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)

Interesting and fun

I liked the Magic system in this world. A good story with no fowl language or raunch. Well done!

Fun, and great narration

I enjoyed this book quite a bit. The Narrator is so fabulous, he makes up for most of the faults. Big problem with this book is how inconsistent the descriptions are. Some moments are so we'll scripted that a very clear image is presented, but just as often are scenes that are very hard to picture. Consisting of mostly dialogue and little description of what is happening. In these scenes I had to re-listen more than once to fully grasp what was happening. greatly interrupts the flow that the book is trying to get at.

All in all I thought it was very unique concept and very light-hearted which is a plus. For anyone looking for a light listen on a good weekend or a rainy weekend I would highly recommend this book.

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!

Big gulp of fresh air

First thing I did after listening to this book was look for the sequel. I admit I'm not a fantasy connoisseur, as this genre is for me a bit of a guilty pleasure. But this story was quite amazing in my view. Eli is a wonderfully built character with a lot of humor, I loved Gin, the massive Ghost Hound, I loved Miranda... It all kept me gasping for air, not wanting to go to sleep and basically wishing those 8 something hours would not finish.

The narration is also very good, fluid and with a little role-play, just the way I like it. Kudos on the book!

Lighthearted and fun!

I very much liked the characters in this book, which is very important to me. The lead character is Eli Monpress, a lovable rogue with more tricks up his sleeve than you might imagine. As the title suggests, yes, he is a thief. But he is so much more. He lives life with a smile and he reminded me of Robin Hood in the beginning of the classic Errol Flynn movie:
Nobleman: "You speak treason!"
Robin (with a smile): "Fluently."

The story flows smoothly and the author does a great job of letting me see the movie in my head. The world is interesting and the source of magic is too.

The reader is great as Eli. And I never had trouble knowing which character was talking, which is a problem with the poor to mediocre readers.

After reading a few merely average (or less) books, it was really nice to read a good one again! I look forward to more Eli Monpress adventures.

Potential, but poorly paced and shallow.

I found Eli's interactions with the various inanimate objects cute and amusing. And the main story was sometimes interesting. But for some reason I cant quite put my finger on, I was pretty much bored most of the time Eli wasnt entertaining me. I think it was because there were so many lengthy traveling scenes where nothing much happened, just lots of scenery being described. Then suddenly too much started going on at once as every character started to reveal their extremely high level power suite at once. And then the book ended. And I realized that was all this book was. A thin story meant only as a vehicle to introduce the characters and their powers. And it didnt do that in a well paced manner. Im hopeful that the later books will be better. Though I also have the sense that this book holds a lost opportunity. I feel this series could have been amazing if it had paced itself into a slow gradual build up of power similar to the Dresden Files. Instead its starting out with the characters at high levels. So Im not sure how the followup books will handle character development or the story development. Also a MALE narrator when the primary perspective is FEMALE. Im dropping a star just for that.

This should be on Kindle Unlimited!

Like all of Aaron's works, I really enjoyed the book. That said, the reader (who was very pleasant, professional, and talented) lacked the passionate cohesion that her readers from her later series all have. Though they are widely differing (like her various worlds are), all of the readers from her other series speak in a way that seems to be unique from the magical lands within the author's own mind, and I unknowingly became addicted to it. I will continue the books, but I deeply wish this series would be available through Kindle Unlimited. I like to read along as I listen, and that's yet another thing I sorely missed in this earlier work.

All that said, I am already falling in love with this new set of characters. Naturally, my favorite is the dog spirit. My mind immediately informed me that, to me at least, the awesome dog would basically be the one from the Never-ending Story, which I thoroughly enjoyed. I am anxious to see how Eli's character grows and develops, and the demon-seed, too!

Enter: the Thief

What made the experience of listening to The Spirit Thief the most enjoyable?

The Spirit Thief was the perfect blend of a great story and a great reader. It was fun, it was fast-paced, and I didn't want to stop listening to it.

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Spirit Thief?

There were so many, it is hard to pick one out. I enjoyed Jin, the spirit dog and his interactions with the spiritualist. The scene where Eli talks the door into letting go of the nails is priceless.

Have you listened to any of Luke Daniels’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

I have not listened to any of Luke Daniels's other readings, but I will now certainly watch for him.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

Grant others freedom if you wish to have it for yourself.

Any additional comments?

This book introduces characters, so it is pretty busy with character development. In spite of that, it moves right along with the plot and the development is very much relevant to events. The monsters and characters are original -- not a zombie or vampire in sight -- the wizarding methods are unique. Rachel Aaron is a recent author find for me, and I will certainly look for more of her books.

good book

good book nice smooth flow for the characters and good narration on to the second book.