The Thief (The Queen's Thief, Book 1) | Megan Whalen Turner

The Thief (The Queen's Thief, Book 1) | Megan Whalen Turner | suspenseful and enjoyable

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The Thief (The Que...

	The Thief (The Queen's Thief, Book 1) Megan Whalen Turner HarperCollins, 2006 - 304 pages average customer review:based on 125 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Not enough adjectives to describe this feat of storytelling,

Gen (Eugenides) is a young man with one singular talent...he can steal anything, as evidenced by his successful theft of the King of Sounis' seal. There is one problem, after boasting about the successful theft in a cheap wine tavern the reigning King heard wind of this deed and had Gen thrown into jail. So, here sits Gen, wasting away until the King finds a usage for him, or rather the King's Magus finds a use for him. After months of rotting away in prison the Magus comes and retrieves him, feeds him, forces him to bathe, and makes him confront his greatest fear... horses. They set out on an errand for the King, an errand that is really the Magus' obsession, but at first Gen is completely unaware as to what the nature of the errand is. All he knows is that he and four other men are traveling by horses to the neighboring kingdom of Attolia, by way of Eddis.

The Magus spends a good time training his two pupils on the road. Ambiades is a man a few years older than Gen, tall, arrogant, and cruel. Sophos is a man younger than Gen, naive, intelligent, and valiant. Accompanied with the party is a man named Pol, the captain of Sophos' father's guards, whose single minded desire is to protect his charge's heir at all cost. So, without knowing the reason this motley crew finds their way across Eddis, a Mediterranean like landscape full of olive trees and rolling hills. It is not until several days into the quest does Gen find out the goal. Some time before a precious treasure was hidden, a gift from the gods. It is a stone that supposedly grants immortality. The legends state that Hephestia, most powerful of all gods, gave this stone to Hamiathes who past it along to his son until it was stolen some time later, and the power of the stone to grant eternal life disappears unless it is gifted to some one. Sounis wants the stone so he can give it to the Queen of Eddis as a marriage token, so that further down the road he can march through her realm to war with Attolia. Gen has been brought along to break into the chamber the stone is rumored to be hidden in, but the Magus intends to take all of the credit by gifting the King of Sounis with it once they have it, effectively landing him in the position of King's thief. Gen is irritated by this, but has little choice.

In a journey fraught with peril, political intrigue, treachery, starvation, and misplaced anger Gen finds more and more that he wants to succeed. It would hurt his reputation, not to mention his professional pride, if he failed. But the problem is that the chamber is well hidden, and he only has a limited time to find the stone, or he'll die trying. But even if he triumphs over that challenge, is there more danger awaiting him in the court of the nobles?

I am happy to say that I loved this book. Initially, I ordered it for the store I work in because it's a Newbery honor book, but I knew little about it until I saw that the third book in this series "The King of Attolia" just was written up in the Book Sense Spring newsletter for notable children's books. I decided I should read the first one after reading the summaries of it and the last book. All I can say is that I am amazed I overlooked this book for so long. It is simply a treat, a joy, an incredible piece of storytelling. Gen is such a tremendously rounded character that you find yourself rooting for him even if he is unsavory. Pol and Sophos have a great dynamic between them, Ambiades is so well developed and devious that I genuinely wished I could have smacked the arrogance off his pretty face at times. Even the Magus has his strong points, and the story is phenomenal. I can say with no hesitation that as soon as I get to work I am ordering the second and third books... mostly because I want to read them, but secondly because I have to tell people about this amazing book that I can only hope is an amazing trilogy.... If I say amazing one more time I think anyone reading this is bound to discredit me, but trust me I am usually fairly fluent in my descriptive adjectives especially when it comes to superb books... this book has me speechless. I do believe a book hasn't hit me like this since "Howl's Moving Castle" (which, coincidentally, the author cites as being one of her favorite books and authors, go figure). Read this book. Read the series. I can already tell you that the world of Gen the thief and the political intrigues of his country will draw you in and make you lose sleep... I certainly did, but I will stop gushing now, you get the picture, I gather.

10 out of 5 stars, if I could do that.

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suspenseful and enjoyable

This book is a great story, well written, with fascinating characters, enormous suspense, a vivid setting and high stakes -- but what I enjoyed even more is that it makes you re-examine prejudices and preconceptions. A book in which the characters develop in their thinking and attitudes is a fine thing. One which makes you do that yourself is more than fine.

One Amazing Adventure for a Thief

The story starts with an introduction to a somewhat cantankerous, yet highly amusing character, Gen. He is stuck in jail, having been caught thieving. He bragged about the theft, which is what got him caught.

He is taken from prison and told that the King wishes for him to steal something for him that many believe to only be a myth. Gen's only other option is death. So onward the journey goes. He travels with the Magus and his two apprentices, Ambiades and Sophos, plus the admirable soldier, Pol.

Gen is treated as a subservient fool and most times is thought of as nothing but a tool to enact the theft. This viewpoint lends a somewhat snide, yet funny and endearing perspective of the story. I enjoyed watching as the character dynamics changed throughout.

Plus, on their journey we are introduced to the legends of their Gods through campfire stories, which I found a wonderful addition to the story. They added flavor to the history of the lands and gave us an understanding of how the people thought and why they did what they did.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this tale. Yes, a worthy read indeed.

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slow start, excellent finish

The beginning lacks action and has a few too many info dumps--but the characters are engaging enough to push through that. The second half really picks up--not only in action, but by then, you're totally immersed in the character's well-being. Even if you skim the first few chapters, the book is definitely worth a read. It's clever, with unexpected twists and fun challenges.

chapter 8

Im my opinion the book does not get good until chapter 8.But once it is in chapter eight it gets pretty good. It is about a thief in prison named Gen caught stealing the king's seal.Then the king's magus promises to free him if he comes on an expedition with him to steal Hamiathe's gift.It goes on for a while about there travel wich I think is rather dull but then it gets exciting with occasional fighting and alof of theft.I rated this book only three stars simply because I am a kid and I just personally didn't enjoy the first half of the book.Once I got into the book though it was definately good.Infact I actually believe this book deserves four stars. Im just being brutally honest.

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