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)

Unique fantasy concept.

Simple story but unique fantasy concept. Characters are limited in development but the storyline is quick and fun to read/listen. Listening performance is good. Nice quick read.

Entertaining

The story was good and I liked the narration. Only complaint would be the characters were a little two dimensional.

Engaging and fun

What a nifty find in the audio world of books. It's a compulsively engaging story that keeps the reader's attention throughout, sprinkled with enough humor to make it lots of fun. The author does an excellent job world building, and alters enough of the fantasy conventions to make the world her own unique creation. Luke Daniels is the perfect narrator, especially as the voice of Eli. I look forward to listening to more of this series.

Potential, but falls short.

There are some fun bits here. Interesting world of magic with rules I haven't seen before. The story is somewhat lighthearted, with some fairly descriptive "evil" parts that might make young listeners uncomfortable. The climax is underwhelming and yet goes on and on and on and on....and on.

Helpful tip: for those of you who like one story per book, be warned that this book gives only a small amount of closure to the story. Here we have another attempt at a series that should really be just one book. After investing your time in this tale, you may feel a bit cheated. Don't read unless you want to pay-as-you go for your storyline.

Good Early Novel

Overall I wanted to like this novel. Eli Moonpress is an interest character; the magic in this world has it's flavor and does not come out sounding too much like a video game or another cookie cut system; Luke Daniels does a lives jobs of reading. The story line is good.

The problem with the novel is that other then Eli the other characters felt to me very flat and unformed. They did not really seem to be anything other then dialog and a reason to change perspective. They we robbed of desire or personal motivation other then blunt and clear one surface one.

It's not bad is just feels like a early novel where someone has mastered the art of creating characters who are real.

Pleasantly Suprised

I really like the narrator, Luke Daniels so I gave this audio book a chance. I was pleasantly surprised by the story. The rebellious characters caught my attention and I become very interested in what happened next. I enjoyed the twists and turns in this story and became attached to the the thief and his motley crew.

The full series is very good.

The first book is good but the characters are better explored in the next two. All of them are well narrated and tie in nicely together.

A Fun Popcorn Book

I really enjoyed this book, and indeed the whole series! It's not deep, it's fun. Don't think about the world-building too hard.

Story Follows the Wrong Character

First I want to say that it was good and I will get the sequel. But I find knowing the detractions more helpful in reading reviews, so I'm going to list mine.

(1) The majority of the book is not told from Eli's perspective. The main character is interesting, just not as interesting as I think Eli was. (2) This feels like the second book in a series. So many things come up that the characters understand but you don't, and your not given details. I realize this is likely to be fleshed out more in the later books, but it does detract from this one. (3) There were a few deus-ex-machina moments that while far from ruining the book, did disappoint me. (4) A large number of the non-primary characters are fools, so much so that it makes you wonder how the kingdom in question can even exist.

Storytelling as it should be!

Nothing boring here. Though not my usual genre, I really enjoyed the story. Sometimes, when the science, magic or mystery is the point of the story, it gets tedious and boring. In the really best storytelling, it is there as part of the tale. It's not the whole purpose. Such is the case here. The author efficiently generates the realm, introduces the characters and gets on with the business of a fine story. The magic is unique, the characters are cool and the next book is waiting for me. Enjoy.