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The Great Game: The Unstoppable Blaze
Summary
| The second book in The Great Game series sees the emergence of the Kingdom from civil war. Following the death of King Regis at the end of The Great Game: Buster, Daneel Viscount of Cleise has been anointed the new King. It is a Kingdom in turmoil. Most of the royal house have perished in the war and popular support for the new king and his strange allies is weak. The new King’s principal task is to rebuild the nation and unite previously feuding factions. His vision of unity is focussed on the Great Game. |
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Daneel invites the Douaves to build a magnificent new stadium at the site of the great battle. His hope is that if the people can accept outsiders playing in the Great Game, then in time those outsiders will be accepted into the hearts of the common folk. The most popular player of the era is Blaze, brother of Buster.
Trouble to the North continues with the Northmen electing a chieftain who will unite the tribes for one final invasion of the weakened Kingdom. The Cnihts, under the command of Count Deláe See, who fought so valiantly against the forces of the pretender Meris, ride north to combat the new threat.
At home a new political elite arises through the establishment of a Senate. It is an elite feeling the influence of Póg Mothóin, advisor and betrayer of Meris in the attempted coup. Mothóin intercepts missives from Deláe See and keeps the King from knowing how the mission in the North is progressing.
King Daneel, suffering the loneliness and isolation of his new position begins to rely upon the quiet caring of a serving girl. Her love for him appears to grow with his insistence that it is only with her free consent and not as a result of his superior station that he will pursue such a relationship.
Gradually the Kingdom begins to flourish, peace spreads and trading becomes more settled. Trade routes expand beyond the Kingdom to the newfound neighbours, gradually overcoming fear and hostility.
A new Great Game league is inaugurated, highlighted by Blaze’s dazzling skills along with Buster, Mason, and Genista. The Game becomes more aesthetically pleasing with passing plays and running patterns taking over from grinding military-style tactics. Blaze takes his twin career very seriously, training both with the team and with the court musicians and rises to a level of celebrity previously unknown. Blaze and Daneel stand side-by-side as symbols of the new Kingdom, a threat to those favoured by the old order.
Meanwhile, under Póg’s subtle temptations, Daneel’s hopes and good intentions for the senate are drowned by intrigue and personal advancement. Póg subtly manipulates the council, playing Senators off against each other. In this unhealthy atmosphere, a Senator is assassinated and the fragile peace is endangered. Eventually Daneel forces order with the institution of a central army under a military council subject to the political senate. All personal forces are banned.
Into this maelstrom arrives a diplomatic mission from the Northlands threatening war but offering peace through the marriage of King Daneel to the eldest daughter of the Northmen’s new warlord. Daneel rebuffs the offer against the advice of the Senate in a struggle for authority. Daneel’s serving girl is abducted and all-out war looms.
The Cnihts also return, bearing news of the great strength of the Northmen, now unified into a mighty nation from disparate tribes, and the desperate need for a peace treaty to avoid a war that could utterly destroy the Kingdom. The King accuses his mentor, Deláe See, of treason and cowardice. He orders the Cnihts to disband and declares war on the Northmen.
In an attempt to restore their position within the Kingdom, the Cnihts play the Annihilators in a friendly match that sees Blaze produce one of the greatest performances ever seen, becoming “The Unstoppable Blaze”. The match serves only to advance Blaze himself as the ultimate icon of the Kingdom.
With Blaze as the Kingdom’s focus, Daneel marches north, recommending that the Game continue as a preserve to morale. Blaze remains while Buster marches with the army.
Battle ensues and the Cnihts reach the battlefield too late to prevent hostilities. Deláe See tries to remonstrate with Daneel, but it is to no avail. When the King presses forward into the fight, half of the Cnihts join him but the others refuse. Meanwhile the Senate’s internal factions descend into economic warfare as each tries to grasp their own part of the pot. Póg, discovering that he cannot control the Senate in its entirety resorts to assassination in an unsuccessful bid to regain his influence.
War is finally ended when Daneel’s lover discovers the war’s cause and reveals herself as the Warlord’s younger daughter. The treaty is finally cemented by their marriage but only after grave losses on both sides.
In the atmosphere of hostility and suspicion, Blaze is killed in a match of the Great Game under the captaincy of Mason. Buster returns from war to find his brother has died and accuses Mason of failing to protect him and also of attempting to steal his love, Rosie. Buster continues to play the game but is filled with murderous rage.
Back in the Kingdom the Senate are in open conflict with one other, trading has ceased and armed brigands have begun to raid neighbouring territories as law, order, and morale collapses. The army return and Daneel disbands the Senate to install military rule. This military direction brings order back, while The Great Game turns from its beautiful form that saw The Unstoppable Blaze rise, to a more vicious and physical piece of entertainment. Without the Cnihts or Póg, and with the icon Blaze dead and the Senate disbanded, the King presides alone over a restless peace.
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