Book Review: The Breakers (Players of the Game)

Reviewed by Gabriella Harrison

Mortal and divine ambitions collide, reshaping loyalties, battlefields, and the fate of kingdoms in this multilayered, battle-tested epic.

Moving between brutal battlefield clashes and tense political maneuvering, The Breakers is an epic fantasy where armies gather, old grudges flare, and an unseen hand pushes the pieces toward collision.

That hand belongs to Corsis, whose presence has shaped the events of the series from the beginning. Here, he frames the coming conflict with calculated satisfaction: “They will try to stop what I set into motion. And I will be entertained.” It’s a clear reminder that the struggle on the ground is only part of the Game.

The opening chapter drops into an assault across the “white water… under a wan light.” Harry directs the operation while Ed drives forward in close combat, cutting through enemy defenses, and Xax strikes with the kind of force that turns the tide of skirmishes. Fernallus and Tamona add their own precision and power, while Candice moves in the shadows. The scene is tight and tactical, shifting between vantage points without losing clarity.

Far from the river, Inparadis becomes the stage for another kind of battle. Balpors, a warlord with ambitions tied to the fallen goddess Muné, works to bring her back from death. His meetings with a three-armed demon carry a bite of mutual distrust. “You’ve got a fifty-fifty shot at winning… That’s not playing to win. That’s playing to keep the Game going.” It’s both a warning and an accusation. Balpors’s authority is complicated by the fact that Corsis’s will runs through him, limiting how much of the plan is truly his own.

McGowan’s prose cuts like a knife, perfectly matching the desperate urgency driving the characters. The opening clash at the Great Caldron instantly sets the stakes sky-high. It’s a brutal fight against impossible odds where Ed’s lightning-fast moves and Harry’s cold tactics leave no doubt how dire things are. Then there’s Tamona; blind, yet seeing through perceptia (a medium that allows her to communicate discreetly), and bearing an uncanny resemblance to the goddess Muné. That’s clearly no accident, and the dread it sparks about future clashes is palpable. Meanwhile, the quieter thread of Celsis Kri imprisoned under ice offers a tantalizing mystery, a brief calm within the storm.

Harry and Avril’s reunion is packed with unresolved history that collides head-on with the surrounding battlefield chaos. Admittedly, the sheer number of factions and lore terms like “Murdrakes” or “Horrinshal specialists” introduced so quickly can feel like a lot to take in.

The battle for Findenton is immersive, masterfully balancing huge, destructive scenes—think dragons tangling with Grellish forces and demons flooding streets, against tight, focused duels, like Ed’s hypersonic face-off with a serpentine dragon. Avril and Harry provide a grounded perspective, refreshingly free from divine meddling, while Fernallus, Vick, and Candice work the political shadows, pulling the less visible strings of war. These political exchanges, sometimes heavy with backstory, can slow the breakneck pace a touch, but they’re crucial for showing the intricate machinery driving the conflict forward.

The conclusion is satisfying and stokes tension for the next book in the series, as factions that have moved separately for much of the book meet in direct conflict, and the results shift more than just the balance of power. The action remains clear even as strategies overlap. Yet the sheer number of active characters, many carrying histories from earlier volumes, can be a lot to keep track of, particularly for new readers.

Wielding sharp, varied battle scenes, political plots that fit together with intent, and characters whose choices resist simple labels of right and wrong, James McGowan has created a layered war where every alliance comes with a cost and every victory changes the game board.

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