A review by leelah
The Master by Claire North

4.0

"We play with countries. We command armies. We toy with economic goods, with ideas and men. We have crowned kings, toppled tyrants, guided generals to a victory that would not otherwise have been their own. We have, through our merriment, shaped human history, altered it, changed the fate of men. The structure of our activities as a game, a sport, gives us great advantages. We have a ruthlessness, an intellectual vigour, which might be denied from a queen who was fearful for the welfare of her son, or a captain who had grown to love his men. To us, these things are merely pieces, resources to be moved to the greatest effect, and from this brutal mathematics, we pluck victory where there might otherwise have been defeat.
All for the game".

This is how Silver describes the Gamehouse and its players to Remy in [b:The Thief|25210814|The Thief (The Gameshouse, #2)|Claire North|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1444912686s/25210814.jpg|44924385]. It's perhaps the first time we are realizing the scale of it in truest sense. From mysterious club for real players, to magical institution with great influence where you bet youth or memory in, to catalyst of everything that ever happened. The identity of our mysterious observer who kindly let us in to watch with him is revealed to be ever-present, all-knowing Silver. This time he invites us to watch the Game he plays. The biggest Game of them all- to outplay Gamemaster and the board is, of course, entire world. The scope of their rivalry gets even bigger when you realize Silver and Gamemaster started playing long ago, that the events of [b:The Thief|25210814|The Thief (The Gameshouse, #2)|Claire North|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1444912686s/25210814.jpg|44924385] and [b:The Serpent|25210813|The Serpent (The Gameshouse, #1)|Claire North|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1444911850s/25210813.jpg|44924384] were just them gathering their resources, preparing for it all to blow out.
And wow does it blow out. Get back to that quote and imagine a game of monopoly where you play with countries, a game of chess where your pawns are kings and presidents, where killing economy of countries to spite other is just a move, where starting a civil war is merely a chance to regroup. Really interesting concept that works that much better with slowly building it through previous novellas.
Now, my grade is a bit lower because the book is relentless action, but we never get the personal side of game. Unlike Remy Burke and Thene (to a lesser degree), the humanity of players in The Master is almost nonexistent, they seem to have only right side of brain developed. They are perfect products of game, but it doesn't make them character to root for, or even against. They are just playing and you are just watching it unfold without any particular emotional investment. But them are the rules of Gamehouse- people are pawns to use.
All in all, amazing concept and idea, delivered in a very unique way. Whole trilogy is well worth your time.