Extended summary:

Sisters Darya and Masha Solomonova are heirs to the Solomoncan Front, an expansive empire that spans from sandy deserts to the frigid coast. Like the empire itself, the Solomonova sisters, too, are drastically different: Darya is adventurous and athletic, passionate about hunting and medicine; Masha is intelligent and deeply religious, devoted to the pantheon of gods worshipped across the empire. As their father’s health rapidly declines, Masha and Darya confront losing their parents to strange illnesses, and each sister secretly hopes the other will be chosen to rule as Empress in his stead.

Neither Masha nor Darya know that the sorrow in their lives is the result of Domenic, a meddling, mischievous god, whose destructive actions are moderated only by the cleverness of an outcast goddess, Adalet, living as a cook in the palace kitchens. Once the sisters’ patron goddess, Adalet dreams of rejoining the pantheon. Domenic agrees to help — if she consents to a tournament of games that test the mind, the body, and the heart.

When Darya and Masha travel across the empire to serve as emissaries, they must navigate through the world as it succumbs to the whims of the gods. Their relationship alters irrevocably as they collide over faith and progress, love and destiny.

What makes my story unique:

I wrote this story for selfish reasons: because I wanted to *read* a story like this, a story about strenuous relationships between humans and gods, set in a world directly impacted by this dynamic.

I am always a fan of sibling relationships in fantasy stories -- particularly those in which the siblings care deeply for one another -- so the relationship between my two protagonists is the core thread in The Gamemakers.