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.
Gameboard reminded me a lot of The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo - not in their storylines but more in the fact that I felt confused through most of the story and the characters were all damaged to a point. Though with Tattoo I chalked it up to things getting lost in translation, but with Gameboard I don't have that same excuse. There is a lot of terminology thrown at you from the beginning that is only explained through context, and trying to figure out what they mean in conversation.
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.
Reading updates
-
Started reading
-
18 November, 2013:
Finished reading
-
18 November, 2013:
Reviewed