THE BLURB: In a futuristic world nearly destroyed by religious extremists, Justin March lives in exile after failing in his job as an investigator of religious groups and supernatural claims. But Justin is given a second chance when Mae Koskinen comes to bring him back to the Republic of United North America (RUNA). Raised in an aristocratic caste, Mae is now a member of the military’s most elite and terrifying tier, a soldier with enhanced reflexes and skills.
When Justin and Mae are assigned to work together to solve a string of ritualistic murders, they soon realize that their discoveries have exposed them to terrible danger. As their investigation races forward, unknown enemies and powers greater than they can imagine are gathering in the shadows, ready to reclaim the world in which humans are merely game pieces on their board.
Gameboard of the Gods, the first installment of Richelle Mead’s Age of X series, will have all the elements that have made her YA Vampire Academy and Bloodlines series such mega-successes sexy, irresistible characters; romantic and mythological intrigue; and relentless action and suspense.
MAD MUSINGS: This story just reaffirms how much I adore Richelle's writing. She creates interesting and unique main characters that I wouldn't normally care about, and makes me love them! Main case here is the male lead - Justin.... He's what I would call a womanizer when we first meet him. And Mae is the Ice Princess.... seems like a match made in hell, right? But these two together bring out the softer side in each other, somehow. My friend, Sarah, said it the best way to me the other day - Those that love with such great passion can also fight with that same passion. And we can certainly see how that can be the case here!! Is it strange that, as I was reading about Justin and Mae, all I could think of was these two?
Just a little Battlestar Galactica fangirling - nothing to see here.....
That's exactly it, right??? Justin and Mae are exactly Gaius and Six!! LOL
Anyway..... I know that this story is touted as a sci-fi, but I would call it more of a dystopian story. And they way the story ended - the next one could go off in any direction! I like that I can't guess it. There's a lot of mention in this story about different gods from other religions (new and ancient) from around the world. There's one 'god' in particular that pertains to Justin, and we are supposed to wonder who it was.. . I knew all along who it was, because I just happened to do a bit of research into this particular culture for another book recently and the clues were there right at the start. But it's still cool how bits and pieces are revealed.
I look forward to another fascinating series from Richelle Mead.
****1/2 stars
