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Five Countries #1
Confidence Game
SHE DIDN’T BREAK THE RULES.
THEY BROKE HER.
Beneath its peaceful exterior, Dabion is a land of violence and intrigue, its politics run by judges, schemers, and spies. Elzith Kar is one such spy, gifted with an uncanny skill derived from rigorous training—and an unusual magic inherited from parents she never knew. Dabion may have use for her talent, but its rulers fear the magic that tempts it, so Elzith has hidden her history and true power, becoming a master player in a game she despises.
But now, as she heals in the aftermath of a dangerous mission, Elzith finds herself temporarily forced into life as a civilian. It is here she finds Tod Redtanner, a humble man with secrets of his own, and feels compelled to tell him her story. But as Elzith’s history unfolds and the present begins to unravel, it soon becomes clear that the past haunts more than just her dreams. And that if Elzith is to survive, she has no choice but to return to the world of intrigue and corruption that was once her domain. And this time she must play to win.
THEY BROKE HER.
Beneath its peaceful exterior, Dabion is a land of violence and intrigue, its politics run by judges, schemers, and spies. Elzith Kar is one such spy, gifted with an uncanny skill derived from rigorous training—and an unusual magic inherited from parents she never knew. Dabion may have use for her talent, but its rulers fear the magic that tempts it, so Elzith has hidden her history and true power, becoming a master player in a game she despises.
But now, as she heals in the aftermath of a dangerous mission, Elzith finds herself temporarily forced into life as a civilian. It is here she finds Tod Redtanner, a humble man with secrets of his own, and feels compelled to tell him her story. But as Elzith’s history unfolds and the present begins to unravel, it soon becomes clear that the past haunts more than just her dreams. And that if Elzith is to survive, she has no choice but to return to the world of intrigue and corruption that was once her domain. And this time she must play to win.
448 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 2003
5 people are currently reading
73 people want to read
About the author
Michelle M. Welch
7 books6 followersReader, writer, librarian, finder of random stuff, reluctant cat person, sometime musician, generalist.
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
January 10, 2026
Made it to page 43, and it’s a DNF. It took until this page for us to actually get the pov of the woman on the cover- before that, two different men, and a ton of side characters, of which every single one was male (including some kind of secret society of old crusty men).
It is far, far too early in the year to force myself to read something I am just not feeling.
It is far, far too early in the year to force myself to read something I am just not feeling.
May 9, 2009
This book is about Elzith, a heartless broken spy in a distopian society, who is tired of playing "the game." But like those before her, she is unable to stop playing the game because the higher ups won't let her. The game never ends.
Through a series of events, assignments, people that she meets along the way, and a little help from magic, she discovers that maybe she's not as heartless as she thought, and there's something bigger than her at play here.
I love the subtlety of magic in this book - it doesn't really play a big part, and yet it does. This book is told through many people's perspectives so you can get a full grasp on what's going on across the city.
My words of warning: This is not a book by Jacqueline Carey, this is a different author - expect that when you open this book. The publishers choose the artists for the books, and I can't really remember a time where Elzith is naked with a mask on the wall.
Through a series of events, assignments, people that she meets along the way, and a little help from magic, she discovers that maybe she's not as heartless as she thought, and there's something bigger than her at play here.
I love the subtlety of magic in this book - it doesn't really play a big part, and yet it does. This book is told through many people's perspectives so you can get a full grasp on what's going on across the city.
My words of warning: This is not a book by Jacqueline Carey, this is a different author - expect that when you open this book. The publishers choose the artists for the books, and I can't really remember a time where Elzith is naked with a mask on the wall.
October 3, 2011
In many fantasy books, the triumph of good is so obvious that it drains energy from the narrative engine -- Michelle M. Welch, on the other hand, goes too far in the other direction. She concludes a trilogy with ‘Chasing Fire’ (Bantam Spectra, $6.50, 403 pages), a book that spends 400 pages giving new depths to the meaning of the word ‘bleak.’ In an unnamed world with guns but not industry, the lovers who come out the best part sadly, two main characters find their only hope of solace and redemption in death, every version of human society is corrupt and degrading, and in fact a couple non-human societies are no better.
So if you’re looking for uplift and even occasional gleams of light, don’t even start this series ( ‘Confidence Game,’ ‘The Bright and the Dark’ and ‘Chasing Fire’), but if you happen to be in the mood for variations on grim, make sure to read the books one right after the other because Welch supplies no synopsis. Characters from book one appear late in book three, references are constantly made to things that happened that Welch never bothers to explain, and people whose deaths were described in earlier books now get some background shading, to no obvious point.
Apparently authors assume that we read nothing while breathlessly awaiting their next rain of golden words, and thus we are perfectly familiar with everything that has gone on, or not gone on, in a book published more than two years ago. News flash: We’re don’t, and we’re not, and if we lay down hard-earned cash for a novel, it isn’t too much to ask the author to explain what the heck is going on.
So if you’re looking for uplift and even occasional gleams of light, don’t even start this series ( ‘Confidence Game,’ ‘The Bright and the Dark’ and ‘Chasing Fire’), but if you happen to be in the mood for variations on grim, make sure to read the books one right after the other because Welch supplies no synopsis. Characters from book one appear late in book three, references are constantly made to things that happened that Welch never bothers to explain, and people whose deaths were described in earlier books now get some background shading, to no obvious point.
Apparently authors assume that we read nothing while breathlessly awaiting their next rain of golden words, and thus we are perfectly familiar with everything that has gone on, or not gone on, in a book published more than two years ago. News flash: We’re don’t, and we’re not, and if we lay down hard-earned cash for a novel, it isn’t too much to ask the author to explain what the heck is going on.
February 21, 2018
The entire time I read this book, I thought about my creative writing professor who drilled the idea, "Show, don't tell," into us. Yikes. If you like your books to only be exposition and have really jolting perspective changes mid-chapter, this book may be for you.
August 4, 2012
A hundred pages in and I'm giving up on this one and putting it on my "give away to charity she".
I am a bit jaded as a reader, I fear, having read far too much in the way of short stories and action oriented tales, but also because I expect a story to have interesting (and preferably sympathetic) characters that act rather than simply react, and who have interesting lives.
Yes, this means I'm a terrible critic of literature in the modern and post modern sense, much of which is a character study of someone horrible, or futile and boring, or 'scenes from a life' without plot or purpose.
Confidence game makes a promise on the back page blurb of violence, intrigue, politics, spies and magic set in a rather totalitarian backdrop. At 100 pages it fails to really fulfill any of those promises, and as a first novel is rather a slow dry read through to where I gave up on it. It reads more like literature than a story.
There is some violence hinted at, but most of it takes place off screen, in the past, or as seen from afar by people wanting to avoid government crack down on mobs, illegal businesses, or outlawed religious groups. (The hints of a modern China anti-mysticism purge is kind of obviously affecting the author's choices in the setting).
Almost nothing really happens in 100 pages of writing. One character changes jobs to become a police enforcer, sub-rents a basement flat from another who's a bookbinder that binds official government books and a third unrelated one is made a district judge. But none are really taking action, just going thru the motions in the society they live in. None are trying to make waves, change things beyond the mundane, stand up against the regime or in any way seek much in a personal goal (except the bookbinder who thinks he's in love with his new tenant but fails to do more than be confused over his emotions).
It's a crawl... it's like a hundred pages of backstory on some rather boring feeling people. It does nothing to convince me to read the next 300 pages of the work. None of the characters are being interesting or doing anything except normal daily drudgery.
I am a bit jaded as a reader, I fear, having read far too much in the way of short stories and action oriented tales, but also because I expect a story to have interesting (and preferably sympathetic) characters that act rather than simply react, and who have interesting lives.
Yes, this means I'm a terrible critic of literature in the modern and post modern sense, much of which is a character study of someone horrible, or futile and boring, or 'scenes from a life' without plot or purpose.
Confidence game makes a promise on the back page blurb of violence, intrigue, politics, spies and magic set in a rather totalitarian backdrop. At 100 pages it fails to really fulfill any of those promises, and as a first novel is rather a slow dry read through to where I gave up on it. It reads more like literature than a story.
There is some violence hinted at, but most of it takes place off screen, in the past, or as seen from afar by people wanting to avoid government crack down on mobs, illegal businesses, or outlawed religious groups. (The hints of a modern China anti-mysticism purge is kind of obviously affecting the author's choices in the setting).
Almost nothing really happens in 100 pages of writing. One character changes jobs to become a police enforcer, sub-rents a basement flat from another who's a bookbinder that binds official government books and a third unrelated one is made a district judge. But none are really taking action, just going thru the motions in the society they live in. None are trying to make waves, change things beyond the mundane, stand up against the regime or in any way seek much in a personal goal (except the bookbinder who thinks he's in love with his new tenant but fails to do more than be confused over his emotions).
It's a crawl... it's like a hundred pages of backstory on some rather boring feeling people. It does nothing to convince me to read the next 300 pages of the work. None of the characters are being interesting or doing anything except normal daily drudgery.
July 10, 2010
Confidence Game. Michelle M. Welch. 2003. Bantam Spectra. 419 pages. ISBN 0553586270.
Confidence Game is the first book in the Five Countries fantasy series written by Michelle M. Welch and featuring Elzith Kar; a woman spy with a troubled past.
The premise of Confidence Game as described in the synopsis on the back of the novel is about the talents of Elzith as a magical and gifted spy who is posing as a civilian while recovering from a dangerous mission. Elzith crosses paths with Tod Redtanner, a book-binding specialist with his own secrets who Elzith confides her to story to. Thus, Elzith must once again play her "confidence game".
As readers will soon learn, the confidence game is basically a method of earning the trust of someone before ultimately deceiving them. There is nothing fantasy-oriented or unique about the "confidence game" at all, and my jaw dropped with disbelief after learning its definition in the book.
In addition to the disappointment of learning what the confidence game truly entails, there are no components in Confidence Game that are very original or remotely engrossing. The political chapters describing the Justices and their studies are about as interesting as watching paint dry. I'm terribly sad that Confidence Game lacks intrigue and excitement and does not fall into the recommendation category.
The pros to reading Confidence Game are that despite its lulling style, the chapters are short and fast-paced. It easily pulls you in but is most likely to disappoint before the midway point.
If you're looking for a fantasy novel with a similar plot involving a strong, courageous woman with magical talents in a politically harsh fantasy-environment, I highly recommend reading Maria V. Snyder's "Study" series, beginning with Poison Study (2005) and following with Magic Study (2006), then Fire Study (2008).
For more book reviews, visit http://dreamworldbooks.com.
Confidence Game is the first book in the Five Countries fantasy series written by Michelle M. Welch and featuring Elzith Kar; a woman spy with a troubled past.
The premise of Confidence Game as described in the synopsis on the back of the novel is about the talents of Elzith as a magical and gifted spy who is posing as a civilian while recovering from a dangerous mission. Elzith crosses paths with Tod Redtanner, a book-binding specialist with his own secrets who Elzith confides her to story to. Thus, Elzith must once again play her "confidence game".
As readers will soon learn, the confidence game is basically a method of earning the trust of someone before ultimately deceiving them. There is nothing fantasy-oriented or unique about the "confidence game" at all, and my jaw dropped with disbelief after learning its definition in the book.
In addition to the disappointment of learning what the confidence game truly entails, there are no components in Confidence Game that are very original or remotely engrossing. The political chapters describing the Justices and their studies are about as interesting as watching paint dry. I'm terribly sad that Confidence Game lacks intrigue and excitement and does not fall into the recommendation category.
The pros to reading Confidence Game are that despite its lulling style, the chapters are short and fast-paced. It easily pulls you in but is most likely to disappoint before the midway point.
If you're looking for a fantasy novel with a similar plot involving a strong, courageous woman with magical talents in a politically harsh fantasy-environment, I highly recommend reading Maria V. Snyder's "Study" series, beginning with Poison Study (2005) and following with Magic Study (2006), then Fire Study (2008).
For more book reviews, visit http://dreamworldbooks.com.
December 26, 2009
This book was a bit complex and therefore a bit confusing. Michelle Welch changes character thoughts and story plots in the middle of chapters unexpectedly. This book follows a psychological shift for Elzith, who doesn't care about anyone or anything to having a conscience.
Elzith is a spy and the confidence game is to see if you can "con" your subject by portaying a role and thus getting their trust.
There are about four stories that intertwine and come to a conclusion at the end.
While there isn't anything explicit in this book, there are adult themes and would be inappropriate for a younger reader.
Elzith is a spy and the confidence game is to see if you can "con" your subject by portaying a role and thus getting their trust.
There are about four stories that intertwine and come to a conclusion at the end.
While there isn't anything explicit in this book, there are adult themes and would be inappropriate for a younger reader.
September 6, 2010
It was an OK story. I picked it up off the sale shelf at the library for 25¢ because it was one of the few fantasy books there and the cover was intriguing. The point-of-view was all over the place (a great example of how NOT to write when it comes to point-of-view), but the story was interesting--once it took off, which wasn't for several chapters. Perhaps the most interesting parts were the themes of trust, why we 'play' people, and self-deception. The setting was so-so, and the magic was interesting, but it wasn't explained thoroughly enough
December 23, 2013
This book was both a pleasant surprise and a disappointing letdown. I found it on the lending shelf at the train station so I had no expectations about it, so I was delighted when the plot, characters, and overall world really drew me in. However, based on the detail and writing early in the book, the ending was a disappointment - I thought there was too much reliance on obscure magical bullshit that made things more confused instead of clearer, and the last few lines were flat. I didn't expect anything going into this, but based on the book itself, I expected more from the ending.
August 29, 2007
just because the cover is the same people that did carey's kusheline series does NOT mean this book is anywhere close to that caliber. I didn't even finish it because of the convoluted spy nonsense that made no sense, and the characters were not well fleshed out. Also, one of my BIGGEST pet peeves in a fantasy book EVER: there was no map. how do i know where you're going if you don't show me a map?!
July 18, 2011
I think the cover artist read Kushiel's Dart instead of Confidence Game. :). I managed to get through the whole book, but it was not the most riveting read. One of my issues was that Tod was such a wimpy character. I like all my main characters strong, and this felt like a forced reversal of power roles. I kept thinking there was going to be a larger story, empires brought down, terrible secrets discovered, but it never happened.
March 21, 2023
The most I remember about this book and its sequels is a feeling of visceral discomfort and anxiety. Like the act of reading the story was painful. This is not a bad book by any means, nor badly written. But just the worldbuilding and Elzith's story were portrayed in such a way, that I felt it at a gut level that made it hard to read.
July 9, 2009
BORING!!! Such a great cover and premise, but as it sometimes true the cover is lying to you. Characters were boring and you were never sure of their motivation, plot was...well I'm still not really sure and the world was just lacking. Do yourself a favor and skip it.
November 25, 2008
It has been so long since I've read this book, and I was so young and the time I didn't really understand all that was going on. I need to reread.
January 7, 2011
A reread from a few years back. Elzith Tar takes us on a tour of a cool little world in this tale of a worn down, tired spy trying to figure out what is next.
January 4, 2012
This book got some really great reviews, and it's been on my list to read for a long time. I've tried over and over to become interested, but just can't.
Alas.
Another book to purge.
Alas.
Another book to purge.
January 22, 2016
A different kind of story than I normally read, but still intriguing.
Want to read
November 21, 2008TBR
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews