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Thief's Magic  By  cover art

Thief's Magic

By: Trudi Canavan
Narrated by: Grant Cartwright,Hannah Norris
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Publisher's summary

In a world where an industrial revolution is powered by magic, Tyen, a student of archaeology, unearths a sentient book called Vella. Once a young sorcerer-bookbinder, Vella was transformed into a useful tool by one of the greatest sorcerers of history. Since then she has been collecting information, including a vital clue to the disaster Tyen’s world faces.Elsewhere, in an land ruled by priests, Rielle the dyer’s daughter has been taught that to use magic is to steal from the Angels. Yet she knows she has a talent for it, and that there is a corrupter in the city willing to teach her how to use it – should she dare to risk the Angels’ wrath.Yet not everything is as Tyen and Rielle have been raised to believe. Not the nature of magic, nor the laws of their lands… and not even the people they trust.

©2014 Copyright © 2014 by Trudi Canavan. The moral right of the author has been asserted. (P)2014 Bolinda Publishing Pty Ltd

What listeners say about Thief's Magic

Average customer ratings
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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Great!

Any additional comments?

This book had me the whole time. That seems to be happening more and more rarely, so this was a treasure. My only issue was Hannah Norris' frequent butchering of what sounded like it was trying to be middle eastern. Sometimes the R rolling was so atrocious I winced. If a narrator is able to maintain an accent, then by all means-- I love them! Differences in dialects welcome too! But Norris would drop, pick up, and overdo the accent frequently.

Cartwright was fantastic in his narration so I gave the performance 3 stars solely for his ability.

The rest was A+ in my opinion, so I was able to listen to the full book without losing all the ambiance of the novel.

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10 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Has the magic dried up?

These days it feels as if Trudi Canavan is shooting very straight arrows. A hero (in this case Tyen) sets out on a journey in which he realises that the institution where he studies has been keeping secrets (in this case 'The Academy'). His loyalties are severely challenged and he will become another person. There is also a heroine who finds herself in a very similar situation (in this case Rielle). She discovers basically the same as the hero, but it is more implicit.

It is as if Canavan's foreshadowing technique has become blatant. In the case of Rielle for instance, she is first harassed by a person with a tarnished soul... thereafter the wheels start rolling and guess what she will become... !

The parallels between the two main characters are so obvious, they even end up in more or less the same situation at the end of the book.

What is new? Well magic is not plentiful, it leaves stains in both people's worlds. They live in a multiverse with different worlds. (It makes me think of Orson Scott Card's Gate Thief in some way.) The thing that is new is 'Vella' (probably from the Latin, vellum, which is a page in a manuscript usually made from animal skin) a magic book that was a human being before... guess... the mightiest sorcerer changed her into a book. She is a 'truth'-saying book.

With so much predictability, I can just anxiously hope that Canavan will be able to steer the story to an interesting and unpredictable place. I hope the magic is still coming...

This book is recommended for anyone who want the depth of a Mills & Boon in a fantasy universe... but at this point without the romance. (Funnily the one thing absent is a homosexual character, but then it is not the last book.)

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9 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Great part one

Would you listen to Thief's Magic again? Why?

Great world building and interesting 'origin' stories for two protagonists, i will have to read it again when second part comes out.

What other book might you compare Thief's Magic to and why?

It's hard to tell. Story is original and in style more adult than her previous books. Little steam punk but in feeling closer to Mistborn than steam-punky books.

What does Grant Cartwright and Hannah Norris bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Narration is very unobtrusive, clear and enjoyable. nothing feels forced and characters are well defined.

Any additional comments?

It seems like we got new great fantasy series. Just beware, it IS first part of trilogy, not first book in a series with separate stories. After it finishes you get the depressing waiting period till second part comes out.

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8 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Half good, half bad

What did you like best about Thief's Magic? What did you like least?

The Tyen parts of the book for the best and the Rielle parts for the least. Tyen's world was interesting full of a mix of science and magic. Where as Rielle's world was just to over the top stereo types, the corrupt church, uncaring parents, the fruit fling angry mob.

Would you recommend Thief's Magic to your friends? Why or why not?

No, not the kind of book my friends read.

What did you like about the performance? What did you dislike?

Grant was good he had a range of voices. Hannah was okay except for the voices of both upper class and poor females talked the same way. I don't expect unwed mother in the slums to sound like Eliza Doolittle, but at the same time I don't think she sound like Henry Higgins. Nothing against Hannah but the accent she gave to the females sounded wrong to generic I could not take it for long

Do you think Thief's Magic needs a follow-up book? Why or why not?

Yes, to finish the story.

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7 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

quite a good story for a new universe.

What other book might you compare Thief's Magic to and why?

i have bougt this as an audio book because i enyoied reading both sone trilogies which she had written bevore, so i didnt gave it a nother look and just started hearing to it and was sort of confused at the beginning why magic doesnt work the way i was used to. but by the time i had figuerd that out, didn't took that long ;-), it was a realy good written book and i enjoyed the new possibilities and chalanges that came with this aproach of how magic works.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

i found my selve amused a couple of timess by this book, but not so often as in the sonea series. but i belive this is also because i got to know the chracters better over the last 6 books.
i'm looking foreword to a new book and i'm definetly going to by that one as well.

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Can't wait to read the next one!

Enchanting story, such rivetting narrative - a real page turner. I love the main characters and really cared about what happened to them. Magical

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Good book but disappointing

This book was quite good. I found it annoying and frustrating the way in which the story switches between Tyen and Rielle. Another thing that bothered me was that I was fully expecting something to happen between two of the characters and it never did. It is a good story well written however.

The narration was quite good. I was pleased with both narrators and didn't have any complaints. I must mention though that I did enjoy Hannah Norris the most. There wasn't anything lacking with Grant Cartwright. He narrated just as good as Hannah Norris, I can't explain why I enjoyed her narration more but I did.

I'm not sure if I will be listening to this book again anytime soon. I wouldn't have any problems listening to it again, but there are so many other books out there and too little time.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Mindless Listen...

Would you try another book from Trudi Canavan and/or Grant Cartwright and Hannah Norris ?

Yes, but I would need encouraged.

If you’ve listened to books by Trudi Canavan before, how does this one compare?

Not as good. Male character seems lacking in smarts. While the female character is a push over. Both of which are fine, but a whole book of it where nothing really happens. WOW.....

What do you think the narrator could have done better?

Don't speak with the female accent. Change it slightly. In combination with the timidity of the female character it's painful to listen to. Every chapter of hers was can I get to the next as fast a possible. Male role was nice. Aside for characters lack or intelligence.

Could you see Thief's Magic being made into a movie or a TV series? Who should the stars be?

No. Characters lack something. Wouldn't translate to screen.

Any additional comments?

YES, If anyone had a book of 1000+ years of history and lost magic they would ask about it. It's as if the author lacks the willingness to explore the infinite depths of what could be revealed and take the story into an much more exciting path.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Boring...

I couldn't even finish it. 9 chapters and that was more than enough for me. The characters were very annoying and naive and not very bright... very slow development. The only reason I got to 9 chapters are because I loved other books from the author and the narrators are excellent.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Such a good book!

Loved the pacing and flow of the stories. I already downloaded the 2nd book!

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