Received from NetGalley for my honest review.

Steven is a Pawn in a global game of Chess. This book caught my attention because I really love the Gamehouse trilogy (by Claire North). It wasn't as good as those games, but still enjoyable.

The book is not to be read on it's own. Anyone looking for a book to come to a conclusion before the next should look elsewhere, but it's pretty clear early on (at least it was to me) that that would be the case. This book included the gathering of all the pieces, no actual "gameplay" of Chess. That's still to come. Still the book was enjoyable.

There were moments that were dull and slow moving, which is why this book doesn't get 5 stars from me, but overall it was an enjoyable book with enjoyable characters. A lot happens through the book and it was definitely different.

Recommended for anyone who likes games being played out in a non-traditional manner, where people (not items) are the pieces. Fans of the supernatural/fantasy should enjoy this one too.

Not my type of read so couldn't get into the story. From what I read it seemed well written though.

Pawn’s Gambit, the first book in The Pawn Stratagem series, is premised on the fascinating concept that the world’s survival depends on the playing of a real-life, supernatural game of chess — a game where the unwitting players' lives hang in the balance. After ages of rule-based game play, the Black Team is intent on cheating. Thus, it’s incumbent upon Steven, who learns he’s the white pawn, to find and protect his teammates to prevent the game from being lost before it’s begun.

The book is fast-paced, action-packed, and cleanly edited — a fun read and promising start to the series. Still, there are a number of questions left unanswered (e.g., why the players are chosen by their respective teams, the overall mythos/magic system) that would need to be tied off for this to be a 5-star for me. As this is the first in a series, I’m hoping these will be addressed in the future books.

This book surprised me. It was more fantasy than I expected yet it didn't fall into many of the modern fantasy tropes. It hooked me several times with how the plot played out as well.

Overall it was a typical first book to a series in that much of the focus was on word building - and the author did a good job building a world that lays directly over top of our modern world. Throughout the entire novel I was genuinely interested in the backstory of how the game was created and played.

My only complaint was I wanted more. I want to know how the game itself plays out - but I guess I have to wait for books 2 and 3 for those scenes.

All in all a good starting book:

Decent characters
Several characters were developed in intriguing ways
Unanswered mysteries (I need to know more about the insect!)
Clever plot tieing into an ancient mystery

Be aware though, it is very much fantasy. Don't expect a mystery like Flander's Panel.