too many unfamiliar names and places. Also a map would have been useful.
2. Other than that a really entertaining read!
3. I'm excited for the relationship between Justin and Mae to change.
4. Also the Gods are kind of cool in this book. They aren't obvious and I liked that.
5. Looking forward to book 2 already! I was hooked the whole way through this book!
wyvernfriend
Written on Jul 28, 2014
We start with the worldbuilding, the author treats you as if you know what's going on and then works from there. With the complicated world she has built this is a stretch for the reader, even me, however I liked Justin March and was curious about the Ravens in his head, Horatio and Magnus, and I got a lot of the clues well before he did. Then again I know a lot about a variety of European Gods and Goddesses and had a fairly good idea what was going on with a lot of the issues. The idea of a world where religion was rigidly controled and that one of the investigators had a supernatural episode that caused him to be exiled was interesting and made me want to read more to see how well his life can be messed up by the god war that seems to be looming and how this will change the society he's in.
I also liked Mae, she's a mess, outwardly she's perfect but inside at the beginning she has berserk moments (that no-one seems to notice) but by the end everything she thought she knew is messed up. She and Justin are going to have to do a lot to fix their lives, if they can.
I was caught up by the story, if you need more/any worldbuilding in a story to start avoid like the plague. Even at the end there was a lot I wanted to know about the society and I have a sneaking suspicion that a lot of it will remain unanswered.
violetpeanut
Written on Jan 17, 2014
littleread1
Written on Nov 18, 2013
Add that in the fact that there are several slang words for the different groups, and I just kind of gave up trying to keep track of it all. By the end I felt like I finally had a decent grasp on the terminology, but boy was it an effort to read and hold on to. By the time the next book rolls around I will have to check my notes to see what the terms men again, or hope that seeing them used in context refreshes my memory.
My issues with random terminology aside, the story is intriguing, though the characters lacked that "something" that made me connect with them. It has been less than 24 hours since I finished the story and I can't remember their names. I just never felt that angst or danger with them or for them. It really was just reading a story. There were a few obvious twists and turns, and several things that seemed just plain silly to me.
All that being said, I will still probably read the next book in the series when it comes out, The Immortal Crown, expected May 2014. The story was still unique enough to make me wonder how things are going to play out from here. It was a good, but long, set up for potentially fascinating series. In my humble opinion, Gameboard would have been better served as a prequel novella, with several of the revelations being a bit more spread out in future books.
Angie
Written on May 25, 2013
Gameboard of the Gods begins with a fist-fight at a funeral. Richelle Mead certainly knows how to make a first impression! Unfortunately, everything just goes down hill from there. I was confused and bored for the majority of the time reading this, which is something I never thought I’d say about a Mead book.
Gameboard of the Gods takes place in a futuristic world after the Decline, where religion is banned and races live separately. The technology is super advanced, and RUNA appears to be some type of utopia, but I never really understood how the world worked. The story follows Justin and Mae as they try to solve a murder mystery involving cults, and to a lesser extent, Tessa who has immigrated from Panama on a student visa. Neither plot held my attention.
There is an incredible amount of world-building in
Gameboard of the Gods. In fact, I would say it was the focus of the book along with character development. Despite that, I was still confused about this world. The world was struck by the Mephistopheles virus, which left people infertile, with asthma, and damaged hair and scarring. The solution found to protect people from this virus was genetic mixing, which of course doesn’t go over too well with everyone. Plebians are the people who are a result of genetic mixing, while Patricians/Castals are genetically “pure.” I didn’t understand why so many patricians even still existed in RUNA if there was such rigorous forced mixing, in addition to people emigrating to avoid it and the punishments doled out for refusing. Even more confusing is why the patricians are considered genetically superior if they’re susceptible to this virus and aren’t even suppose to be in the majority. They even have their own land grants that keep them separate from the rest of the population. It makes no sense.
Religion was banned because it apparently makes people do crazy things, and believing in fictitious entities is stupid. At least, those are the reasons given. I actually think religion was banned in order to the make the whole being chosen by a god plot more exciting and dangerous. If you’re not even suppose to believe in gods, of course you can’t admit that one is essentially stalking you and trying to recruit you! This is the case for both Justin and Mae. He’s aware of it, she is not. However, there were still some “licensed” churches/temples around, if they were deemed safe. I didn’t understand how that process worked either. Basically all the world-building was a failure. After almost 500 pages, I still have no clue what is going on. And it didn’t help that we’re bombarded with terms and names at the very beginning but don’t get any explanations or definitions until several chapters in.
The characters aren’t much better. Justin is a womanizing, drug addicted, alcoholic genius. Mae is a cold and standoffish soldier. Tessa is innocent and boring. Tessa actually served no purpose other than as a world-building tool. There’s some culture shock when she leaves her “backward” life in Panama for the glitz and glamor of RUNA, and allowed for comparisons between the two regions. Other than that, she’s just kind of there, adding needless pages. As for Justin and Mae, I didn’t like either of them. They’re both unlikeable from their very first chapters, and it isn’t until the second half and last third of the book that we get any explanation of why they are the way they are. I think this is something that should be established earlier, so the readers can connect (or not) with them.
There are a couple of plots happening within
Gameboard of the Gods, but they’re all in the background for most of the book while the characters mope around, getting drunk. The main one being the murder mystery. Justin is on a strict time limit, but he doesn’t really spend much time working on the case. Everything kind of falls into his lap when the time is right. I’ve already mentioned Tessa trying to assimilate into RUNA, which was useless. There’s also Mae trying to find her niece, but the importance of this and the reason doesn’t appear until close to the end, and it’s never resolved. It’s like that plot thread just got dropped. There really isn’t much to say about the plots, since they came and went and weren’t interesting at all.
It’s clear that the author put a lot of thought into creating
Gameboard of the Gods. I don’t doubt that she knows this world and the characters inside and out, but I felt like she forgot that it was our first time meeting them. There’s lots of detail and history, but it seemed jumbled and disorganized. While I didn’t enjoy this introduction to the series, there are some intriguing ideas being tossed around. I’ll give the second book a read before I decide to abandon this series or not.
Read more of my reviews at Pinkindle Reads & Reviews.
Linda
Written on Mar 31, 2013
ARC received on March 22nd 2013 - and I'm really excited to start this book very soon!
*I received a free ARC of Gameboard of the Gods from Dutton Adult via Edelweiss in exchange of an honest review*
This and other reviews can also be found on my blog (un)Conventional Bookviews.
Gameboard of the Gods is about a world where religion is all but forbidden, after religious extremists almost destroyed all humanity. Mae and Justin need to work together to make sure a religious war won’t happen again. The premise holds so much promise, with a very strong woman, both physically and mentally, different mythologies, a gruesome murder mystery as well as family drama. I went into this story with pretty high expectations – I love the author, usually adore her books, and I really looked forward to reading an adult mystery with lots of mythology.
anastasia
Written on Mar 29, 2013