Product Description
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.
TJ @ 7:14 pm
Ray Lilly is shocked that he’s not in jail for everything that occurred in Hammer Bay. However, it’s not long before Ray’s state of in-between-not in jail and not actively working for the Twenty Palace Society-is disturbed. Ray himself can’t decide if the reemergence into society work is a good thing or a bad thing… The problem this time? A few groups of the incredibly rich attend an auction to bid on a predator. The creature escapes and it’s up to Ray and a society investigator, Catherine, to figure out what’s going on and how to put a stop to it.
CHILD OF FIRE was a great debut of a series very much like Jim Butcher’s Harry Dresden but with a slightly different flavor. GAME OF CAGES takes that solid beginning and improves on nearly everything-especially the action.
First, I have to say: thank mercy that the cover art has improved. Apparently, Christian McGrath (who does covers for just about everything in urban fantasy these days), did both the cover for CHILD OF FIRE and GAME OF CAGES, but GAME OF CAGES looks much, much, much better. It’s something about how corny and fake the fire looks on CHILD OF FIRE and the horrible text that was laid across McGrath’s art… Anyway, GAME OF CAGES has a much more polished appearance and it isn’t going unappreciated!
I had to get that out there before I start in on the book. Cover art is important, you know.
So Ray is incredibly important to this series. In a genre that’s far too populated with unique and special snowflakes with special abilities and special attention, Ray is the lowest of the lowly. I love that. By himself, Ray isn’t powerful at all except in that he’s a very good fighter and his single spell. Now, granted, the ghost knife is pretty awesome. It bleeds out homicidal tendencies from a person, makes them docile, and can cut through anything that’s not alive. But, in the end, it’s a piece of paper and I love how that’s forever on Ray’s mind. I also really enjoy Ray’s character in just about every other way. He’s not a self-righteous tough guy. He’s tough, but he’s often confused, not knowledgeable in a situation, or unsure of himself-but he knows how to act. It’s a great combination.
Also, I love the development between him and Annalise in this second volume. Annalise (unfortunately) doesn’t show up until much later than I’d like, but even in her absence the reader gets to learn a lot about the relationship between her and Ray, mostly through the lens of Catherine, the investigator:
‘She let out an exasperated laugh that turned into another sigh. “I’m not angry with you, Ray. Okay, I was, but not anymore. You mean well. It’s this Annalise that [ticks (*word edited to pass Amazon standards)] me off. She’s the one who put those spells on you, am I right? And she has you thinking she’s such hot…that you’re practically creaming in your pants over her.”
I suddenly felt very still. “Watch it,” I said.’ [p110]
I think this is a pretty astute observation from Catherine, despite that she hasn’t been with Ray long when she says it. In a way, Ray and Annalise share a mutual dependency, but there’s no question which way the power (and respect) flow in their relationship. Annalise is pretty much a demi-god in Ray’s eyes, even though he’s often the one who has to pick up the pieces of her after things go badly. I truly hope to see more of this developed in future books, because it’s the most dysfunction and awesome boss-subordinate relationship ever.
Speaking of people who push Ray around: let’s talk about Catherine. Throughout GAME OF CAGES, I was torn on whether or not I should like her. There are some moments that she really grated my nerves and others were she was pretty cool. In the end I’m ambivalent about her, but she did tend to make memorable scenes. (Particularly the one in which she tries to take Ray’s ghost knife from him saying, “That spell. You should give it to me and show me how it works. I’m the investigator here, and that thing could really help me with my job.” Well, she certainly doesn’t pull punches, even if she ends up looking selfish, self-important, and ignorant because of it. I did warm up to her as the story progressed, but the scene stuck in my side like a bur. Then again, maybe it was supposed to.
Most of the novel is action-packed. Once Ray hits the ground running he isn’t allowed more than a second to recover-and neither is the reader. It’s the sort of story that makes me hold my breath all the way through and at the end I can finally draw in air again.
By comparison, any complaints I had with the book were pretty small. Connolly has polished his content from Child of Fire to Game of Cages with at least as much improvement in content as in cover. (And that’s quite a lot, trust me.) Sure, I wish Annalise had stepped in a little earlier. I wish I could see her kick some ass seriously. I wish that the word “johnson” had never been used. (I mean, really? It was okay for the little old lady, but not for Ray.) I wish that a few areas had been a little less muddled.
But overall? I’m going to give Connolly a hearty recommendation. The Ray Lilly stories are wonderful action, mystery, and urban fantasy. There’s not even a lick of romance in them, really, either, which is a nice change.
N. Brett @ 8:30 pm
The long awaited follow up to “Child of Fire”.
Ray Lilly is a “Wooden Man”, basically an expendable foot soldier working for the mysterious Twenty Palaces, an brutal organisation looking to contain the use of magic and those who abuse and dabble in it.
Here we have Ray joining with a Twenty Palace investigator to track the sale of a lethal predator. On arrival they discover that things have already gone horrible wrong and the body count is starting to pile up. Set in a very limited geography, a large house and then the nearby town, Ray and Catherine try to contain things until a Palaces “Peer” can get there to resolve things. Annalise (Peer from the previous novel does also make an appearance, but not until quite late) but as you might expect, Ray ends up being the main focus.
Enjoyable, but in my opinion not quite up to the standards of the firs tone. Partly because the author almost over eggs the pudding, there is so much going on that it gets confusing at times, partly because the author repeats much of the first book in his approach but fails to answer key questions or explaining much more about the Twenty Palaces. Harry Connolly can’t keep on teasing us and needs to share a little! It’s about time we learn more about the Twenty Palaces and Ray has a surprisingly deep affection for both Annalise and seems invigorated by work for the Palaces, neither of which is really explained.
I shall obviously buy the next one but am looking for the author to actually hoof this series forward and not give us the third version of the same thing. He has painted a very interesting world for us and he needs to let us play in it a little bit.
K. Eckert @ 11:24 pm
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.
J. Lesley @ 11:37 pm
It must be incredibly difficult for an author to maintain the momentum built up in a first novel so that it will carry over into the second. Game of Cages is not only as good as the first book in this series,Child of Fire: A Twenty Palaces Novel, in some ways it may even surpass that great debut.
Raymond Lilly is back in the real world working in retail. Retail? Ray? Yep, but not for long. An investigator for the Twenty Palace Society comes by the store where Ray is working and convinces his boss that Raymond’s mother needs him immediately. What Catherine Little really wants is for Ray to accompany her to an auction where a predator is to be sold to the highest bidder. Once Ray gets in the car with Catherine it’s non-stop action for these two people who are trying to keep a predator from being let loose on the world. Unfortunately, when Catherine and Ray reach their destination they find that the predator has escaped from the group that bought it and they have to try to find it and destroy it even before they know what this predator can do.
Harry Connolly took quite a few risks with this book and turned a plot that is not exactly brand new into a story I honestly had a hard time putting down. First he has used a 45 year old woman with a husband and two daughters as the other character working with Raymond. By giving me a diferent type of character than what I would expect it put me a little on edge about how she would react. Would she be a help or a hindrance, what could she contribute to the story? Second risk: there is a huge body count in this book. And that leads directly to the third risk of having Ray act in ways which are normally viewed as wrong. Raymond and Catherine are pretty much on their own trying to track down this predator and deal with the magic until the Society sends in a peer to destroy the predator.
So why 4 stars instead of 5? First, a device Connolly uses to help the reader keep track of some of the characters is having Raymond give people nicknames: Well-Spoken, Tattoo, Stork Neck, the Fellows and others, and I did need that help. Next, the action all takes place in a very small, confined geographic location so there is much running about in the woods at night stumbling and falling and getting caught up in briars so there isn’t much variety of locations. Fourth, Annalise was a long time in making an appearance in this story. I think I understand why, but I would have liked having her back working with Raymond sooner because she is such a dynamic part of this team. And last, I still didn’t learn quite as much about the Twenty Palace Society as I would have liked.
Would I recommend this book to someone who enjoys reading action loaded books about magic? You bet I would! There is even an excerpt from book three in the back of this one. Harry Connolly states in the Acknowledgements that this was not an easy book to write. After reading it I can certainly sympathize with him on that, but it was very successfully done and a fine second book for the series.
Steven P. Peterson @ 11:39 pm
Second book and still no vampires, ghosts, werewolves, or love stories!
There’s a lot of nice imagination in the book. The monster isn’t all teeth and has a sharp post-Lovecraft/post-Barker feel.
A large cast of supporting villains creates interesting arrays of bad guy interactions and double-dealing.
Finally, the hero undergoes a refreshing anti-hero’s-journey — instead of starting out reluctant then later embracing the adventure, he goes the opposite direction. It makes complete sense given his character and sets the stage for future development.