Game of Cages: A Twenty Palaces Novel [Mass Market Paperback]

Harry Connolly (Author)

Book Description

Release date: August 31, 2010 | Series: A Twenty Palaces

A SECRET HIGH-STAKES AUCTION
 
As a wealthy few gather to bid on a predator capable of destroying all life on earth, the sorcerers of the Twenty Palace Society mobilize to stop them. Caught up in the scramble is Ray Lilly, the lowest of the low in the society—an ex–car thief and the expendable assistant of a powerful sorcerer. Ray possesses exactly one spell to his name, along with a strong left hook. But when he arrives in the small town in the North Cascades where the bidding is to take place, the predator has escaped and the society’s most powerful enemies are desperate to recapture it. All Ray has to do is survive until help arrives. But it may already be too late.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. Connolly fulfills and sustains the promise of his 2009 rural noir debut, Child of Fire, with this thoughtful Lovecraftian sequel. Twenty Palace Society member Catherine Little, a lethal sorcerer committed to keeping supernatural entities and magic out of the possession of anyone but members of the society, contacts ex-convict Ray Lilly at his mundane supermarket job and recruits him to assist her with an emergency situation. Ray's actions are supposed to be limited to assisting his assigned peer, but an interdimensional predator has escaped and the society needs all the help it can get. Connolly doesn't shy away from tackling big philosophical issues--whether good ends justify evil means, how many civilian deaths can be justified in the pursuit of creatures that can destroy the world--amid gory action scenes and plenty of rapid-fire sardonic dialogue.
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From Booklist

Ray Lilly, thanks to the intervention of the Twenty Palaces society, has survived the aftermath of Hammer Bay. He has a normal job, stocking a supermarket. He even has a credit card. When Twenty Palaces comes storming back into his life, he is thrilled—a normal life is also boring. Of course, it turns out that Catherine—the Twenty Palaces representative—is investigating an auction, where a predator is for sale, and would really prefer to have backup with more than one spell. Ray is, as a former wooden man, not quite as well armed as she might have liked. On the other hand, he is stubborn and unorthodox, which makes up for a lot. In any event, they arrive at the auction as it concludes, and everything goes to pieces when the predator escapes and only Ray and Catherine are around to stop it. Ray’s voice continues to be charming despite his rough edges, and the plot more than taut enough to keep the pages turning at a breakneck pace; and there is definitely some fascinating history hidden beneath the surface of the world Connolly is spinning, and it’s thoroughly entertaining. --Regina Schroeder

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: Del Rey (August 31, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0345508904
• ISBN-13: 978-0345508904
• Product Dimensions: 4.1 x 1 x 6.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (41 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #424,985 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Relentless action and engaging; wish there had been space for more world-building September 16, 2010

By Karissa Eckert TOP 1000 REVIEWER

Format:Mass Market Paperback

This is the second book in the Twenty Palaces series by Harry Connolly. It was a great read and a fast-paced follow up to the first book, Child of Fire: A Twenty Palaces Novel. In general the book is pretty contained and you wouldn't have to read the first book in the series to enjoy reading this book.

Ray Lily is out of jail and eking out a living working at a grocery store and living in an apartment above his aunt's house. Things are going pretty well for him, but he misses the action that the Twenty Palaces Society brought to his life. Then Catherine drops into his life. She is an investigator for the Twenty Palace Society that was told to use him for backup if she needs it. There is a mysterious auction happening in a small town and rumors are that it involves a Predator; Catherine's job is to check it out and report back to the Society. Catherine is dismayed when she finds out that Ray isn't an Apprentice or a Peer but merely Annalise's Wooden Man. When Catherine and Ray get dragged out of the investigation and into a hunt for the Predator , Ray (his only tricks being his ghost knife and his protection tattoos) ends having to be resourceful in ways he wasn't planning on.

There is a lot I liked about this book. It is actually very similar to the first book in that it takes place in an isolated small town and Ray ends up hunting another predator. The action is again very well written and relentless. This is a book that is hard to put down, it shoves you from one action scene to another and leaves you breathless. We get to learn more about Ray as a character in this book and a little more about the Twenty Palaces Society as an organization. We also learn a smidgen more about the other evils in Ray's world.

So overall I enjoyed it, but I have some complaints...which are still the same complaints that I had with the first book. The action is so dense, we never really get to learn much about the characters or the world. This was a little less true for this book than the first book; but I still wish we had more face time with the characters in non-life-threatening situations. Also we get a tiny glimpse into the further structure of the Twenty Palaces Society but not much more than that...I really want to learn more about the Society and meet more people from it.

Catherine was an okay character but kind of weak. I really missed Annalise and was thrilled when she showed up again towards the end of the book. Annalise is such a kick-butt character; her and Ray play off of each other really well. You gain more insight into Ray as a character in this book. At times he reminds me of Harry Dresden; he has the same dry wit and willingness to get his butt kicked to accomplish what needs doing. Ray is different in that he has a lot less resources and he is more self-deprecating.

Overall, I enjoyed this installment in the series. I really, really want to learn more about this world though and with the non-stop action scenes there wasn't time for that in this book. The plot was tight and the writing incredibly readable and engaging. I just hope the next book brings us deeper into this world so we can meet more of the Twenty Palaces Society. I also hope the next book has more Annalise in it; her and Ray make an awesome fighting team. I am eagerly awaiting the next installment in this series.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Revel in the "slow reveal", readers... November 30, 2010

By merzbow

Format:Mass Market Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

Love this book, and "Child of Fire" as well. Harry is a master of the "slow reveal"; all too often an author will give up all of his painstakingly-constructed world's secrets in the first or second installment of a series. With this author you are left salivating for more, and I hope he is stubborn enough to not be pressured by impatient readers into speeding up the process. The best part is that Ray, the protagonist, is as equally in-the-dark as are we about the Twenty Palace Society, and so we can identify strongly with his desire to know more.

I badly want to see this as a cable TV series. I can imagine the pitch - "One of the main characters is a century-old red-headed sorceress who dresses like a gutter punk, has a voice like a twelve-year-old, eats bullets for lunch, and crushes heads like walnuts."

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Watch out for magic... April 11, 2012

By valentine03 VINE™ VOICE

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

Ray Lilly returns to resume his wooden man duties, caught up in all the nasty ramifications of magic as he uneasily serves the Twenty Palaces society. What if what protected you could also kill you? What if the only person you trusted was a stone-cold killer? What if "there's magic all around you" was not a reminder of wonder - but a caution of danger?

This amazing series of urban fantasy novels has no sparkly vampires, no werewolves, no unicorns; and makes it clear it's just possible YOU'RE the zombie.

Maybe we all are.