**The World Fantasy Award-winning author of The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August presents a mesmerizing tale of a gambling house whose deadly games of chance and skill control the fate of empires.**Everyone has heard of the Gameshouse. But few know all its secrets... It is the place where fortune...

**The World Fantasy Award-winning author of The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August presents a mesmerizing tale of a gambling house whose deadly games of chance and skill control the fate of empires.**Everyone has heard of the Gameshouse. But few know all its secrets... It is the place where fortunes can be made and lost through chess, backgammon - every game under the sun.

But those whom fortune favors may be invited to compete in the higher league... a league where the games played are of politics and empires, of economics and kings. It is a league where Capture the Castle involves real castles, where hide and seek takes place on the scale of a continent. Among those worthy of competing in the higher league, three unusually talented contestants play for the highest stakes of all...*This novel was originally published as three digital-only novellas: The Serpent, The Thief *, and * The Master.*Previous books by Claire North: The First Fifteen Lives of Harry AugustTouchThe Sudden Appearance of HopeThe End of the Day84K By the same author, writing as Kate Griffin: A Madness of AngelsThe Midnight MayorThe Neon CourtThe Minority CouncilThe Glass GodStray Souls