Review: The Thief (Megan Whaler Turner)

The internet is terrible for something - and that's the spoiler that comes with knowing there are several books in this series. Had i not known that in advance, I would have been perfectly content with The Thief as a stand-alone book.

Semi-predictable fantasy tropes and some obvious character personality shifting aside, I really enjoyed this book and plan to continue in the series.

Without spoiling the book for anyone who wants a popcorn type fantasy book with some depth to both character and world-building, let yourself get drawn into three kingdoms decades (or perhaps a few millennia - hard to tell) after "the invaders" try to disrupt a spiritual way of living, where the Gods of Earth and Sky and Wind and Water and and and are previously worshiped. These three kindoms - Attolia, Sounis, and Eddis - are fractured and each left with remnants of their identities in the wake of the invaders' retreat.

You don't learn about this until about oh, 70 or 80 pages in.

The book begins with the introduction of the magus (no name given) and Gen - short for Eugenites (which is Turner's version of the God of Thieves). Gen is in the King's prison and the Magus offers him his freedom provided he steal something the king needs in order to marry the Queen of Attolia.

So an adventure ensues - Gen is an easy character to like, as is Sophus. I get the impression Gen is young - youthful disregard for authority and humble attitude is clear throughout how Turner describes him. But as the book wears on, there is a vast countryside unfolding. Each leg of their journey is met with additional myths and tales of the great gods in how the land is carved.

Combining any love of mythology with a medieval flare (and not in the style of Tolkien at all) kept this book interesting, easy, and not so predictable that I got bored. I breezed through it in a couple of days and found myself a little disappointed when it came to the end.

This is somewhere between 4 and 5 stars - not because of the depth of writing (as in Huang's book),  but because I feel like this is a solid fantasy series that will appeal to diverse fantasy readers of all ages (even as young as 7 or 8).

Happy Reading!
--Jennifer