Wednesday, February 15, 2012

The Game of Triumphs

Title: The Game of Triumphs

Author: Laura Powell

Rating: 3 stars

Summary: At an exclusive Soho party one rainy night, Cat stumbles into an ancient and dangerous game of fortune. A mysterious quartet of game masters deal out challenges—moves that unfold in the Arcanum, a dream-scape version of our world. Success can earn players fame, fortune, inspiration. Failure can be deadly.

At first Cat is skeptical, but undeniably curious. And when a journey into the Arcanum reveals a shocking glimpse of her family's past, Cat begins to understand what drives people to play. Sometimes it's greed or longing—other times desperation. She must know more.

Right now, the game masters hold all the cards. But Cat finds others like herself on the fringes of the game. And together an unlikely group of chancers hope to change the rules in their favor.

In the Game of Triumphs, the risks are high, but the rewards may just be worth dying for. . .

Review: There's a typical story-line: main character discovers a secret magic world, finds other people like her to help her out, and they have to gather several objects to defeat the evil kings and queens. I kept envisioning the book taking place in the medieval era, while it really was in present-day. Cat's aunt, Bel, is very similar to a type of character I've encountered in several books: older female relative in charge of caring for the main character, bounces from man to man, has a carefree it-will-all-work-out-in-the-end personality, and is drunk in a few scenes. I never liked those characters. After revealing the secret about Cat's parents, Powell doesn't mention it at all, unless you count Cat saying that she was going to get justice for them. The idea of the Game is really cool, but if it truly existed I would be too scared to get mixed up in it.

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