The Thief by Megan Whalen Turner
Aug. 21st, 2008 06:43 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
meganbmooreA thief who was jailed after stealing the king’s seal and bragging about it, Gen is sitting around in the prison of Sounis, waiting for a chance to escape, when he’s approached by the magus he originally stole the seal from for a job. If he will travel with the magus and three others to steal something-he isn’t told what for some time-his prison sentence will, at the least, be shortened. Knowing a good thing when he sees it, Gen agrees.
Much of the book is a Road Trip, with the five characters (all men…nothing resembling a female shows up until near the end, aside from a waitress in a bit part-they are cool when they do show up, though) discussing the history and mythology of their world, which is very like if ancient Greece had continued through to what seems to be about the Renaissance era, without the introduction of monotheism. In complete honesty, while the world and mythology are interesting and Gen an engaging narrator (though, to be really interesting, he needs more appealing characters to interact with than he has for most of the book) the book itself isn’t overly compelling until the last leg. Mostly, it’s setting up the promise of something really good, which it starts to deliver on in the end, and presumably will completely in the sequels.
Much of the book is a Road Trip, with the five characters (all men…nothing resembling a female shows up until near the end, aside from a waitress in a bit part-they are cool when they do show up, though) discussing the history and mythology of their world, which is very like if ancient Greece had continued through to what seems to be about the Renaissance era, without the introduction of monotheism. In complete honesty, while the world and mythology are interesting and Gen an engaging narrator (though, to be really interesting, he needs more appealing characters to interact with than he has for most of the book) the book itself isn’t overly compelling until the last leg. Mostly, it’s setting up the promise of something really good, which it starts to deliver on in the end, and presumably will completely in the sequels.
BOOK BREAKING SPOILERS!
As far as the final reveals go: That Gen is nobility, and the Queen of Eddis’s official thief was, I think, though not telegraphed, pretty clearly set up. It was clear that Gen wasn’t who he said he was (and did anyone ever doubt that he was the one who had stolen the Gift?) and all the talk about how his full name with Eugenides and his claims to be better than they thought he was led me to think that he was, at the least, the illegitimate son of a former official thief. While I’m mostly neutral with a positive leaning for the bulk of the book, the setup of the end is very much my kind of thing, and I very much like the “Greek-lite” world. *Likes thieves and queens. Queens in general, actually.*
As far as the final reveals go: That Gen is nobility, and the Queen of Eddis’s official thief was, I think, though not telegraphed, pretty clearly set up. It was clear that Gen wasn’t who he said he was (and did anyone ever doubt that he was the one who had stolen the Gift?) and all the talk about how his full name with Eugenides and his claims to be better than they thought he was led me to think that he was, at the least, the illegitimate son of a former official thief. While I’m mostly neutral with a positive leaning for the bulk of the book, the setup of the end is very much my kind of thing, and I very much like the “Greek-lite” world. *Likes thieves and queens. Queens in general, actually.*
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Date: 2008-08-21 11:51 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-08-22 12:37 am (UTC)The book felt like setup and worldbuilding with a decent plot draped over it, if you know what I mean.
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Date: 2008-08-22 12:03 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-08-22 12:38 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-08-22 01:13 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-08-22 12:43 am (UTC)That is exactly correct. The sequels, in particular the last one, are great.
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Date: 2008-08-22 01:17 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-08-22 01:37 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-08-22 02:17 am (UTC)Shannon Hale: You also haven’t answered the question yet about what you’re working on now, if there will be any more books with Gen...
Megan Whalen Turner: I am working on the next book in the sequence. It is going very slowly and I am behind. Unless my editor is reading this, in which case, I am writing, Virginia! Writing!
Also, er, warning for potential (if comparatively mild) spoilers in the full interview.
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Date: 2008-08-22 03:27 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-08-22 05:23 am (UTC)(And darn it, now I want to re-read it and have inadvertently pulled up Amazon.co.jp - oh, hey, looks like there are even translations, but they're randomly insanely expensive.)
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Date: 2008-08-22 06:03 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-08-22 06:12 am (UTC)Same spoiler is hidden:
It is, as is proper, done at very high levels of angst. Like, Tsubasa levels.
I think the title of book three is kinda spoilery (though fortunately for me it took most of book two until that occurred to me)...
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Date: 2008-08-22 06:23 am (UTC)Those are excellent levels of angst. Thoufh I won't believe it until I see it. Basara levels are hard enough to contemplate.
I think the title of the third is spoilery in that it tells you who will be his love interest, but that's it. Even then, it could mean something else.
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Date: 2008-08-22 11:22 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-08-22 12:25 pm (UTC)At least said event happens pretty early on.
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Date: 2008-08-22 05:58 am (UTC)I'm not sure if 'Queen' or 'King' is my favourite, though.
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Date: 2008-08-22 01:57 pm (UTC)