Game of Knaves

By S Marie Holland

What if there were a fantasy novel based on a deck of cards?

A competition to become Queen.

Royal balls. Martial arts.

An arena fight to the death.

Game of Knaves is a mixture of The Hunger Games and The Selection, with Shadow and Bone magical elements.

Novem, lonely and distraught from the death of her mother, lives isolated from others and stuck in her grief. Everything changes when the ominous and fear-provoking Joker approaches her towers, harboring important information within a journal written by her late mother.

After learning more about her mom, Novem enters a competition to be crowned Queen of Spades in order to avenge her mother's death, which she thinks will heal the hole in her heart. Novem's world completely changes through the deathly Queen trials, where she not only discovers more about herself, but also more about her mother and the mysterious Joker.

As true identities are revealed, as fights are lost, and as unforeseen friendships form, Novem must learn the value of new friendships and how to let go of the emotions that hold her back, all before the final trial nears: a fight to the death.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: B0GL9N4TCG
• ISBN13: 9798218915469
• Release Date: February 2026
• Publisher: S. Marie Holland Books
• Length: 286 Pages
• Weight: 1.22 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 6.0" x 9.0"
• Age Range: 13 to 18 years
• Grade Range: Grade 8 to Postsecondary