The Spirit Thief

The Legend of Eli Monpress, Book 1

By: Rachel Aaron

Narrated by: Luke Daniels

Length: 8 hrs and 19 mins

Publisher's summary

Eli Monpress is talented. He's charming. And he's a thief.

But not just any thief. He’s the greatest thief of the age - and he’s also a wizard. And with the help of his partners - a swordsman with the most powerful magic sword in the world but no magical ability of his own, and a demonseed who can step through shadows and punch through walls - he’s going to put his plan into effect.

The first step is to increase the size of the bounty on his head, so he’ll need to steal some big things. But he’ll start small. He’ll just steal something that no one will miss - at least for a while.

Something like a king.

©2010 Rachel Aaron (P)2010 Brilliance Audio, Inc.

Critic reviews

"After a slow start, debut author Aaron pulls the action together and turns in a romp of a lighthearted fantasy starring an absolutely darling rogue." ( Publishers Weekly)

Good Fantasy, Not Great

The villain was a cardboard character. The hero was sparsely developed. Maybe that unfolds in future books. Not Aaron's beat work.

World Building and Characters

I really enjoy the characters in this series and this first book does a great job introducing the reader to them. The magic system is really cool and easy to understand. Definitely worth the read!

Like a Fairy Tale

The book is fun, short, and reads like a fairy tail. Those are all good things after listening to over 100 hours of Game of Thrones books. If you have ever seen anime like Slayers, or One Piece, I would compare the book to that. They are fun, fast, with many action scenes. Which can be a huge plus, IF that is what you are looking for. This book was so different than what I usually read, I did enjoy it.

The narrator's voice is perfect for the tile character. He is also good all around.

Love Luke Daniels

But I probably wouldn't have read all three books if it hadn't been for his performance. Story was so so and it was hard to get invested in the lead characters

Fun characters but the plot lacks depth

I have had this book to read for quite sometime. This was a fun and light fantasy adventure read but left me feeling like something was missing. There are five books total in this series.

I listened to this on audiobook. It was narrated by Luke Daniels, who also narrates The Iron Druid Chronicles. He does a great job narrating these light-hearted books. But honestly it was a bit distracting because I kept thinking about the characters from the Iron Druid Chronicles, the voices he uses for characters in this book are very similar to the voices he uses for characters in that series.

This book follows two main characters. The first is a thief named Eli Monpress who has an uncanny ability to convince things to do what he wants them to do. He is determined to have the highest bounty ever recorded put on his head and has decided that kidnapping a King is the best way to hit that goal. The second character is a Spiritualist (a type of wizard that has spirit servants) named Miranda who is sent to capture Eli. When the King’s evil younger wizard brother (who is an Enslaver of spirits) steps onto the throne after the King’s kidnapping, Eli and Miranda find themselves in the uncomfortable situation of having to work together.

This was a fun and light fantasy novel. I really loved the idea of everything (even inanimate objects) having a spirit that certain wizards can communicate with. This was a creative idea that made for a number of interesting situations throughout the novel.

Eli Monpress is lighthearted and doesn’t ever take anything seriously. He also has a strange ability to make any spirit do what he wants just by asking. Not a lot is revealed about his past or his true goals. Eli remains a mystery throughout.

Miranda comes across as a very upstanding and noble character. She takes herself a bit too seriously and comes off as kind of immature and whiny at times. I grew to like her character over time, but she was somewhat annoying at the beginning of the book.

There are a number of side characters who read like sketches from a Dungeon and Dragons quest. You have a couple guys wielding magical swords, a young girl partially possessed by a demon, an evil wizard, and a giant magical dog. They were all interesting, but also lacked much depth. All of them have secrets and none of those secrets were revealed in this book.

So even though there was a lot of action, interesting magic, and some interesting characters I found this book to be lacking something. Everything was just very surfacey. The story was wrapped up too neatly. There isn’t a lot that really drives the story besides the whole banishing the evil wizard. It was just very light-hearted and fluffy. When I was done with the book I was kind of like “Eh, well okay what should I read next.”

Overall a fun light-hearted fantasy. This book has an interesting magic system and some intriguing characters but it missing some depth. I wasn’t really all that engaged with the characters or the world. I do kind of want to know more about Eli Monpress and his secrets, but that would be the only reason I keep reading this series. Right now I am unsure whether or not I will continue with this series.

Light and Easy Story, Great Narration

I decided to read this after hearing that Micheal J. Sullivan recommends it to Riyria fans. Like the Chronicles series, this is a fun, light and charming tale about a thief in a medieval fantasy world. Unlike Riyria, though, this lacks character depth. That's fine for a first novel that kept me entertained enough with fun thievery and a creative magic system. However, I doubt my patience will last through the whole series if the books don't add more character depth and plot complexity.

Luke Daniels did a fantastic narration job. He's great with pacing, emotion and different character voices. He is in part the reason I will be continuing on.

Also, this book is very clean for anyone looking for something family friendly. No sexual content. Minimal violence. I don't think I heard any swearing.

Spirit Thief

I was very fond of Rachel Aaron's dragon series, but this one took along time to figure
out who was who. I think all the relationships will become clear in the next book.
Fortunately this novel is intriguing enough to continue even look forward to it.
The performance was fine but the very deep voice of Mr. Daniels is a little off putting
untill I got used to it.

We will see...

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

I am torn on this particular book. Some elements were interesting and may convince me to read on, however, I have not made that decision yet. The world building was well done and certain relationships were intriguing, but the character development fell short overall. I like that the main male and female characters were equally strong and neither of them were insipid or whiny. On this alone, I may be compelled to read on. Another plus is that I never felt talked down to by the author which is a personal turnoff with any book. My hesitation is that I am not certain the author used their time wisely in the book. I believe it is important, even in the first of a series to demonstrate that the author can elicit some kind of emotion from the reader and this is where the book truly failed me. Without knowing if the author is capable of drawing me in and making me vested in the outcome of any of the characters, I just do not know if I am willing to read the next book in the series.

What was your reaction to the ending? (No spoilers please!)

I was disappointed. I really wanted to care if any of the characters lived or died and I didn't.

Which scene was your favorite?

When I understood the threat of a demon-seed.

Do you think The Spirit Thief needs a follow-up book? Why or why not?

Yes. It was not a strong enough book to stand independently.

Any additional comments?

This series has potential. I wish the author had gained my faith in her ability to pull me in. At this point, if I move forward, it will be a toss of the die on whether the book will be something I could really enjoy.

A fun listen

What about Luke Daniels’s performance did you like?

I really enjoyed Luke Daniel's performance. He differentiated all the characters nicely and gave life to the story line. I would definitely listen to other books read by him.

Any additional comments?

This was a fun listen. It had a unique and interesting system of magic and some fairly interesting characters and plot line. However, despite the fact that it was unique and interesting, I didn't connect with it enough to want to rush out and buy the next book in the series.

Excellent book

Such a great work of Art, the next Harry Potter series, can’t wait for the movie!