The Debtors Game

Twas in a café they first met, Romeo and Juliet. And twas the first day they fell into debt, because Rome-owed and Juli-eat. It feels to me that the entire system is rigged so that you never have quite enough money to escape, you work to live, and if you do not work, you do not eat. It is worse when you have dependents, you will sacrifice your own health and happiness to make another’s life easier. In Isabelle Mongeau’s debut fantasy The Debtor’s Game, your debts are magically tattooed onto your skin, let the interest get too high and you just might find yourself an unwanted.

Life is not easy for Avery, but at least she earns enough money to slowly pay off her debts and some of what is owed by those around her. In a few hundred years’ time, they will be free. In this world faeries must work most of their lives to pay off their debts to the High Fae. Avery is closer to power than most, being the handmaiden to the cruel mistress of The House of Illusion, Lady Kassandra. When tragedy strikes, Avery must decide whether to keep her head down and pay her debts off slowly, or fight.

Debtor’s is a rich magical world, built on the interesting concept of debt. Most of us can relate in someway to this, even if it is only in the form of a mortgage. The debt in this world is more overtly servitude, but with the High Fae being so powerful there is not much you can do, until Avery becomes even closer to power with a new job waiting on the King of the Fae.

For such a wide and well built world, Debtor is quite a small intimate story. There are four powerful Fae Houses, a war that raged between them has come to an uneasy peace, but all this is background for Avery’s tale, the enemies she makes, and the friendships she builds. Told exclusively from Avery’s point of view, we see what she does. That is a lot, but there promises to be so much more.

Instead of epic warfare, there is powerful emotions. Parts of the book are all blood and thunder, of the lustful kind. Avery weaves her magic in the world of the High Fae, but these are mean creatures, not unused to abusing the staff and each other. In this the book must carry a content warning of sexual assault. The book may be about faeries, but it is not a children’s book.

With few characters, and fewer intense bubbles of influence, Debtor’s is one of the most thrilling fantasy novels I have read. The risks are ever present, and the story is intense in places. The consequences of debt are life changing, and even life ending. The debt is a great mechanism that fuels the story. If you are looking for a character led fantasy novel with an intense storyline, then this is a good option.