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The Master

Claire North

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Similar in premise + setting

These books are ranked using the premise + setting labels extracted for The Master. Books rank higher when they are close on every selected axis.

Premise labels used: secret gamehouse, high-stakes game, world-spanning contest, power struggle, chess contest, control of the gamehouse, political manipulation, economic leverage, the ultimate game, games as governance

Setting labels used: modern day, global setting, worldwide, New York City, Venice, Bangkok, travel across continents, international, contemporary world, alternate hidden society, offstage geopolitics

This does not mean the books share the same plot, setting, quality, or difficulty. It means their premise + setting embeddings are close.

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The Gameshouse

Claire North · 2019 · The Gameshouse

A secret gameshouse turns chess, hide-and-seek, and more into contests that decide fortunes, cities, and empires.

Why this is here

Premise labels: secret society · high-stakes games · world-historical control · political intrigue · geopolitical stakes · games of skill · games of chance · secret organization · world as board · contest for power

Setting labels: Venice · Thailand · contemporary world · 17th century · 1930s · historical setting · global scale · moving house · secret venue · world-stage reality

Semantic match: ranked by premise + setting

Distance: 0.1520

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Rabbits

Terry Miles · 2021 · Rabbits

A pattern-obsessed gamer is pulled into a secret reality-bending game whose next round may unravel the world.

Why this is here

Premise labels: secret game · alternate reality game · reality instability · pattern recognition · conspiracy mystery · save the world · high-stakes quest · hidden clues

Setting labels: Seattle · contemporary world · real-world setting · alternate reality · global scale

Semantic match: ranked by premise + setting

Distance: 0.2143

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The Traveler

John Twelve Hawks · 2006 · Fourth Realm

A young Harlequin must protect gifted fugitives while a shadow network uses surveillance to hunt anyone who threatens control.

Why this is here

Premise labels: parallel worlds · surveillance state · secret society · off the grid · special powers · protective order · hidden war · freedom vs control · chosen protectors · hunted gifted people

Setting labels: near future · modern day · parallel reality · global · London · Los Angeles · Prague · Arizona · New York · urban surveillance

Semantic match: ranked by premise + setting

Distance: 0.2274

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The Quillan Games

D.J. MacHale · 2006 · Pendragon

A young Traveler lands in a territory ruled by a ruthless corporation and must survive deadly games to save it.

Why this is here

Premise labels: oppressive game system · life-or-death competition · corporate control · territory in crisis · chosen hero · rebellion

Setting labels: alternate world · dystopian city · controlled society · corporate state · televised games · time travel · space and time

Semantic match: ranked by premise + setting

Distance: 0.2277

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The World We Make

N.K. Jemisin · 2022 · Great Cities

New York’s living avatars must unite other cities to stop a multiversal threat and a very human political takeover.

Why this is here

Premise labels: living city · city avatars · cosmic threat · political resistance · multiverse conflict · anti-bigotry · urban struggle

Setting labels: New York City · modern day · contemporary urban setting · global cities · multiverse · alternate reality

Semantic match: ranked by premise + setting

Distance: 0.2314

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The Player of Games

Iain M. Banks · 1997 · Culture

A bored master gamer from a post-scarcity utopia is blackmailed into competing in an empire where the game determines power.

Why this is here

Premise labels: game tournament · obsessive gamer · post-scarcity society · utopian contrast · political infiltration · blackmail · high-stakes game

Setting labels: far future · intergalactic · post-scarcity · utopian society · alien empire · spacefaring civilization · hierarchical society · high-tech world

Semantic match: ranked by premise + setting

Distance: 0.2326

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The Serpent

Claire North · 2015 · The Gameshouse

In 17th-century Venice, a sharp-tongued wife is drawn into a secret gamehouse where real people become pieces in a city-sized contest.

Why this is here

Premise labels: secret society · high-stakes games · political intrigue · power struggle · woman protagonist · game of empires · game of kings · human pieces · hidden league

Setting labels: 17th century Venice · early 17th century · Renaissance Venice · historical setting · cosmopolitan city · urban intrigue · secret venue

Semantic match: ranked by premise + setting

Distance: 0.2333

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Where the Axe Is Buried

Ray Nayler · 2025

In a near-future world of AI rulers and immortal autocrats, scattered dissidents race to stop collapsing systems.

Why this is here

Premise labels: authoritarianism · AI governance · surveillance state · political intrigue · revolution · immortal ruler · mind transfer · state collapse

Setting labels: near future · alternate future · Western Europe · Russia-like state · post-Soviet sphere · global political crisis · surveillance society · AI-governed state

Semantic match: ranked by premise + setting

Distance: 0.2354

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Sky Key

James Frey, Nils Johnson-Shelton · 2015 · Endgame

Nine players race worldwide for the next key as Endgame widens into a brutal, apocalyptic hunt with shifting alliances.

Why this is here

Premise labels: deadly game · key hunt · race for artifact · survival contest · worldwide competition · end-of-world stakes · multiple rivals · hidden organizations · government involvement

Setting labels: global setting · Queens · London · Ethiopia · worldwide journey · Earth · contemporary · apocalyptic · historical landmarks · real-world locations · international setting

Semantic match: ranked by premise + setting

Distance: 0.2357

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The Illuminatus! Trilogy

Robert Shea, Robert Anton Wilson · 1983 · Illuminatus!

A bombed magazine, a missing editor, and a labyrinth of conspiracies pull a detective into a reality-bending investigation.

Why this is here

Premise labels: secret society · conspiracy investigation · missing editor · detective investigation · alternate history · mind expansion · world-spanning conspiracy

Setting labels: New York · global · alternate reality · space and time shifts · counterculture era · America

Semantic match: ranked by premise + setting

Distance: 0.2454

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The Invisibles Book One Deluxe Edition

Grant Morrison · 2014 · The Invisibles: Deluxe Edition

A secret revolutionary cell battles psychic oppression through occult, time-bending, reality-warping missions.

Why this is here

Premise labels: secret society · anti-oppression · psychic war · conspiracy · hidden reality · revolutionary struggle · occult resistance · interdimensional threat · mind control · free thought

Setting labels: London · mid-1990s · contemporary setting · alternate reality · interdimensional · psychedelic reality · historical inset · time travel · urban setting · global scope

Semantic match: ranked by premise + setting

Distance: 0.2466

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The Lost Colony

Eoin Colfer · 2006 · Artemis Fowl

A teenage genius races to stop a hidden demon colony from returning as a rival prodigy and time distortions complicate everything.

Why this is here

Premise labels: genius versus genius · missing person rescue · time-spell collapse · hidden world exposure · race against catastrophe · covert operation · mythic return · secret species

Setting labels: modern world · hidden faerie world · underground civilization · alternate dimension · limbo · time travel · Europe · Sicily · Taiwan · outer space · magic and technology

Semantic match: ranked by premise + setting

Distance: 0.2496

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