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Top reviews from the United States

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Stacey Gidman

I Didn't Know What to Think, So I Kept Reading....and I'm Glad I Did

Reviewed in the United States on February 9, 2018

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Most readers tend to develop a sense of instinct regarding a story, its characters, and where the written journey is headed. We develop this air of superiority that we know all things, nothing can take us by surprise, and the author writes under our guidance alone.

Many authors do a wonderful job giving us this illusion, and at times, perhaps we do see things coming before they are intended to be revealed. Perhaps occasionally we are smarter than the author and his or her characters.

Prepare to lose all of that smug superiority when you read this book. Throw it out the window and just clip in for a ride that you have no idea where you will end up. Megan Whalen Turner doesn't even pretend to give you, the reader, and edge. She boldly writes to confuse, to veil, to leave you walking through a maze in the dark wondering what the heck is going on. And I think she enjoys it. I almost feel that the characters themselves knew that they had me over a barrel, and they relished it.

I would have given up, moved on to something with more immediate payoff, but I decided to actually look up this series that I had just randomly picked from my Kindle library. I did not know what I had stumbled upon, and the raving reviews from fans sent me back to the story. At about 73%, I finally started to get the picture. By the end, I'm hooked. This author is brilliant, she tricked me, fooled me, led me around by the nose and her own characters mocked my ignorance....and I can't wait to come back for more. Somehow, being surprised by events, and truly likable characters that I had disliked for most of the book was refreshing. It reminded me that sometimes you have to look deeper, I don't know the whole story, and people can surprise you.

Well done, Ms. Turner. You pulled off a feat that few authors have, you surprised me.

And for any readers who were as confused by the landscape as I was, the map is at the back of the book. Consult it often and spare yourself the head scratching.

Mary Soon LeeTop Contributor: Fantasy Books

A very nicely written opening to a fantasy series.

Reviewed in the United States on May 20, 2018

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"The Thief" is the opening book in a fantasy series. The age of the first person narrator isn't given, but I imagined him as about fifteen years old, and the edition I read was marketed as young adult. Whatever the perceived audience, I enjoyed this very much. The tale is very well told, with details that brought me into the scenes, a sharp wit, and a sympathy for the characters. The book includes fantasy elements, but they don't surface early on. Instead the focus is firmly on the young protagonist--the eponymous thief--and his difficulties.

I have three more remarks, each of which constitute mild spoilers.... Firstly, certain information is withheld from the reader. This is a tactic I usually dislike, but which I found it acceptable here, partly because it seems in keeping with the narrator's character, and partly because it didn't lessen my enjoyment while I was reading. Secondly, I was drawn to several of the secondary world details, which have the flavor of Ancient Greece, and my edition includes an author's note at the end discussing this. Thirdly, and which is perhaps a more-than-mild spoiler, a character death occurs that saddened me, but that was appropriate to the story.

I have already ordered the next four books in the series.

A slow-paced story rich in character development

Reviewed in the United States on September 13, 2020

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I actually read this for the first time as a child back when it was still a standalone and I remember my edition had a really cheesy, cartoonish cover. THE THIEF is a book that won't appeal to everyone, and even as a child, I had difficulty getting into it. For one thing, it's one of those fantasy novels that revolves around journeys, which I know isn't everyone's cup of tea. For another, it's very slow-paced and mostly character-driven. Towards the end, there's a series of rapid twists, but I think if you aren't into the characters or the world-building, it just isn't going to appeal, and that's fine. Not everybody loves everything.

THE THIEF is set in a pseudo-Ancient Grecian world, where three kingdoms-- Eddis, Sounis, and Attolia-- are constantly at odds, their ways changed and evolved over time following the influence of invaders. Attolia and Sounis are enemies, with Eddis to keep the peace and maintain trade, but of course, that doesn't always work.

Of course, Gen, our hero, doesn't know all that much about politics ostensibly, since he's a lowly thief currently biding his time in prison. He stole the king's seal and bragged about it in a bar, which resulted in his getting arrested and chained to his bed, denied even the creature comforts of exercise in the sun. When he's brought out for release by the king's magus, he's understandably suspicious: they want him for something and it isn't for cake decorating in celebration of his own release party. No, he's the "greatest" thief in the kingdom and they want him to steal something BIG.

Reading this as an adult, I was struck by the maturity of this work. I'd often see it at Scholastic book fairs (remember those?) and I read it in grade school, I think. When I rate children's books and young adult low, I often get comments from people saying things like, "It's a kids' book, what did you expect?" which I think is a bit cheap, really, because it underestimates how clever kids are, and how layered a good YA or MG book should be. Children don't want to feel talked down to, and a really good book for preteens and teens should be as faceted as a diamond, because you want them to come back to it again and again and find new things every time they read it. Those are the books that become timeless.

With THE THIEF, I picked up on a lot of clever banter and references that escaped me as a kid. As a kid, I found Gen's sarcasm to the "adults" very funny and daring (even though I think Gen is an older teen/young man, he is a bit childish in a way that children will relate to). As an adult, he was still amusing but also quite exasperating-- but in a way that felt believable to his character. I was more interested in his developing relationships with the other people in his travel party (Ambiades, Sophos, Pol, and the magus), and how complex it became as we learned more about the other characters and their motivations. Turner also created her own mythology for this book, inspired by the Greek mythology, and that was really fun as well, to see how it paralleled the myths I'm familiar with.

While this isn't a book that will appeal to everyone, I think that anyone who enjoys fantasy books where the focus is on the development of the world and the characters, light political intrigue, and journeying will really enjoy this. At times, it almost has LORD OF THE RINGS vibes, and then at others, it feels more like Indiana Jones. This isn't a fast-paced, action-packed story until the end, but I really enjoyed it as a quiet sort of story that you can sink into until it springs on you. I look forward to reading the sequel.

4 out of 5 stars

Amazon Customer

Waste of time and money

Reviewed in the United States on January 15, 2019

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Will not be buying any other books by this author. This is the most boring story I’ve ever had the misfortune to read. You can’t even call it a story because that implies a plot and there isn’t one. Nothing happens for dozens of pages, other than our “hero” (a huge stretch of that term) being a hungry, whiny little snot. Which reminds me, I’ve rarely read a book with so many unlikeable characters. I fail to understand the positive reviews that praise the world building here. I don’t think it means what they think it means. If you want a book about thieves with action and amazing characters, read The Lies of Locke Lamora series. That’ll show you how world building is done, gorgeous plot, fascinating characters.

Top reviews from other countries

Sallie Raven

Fresh new Fantasy

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 6, 2017

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I have been reading my way through the Attolia books. Started off with “The Thief”, how many books have you read that start off in a dungeon? Shelf loads. The book is certainly geared toward teens and it’s forever since i was one. It is quite nice and simple; the hero seems nice and a bit simple too. However, it gets better and better and better! Order the next book straight away, you can immerse yourself, then wish, please, for a good map. The writing is consistently good throughout; in fact it improves as the books progress through wars and loves, unusual plots, treacheries and friendships.
The story continues, sort of, through the books, meandering amongst the protagonists, their lives and adventures. Skilfully brought to breathing life, struggling with their dilemmas, you must love them all and their differences.
Fall from one book into the next, hope that Ms. Turner won’t stop writing. Nearly as strong on world and character building as Robin Hobb.
Wonderful.....thank you!
One gripe;-In the Author‘s Note of The Queen of Attolia, Megan Whalen Turner says, quote "The gods and goddesses in my book are not those of the Greek or any other Pantheon. I made them up. The Mede Empire is also my own invention” unquote.
I’ll now quote from the Collins English Dictionary, “ Mede n. A member of an Indo-European people of West Iranian speech who established an empire in SW Asia in the 7th and 6th centuries B.C.” unquote.
And from Tom Holland’s panoramic book Persian Fire, ( Abacus 2005) I could quote many references, but to mind springs.....
“A dark shadow had been caste over the Ionian imagination, and the memory of Harpagus’ coming would long serve to blacken even the most intimate moments of Joy:
In winter, as you lie on a soft couch by the fire,
Full of good food, munching on nuts and drinking sweet wine.
Then you must ask questions such as these:
‘Where do you come from? Tell me: what is your age?
How old were you when the Mede came?
Xenophanes, Fragment 22.
And this Quote, “In 610 BC, the Medes swept into northern Syria, burning and looting as they went. In 585, they went to war with the Lydians, a people based in what is now the west of Turkey” Unquote. And on it goes.
Having said that, I love these books, they are so well written and the characters well defined, believable and lovable, having hopes and failings with which you can identify.

Jane Lawrence

Too good for just YA

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 11, 2018

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I have only just discovered The Thief. It's witty, clever and beautifully written. I am old enough to be someone's grandmother, but I can't wait to read the rest of the series.

Richard Withecombe

OK young adult

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 12, 2016

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YA books can often be more adventurous and original than many adult fantasy books. This wasn't. But it was a good fast paced short adventure.
Thanks to Lois Bujold McMasters who recommended it on her Goodreads authors discussion page.

lynne johnston

Five Stars

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 10, 2018

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ecxellent

ACL

Great historical adventure story

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 15, 2013

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A great historical adventure story with strong characters & unpredictable ending. Look forward to reading more books by the author.