When failed magician turned cardsharp Valen Quinol is given the chance to play in the Forbearance Game—the invitation-only tournament where players gamble with secrets—he can’t resist. Or refuse, for that matter, according to the petty gangster sponsoring his seat at the table. Valen beats the man he was sent to play, and wins the most valuable secret ever staked in the history of the tournament.
Now Valen and his motley crew are being hunted by thieves, gangsters, spies and wizards, all with their own reasons for wanting what’s in that envelope. It’s a game of nations where Valen doesn’t know all the rules or who all the players are, and can’t see all the moves. But he does know if the secret falls into the wrong hands, it could plunge the whole world into war…
Book source ~ Tour
Fantasy
7 June 2022
364 Pages
My Rating ~ 4 bites
DNF @31%
Valen Quinol is a cardsharp with a motley crew trying to win enough money to realize a dream. A local gangster is coming to call and Valen has no idea what he wants, but he knows it can't be good.
Ok, so this is a rare one for me. I'm not DNFing because I don't like the book or think it's bad. It's just too intricate for my brain right now. (It's been a bad year.) I'm absolutely enjoying the world building and characters in this story so far. It’s a multi-layered, multi-POV suspense filled with danger showcasing a tricky card system and magic added to the mix. It's rich and complex and I really hope I can revisit this at some point in the future because what I have read is quite good.
Alex Livingston grew up in various quiet New England towns before moving to Buffalo, NY to study English at Canisius College. He writes SFF prose and interactive fiction. Alex is married and lives in an old house with his brilliant wife and a pile of aged videogame systems.
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