The Crown's Game by Evelyn Skye (2016)

In 1825, with the threat of the Ottoman Empire and the Kazakhs, the Russian tsar is out of options. With the encouragement of his daughter, he initiates the Crown’s Game, a battle between the two existing enchanters, where one comes out at the Imperial Enchanter. To Vika, being called to compete in the Crown’s Game is a shock. Since she could wield power, she has believed that she is the only enchanter. For Nikolai, it’s what he’s been training for his whole life. Actually, it’s the only reason Galina, who has minimal powers, ever took him in. Throughout that game, both players will have five chances to show off their magic, with the ultimate goal to kill the other player. Of course, it’s easier said than done. As soon at Vika and Nikolai meet, there’s a connection. What kind, they don’t know, but they do know that their magic is feeding off of each other. Soon, the game doesn’t just become a fight for their life, but to keep the other player’s life too.

To start off, let’s talk about the setting of The Crown’s Game, which takes place in Imperial Russia. Supposedly, it’s a pretty accurate representation of the actual politics that went on in Russia during the early 19th century. However, I really wouldn’t know because I’ve never studied Russian history. So, going into this book without any background knowledge, I was quite confused. There was no clear explanation of what was going on, as if the author expected the reader to know the history. Fortunately, that’s where my problems with this book stops, and my praise begins.

Overall, I was really impressed with how the magic was set up. If magic was ever realistic, it would look a lot like this. First, there were limits to the magic. Yes, there was some incredible things Vika and Nikolai could do, but it took a lot out of them. There was also specific things that they just couldn’t do. For instance, Vika’s magic dealt more with the elemental things, while Nikolai’s was more mechanical. Second, they did really practical things with their magic. Even while competing in the game, they didn’t do huge, extravagant things, but rather things that could be perceived as something that wasn’t so far out of the ordinary. Also, because of their magic, there was some insta-love between Nikolai and Vika. Yet, it didn’t bother me at all. To me, it make sense that the only two enchanters in the world have an attraction to each other.

I also really enjoyed the characters, because I thought they were really realistic. Although the book is told from third-person, each chapter focuses focuses on a specific character. Our first character, Vika, definitely represented how a teenager would act in her situation. She was a little over-confident and naive, and had a lot of learning curves that she had to conquer. On the other side of the spectrum was Nikolai, who over-thought every move he made, which made sense because growing up, there was a constant pressure from Galina for him to be strong. Because of that, he really didn’t know what to do when he started developing feelings for Vika, so there was a lot of character development in that aspect. Then there is Pasha, who is the tsar’s son. Again, there was a big humanization

aspect about him. Instead of being a teenager ready to be king, he was a boy who was simply figuring out life.

A pleasant debut, I am definitely looking forward to the second one!

4 STARS