The Facefaker's Game
Ratings5
Average rating3.6
15
Ratings5
Average rating3.6
For fans of Brandon Sanderson and Scott Lynch, a fantasy about a clever young beggar who bargains his way into an apprenticeship with a company of thieving magicians and uses his newfound skills in a vendetta against a ruthless crime lord. Ashes lives in Burroughside—the dirtiest, most crime-ridden district in the huge city of Teranis. His neighbors are gangs of fellow orphans, homeless madmen, and monsters that swarm the streets at nightfall. Determined to escape Burroughside, Ashes spends his days begging, picking pockets, and cheating at cards. When he draws the wrath of Mr. Ragged, Burroughside’s brutal governor, he is forced to flee for his life, only to be rescued by an enigmatic man named Candlestick Jack. Jack leads a group of Artificers, professional magicians who can manipulate light with their bare hands to create stunningly convincing illusions. Changing a face is as simple as changing a hat. Ashes seizes an opportunity to study magic under Jack and quickly befriends the rest of the company: Juliana, Jack’s aristocratic wife; William, his exacting business partner; and Synder, his genius apprentice. But all is not as it seems: Jack and his company lead a double life as thieves, and they want Ashes to join their next heist. Between lessons on light and illusion, Ashes begins preparing to help with Jack’s most audacious caper yet: robbing the richest and most ruthless nobleman in the city. A dramatic adventure story full of wit, charm, and scheming rogues, The Facefaker’s Game introduces an unforgettable world you won’t soon want to leave.
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The Facefaker's Game by Chandler J. Birch has been called equal parts Dickens, Sanderson, and Lynch. It combines a fun illusion-based magic system, a gang of thieves, and strange monsters that lurk the streets at night.
Most of the book takes place in Burroughside, the slums of Teranis. It's filled with crews of child gangs and cannibalistic monsters roam the streets after dark. The elite of society possess the ability to magically compel adulation from anyone that sees them.
Instead of gods, people worship Faces. It's a bit unclear what Faces actually are, though each is named for a trait. There's the Face of Cunning, Face of Kindness, etc. This theme of faces also ties into the magic system, which is almost entirely based on illusion.
The two main types of magic users are Weavers and Stitchers. Weavers can quickly cast illusions by gathering and manipulating light, often creating false faces to wear about the city. These illusions can be anchored to everyday items, so you might find a noble with a ring that makes them look taller and more handsome. Stitchers are slower at creating illusions than Weavers, but they can craft finer details and there are almost permanent.
The book follows a relatively small cast of core characters, each with their own unique quirks and personalities. The “gang of thieves” aspect reminded me of The Lies of Locke Lamora, but with more fleshed-out secondary characters.
Ashes is a street thief with no memory of his past before he came to Burroughside. He used to be a part of a gang, but he had to leave that behind to protect his friend Blimey from Ragged. He catches the eye of a daring thief known as Candlestick Jack and is invited to join his crew, learning magic along the way.
Brent Weeks has praised this novel, and for good reason. The writing style reminds me significantly of Weeks: fun magic, likable characters, and conflict in every scene. While the prose might not be the most refined, the pacing makes this book difficult to put down.
If you like fun worlds with interesting magic systems, characters with amnesia, or a good old-fashioned heist, you will probably enjoy this book. The plot moves quickly and the author does a nice job of introducing the worldbuilding without too much exposition.
Don't go into this expecting deep themes, rich prose, or an overly complex plot. I was able to predict several of the twists near the end, but that didn't hurt my enjoyment of the book.
Overall, this was an incredibly fun read. It wasn't perfect, but I found myself reading late into the night.
