An unhappy wife of a wealthy 17th century Venetian tradesman goes with him to the Gameshouse one night, is intrigued by the games and the players, and returns frequently until she is invited to play an entirely different kind of game. One with very high payoffs and even higher stakes. She learns that playing this sort of game means playing to win at all costs, and the consequences are far-reaching. She also learns that the Gameshouse has been around for a very long time - centuries and more - as have many of the players. But will she survive this first game to find out more?

I love the idea behind this one and in general I enjoyed the book, although I think I should have read this one in actual book form instead of listening to it. There are a lot of characters that have intricate roles in the story and the game within the story, and I think I needed to pay more attention to what was going on than I maybe did. I'm intrigued by the notion of the eternal Gameshouse and the world-changing and secret games it conducts, so I'm very likely to return to the series, but I'll do it in print form next time. ( )

Ce roman court de Claire North est un petit bijou. La science-fiction est un élément mineur, donnant simplement un contexte particulier à la Maison des Jeux, nom de l'établissement de jeu qui est au centre de l'intrigue. Tout le reste relève d'une intrigue politique se déroulant à Venise au début du XVIIème siècle. Le personnage principal, la jeune épouse Thene, est posé, réfléchi, froid, calculateur, bref, tout un ensemble de qualités qui font de lui un excellent joueur. Son parcours est captivant et les quelques bribes d'informations que l'on apprend à propos de la Maison des Jeux donnent férocement envie de lire les deux suites de ce roman. ( )

The Serpent is a lovely novella set among 17th century Venice and filled with an underlying mysticism.

Thene is a young woman married to a drunken gambler. She mainly exists from one day to the next, trying to get by, until her husband drags her with him to the Gameshouse. The Gameshouse is a mysterious place, and there are two levels within it. The first level is ordinary games, but if you are invited to pass through the silver door, you will find games that use the world as their board and people as their playing pieces…

The Serpent was beautifully written, although the writing style may not appeal to everyone. The author uses dashes instead of quotation marks for speech, and the narrator is an unknown observer or observers. In all, the narration style was highly innovative, and I liked it a great deal.

I also loved the lead, Thene. She’s smart and determined, but I feel like there’s an underlying question of whether becoming a player for the Gameshouse will make her lose her humanity.

The fantastical aspects of The Serpent mainly lie in the background. The Gameshouse is clearly a magical place, but the game itself takes place within the more mundane world of Venice, giving the book almost as much of a historical feel as a fantastical one.

I really loved the writing of The Serpent and the concept of the Gameshouse. I’d like to read more in this world, and luckily there’s two more novellas! This novella series is off to a great start, and I would recommend it.

Originally posted on The Illustrated Page. ( )