The Thief

By: Megan Whalen Turner

Narrated by: Steve West

Length: 7 hrs and 41 mins

Publisher's summary

Discover and rediscover the world of the Queen's Thief, from the acclaimed series launch The Thief to the thrilling, 20-years-in-the-making conclusion, The Return of the Thief.

New York Times best-selling author Megan Whalen Turner’s entrancing and award-winning Queen’s Thief novels bring to life the world of the epics. This first book in series introduces one of the most charismatic and incorrigible characters of fiction, Eugenides the thief. The Queen’s Thief novels are rich with political machinations and intrigue, battles lost and won, dangerous journeys, divine intervention, power, passion, revenge, and deception. Perfect for fans of Leigh Bardugo, Marie Lu, Patrick Rothfuss, and George R. R. Martin. 

Eugenides, the queen's thief, can steal anything - or so he says. When his boasting lands him in prison and the king's magus invites him on a quest to steal a legendary object, he's in no position to refuse. The magus thinks he has the right tool for the job, but Gen has plans of his own. 

The Queen's Thief novels have been praised by writers, critics, reviewers, and fans, and have been honored with glowing reviews, "best of" citations, and numerous awards, including the Los Angeles Times Book Prize, a Newbery Honor, the Andre Norton Award shortlist, and the Mythopoeic Fantasy Award. 

A Newbery Honor Book

An ALA Notable Book

A YALSA Best Book for Young Adults

A Horn Book Fanfare Book

A New York Public Library Book for the Teen Age

A Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books 

Blue Ribbon Book

A Junior Library Guild Selection

“The Queen’s Thief books awe and inspire me. They have the feel of a secret, discovered history of real but forgotten lands. The plot-craft is peerless, the revelations stunning, and the characters flawed, cunning, heartbreaking, exceptional. Megan Whalen Turner’s books have a permanent spot on my favorites shelf, with space waiting for more books to come.” (Laini Taylor, New York Times best-selling author of the Daughter of Smoke and Bone novels and Strange the Dreamer) 

"Unforgettable characters, plot twists that will make your head spin, a world rendered in elegant detail - you will fall in love with every page of these stories. Megan Whalen Turner writes vivid, immersive, heartbreaking fantasy that will leave you desperate to return to Attolia again and again.” (Leigh Bardugo, number-one New York Times best-selling author of Six of Crows and Crooked Kingdom)

©1996 Megan Whalen Turner (P)2017 HarperCollins Publishers

Critic reviews

"In addition to its charismatic hero, this story possesses one of the most valuable treasures of all - a twinkling jewel of a surprise ending." ( Publishers Weekly)

"A literary journey that enriches both its characters and readers before it is over." ( Kirkus Reviews)

"A tantalizing, suspenseful, exceptionally clever novel." ( The Horn Book)

Great book, wrong narrator

I first listened to The Thief as a book on tape (yes cassette tape, I am that old) preformed by Jeff Woodman when i was in middle school. Mr Woodman gave a much better performance than Mr West has. Mr West has a slow, monotone, deadpan voice during most of the narration that gives the story the feel of an uninterested and uninteresting person recounting a series of events in a business setting, only injecting feeling and emotion into the performance during character dialog. This style of narration glosses over much of the humor, sarcasm, and wit that really brings this book to life and makes Eugenides such an interesting and enjoyable character.

Its not that Mr West is a bad narrator, i am sure that someone who had never encountered Mr Woodman's performance would find this to be an acceptable audio book. i just remember this audio book being so much more than just acceptable.

Narrator is wrong choice

I've read the book many times so it seemed natural to add this to my audible collection. The book itself is fantastic. Unfortunately the narrarator choice isn't great. Him reading other books would be fine but his deep scratchy voice was totally the wrong pick for a whiney adolescent that probably hasn't hit puberty or is just going through it. It didn't fit the character at all and this book is written in first person!

The first of many great stories

This writer is one of the funnest riders to read. This story The Thief is one of the best. This is a good safe clean story for young folks and adults alike. I have waited many years for audible to finally pick up this writer and I am so glad they have. Probably because of the popularity of the book that was just released it has caused publishers to notice how many people are looking forward to stories from Megan Whalen Turner. It is a good fiction story with a fun plot about mythology. I hope you enjoy it as much as our family has. RPR

Exceptional Story, Inferior Performance

The story is one of my all-time favorites. And I probably would have enjoyed this audiobook if I hadn't already heard the amazing performance by Jeff Woodman.

A favorite

Wonderful story, wonderful narration. While there is a bit of a slow start, by the end I couldn't wait for the next book. I hope people give it a try, because it is very much worth a credit.

Boring as heck

I got the impression that I should have read some of the other books before this one. Was that the case? Because maybe some of the things that happened or that were said would have been surprising or some kind of amazing revelation. I didn't see anything that was best-seller worthy or award-worthy here.

The book begins with a LONG section (chapters 2-7) which consists mostly of a lot of boring mythological stories. None were interesting.

You can tell she is a good writer so do the other books have more political intrigue and more action? (Those are two things I love.)

SO:
Chapter 1 starts off great! Thief in prison is asked to steal something but prison is a bit of an ordeal first. Excellent!
Chapters 2-7 consists of a lot of rather uninteresting travel and a lot of mythology. Bah! (Remember there are only 12 chapters.)
After that, more interesting things start happening. More travel. Sigh. But then they finally arrive at their destination. And there it is VERY interesting and very well done.
A couple of plot twists later there are what I suspect are some very cool revelations to readers of the others books. (I am not one of those.) They were interesting but not Earth-shattering to me. OK fine.

The book reader was great! I don't know what other reviewers were complaining about.

I see talent in the writer and I'm wondering if I would enjoy the other books much more than I did this one. Maybe I'll put one on my wish list and see if I can get it on sale someday for $4 or $5.

Decent enough

I will keep this brief. This book is very slow and overly descriptive for 3/4 of the story as the characters travel together. Character development occurs through dialog; world-building through poorly conceived legends. The last 1/4 of the book is marginally more eventful, but in the end the book is at best a "making of the legend" precursor.

Story fantastic, narrator not great for this book

I loved the story. The book is a memory from teenagehood. The narrator was not the perfect choice for this book, I didn't feel he was engaged with the story, It might as well have been read by AI.

Loved the Story & Narrator

It's rare for me to stumble upon a book that I really love, but this is one of them! Action, adventure, mystery all rolled into one story. The characters and plot movement took priority over stereotypical pitfalls that most books fall into. At first I really disliked Magnus' style of voice, but it got his first-impression character across quickly. Then I grew to like him as Gen did as well. Plus, a couple plot twists at the end! Very well done and can stand on it's own feet! I was confused as to the narrator's very aristocratic style for the first-person POV, but I think it all comes together in the end. :) Worth a credit or a purchase!

Voice actor skewed impression of characters

Everyone I told that I was reading this book raved about it, but the longer I listened the more I thought, "What's the fuss about?" I ended up liking it by the end, but I realized that I was getting the wrong impression from several of the characters because of how the narrator voiced them. One in particular came off as perpetually pompous and condescending when really he should be seen as a friend and confidant. I've listened to one other book with this voice actor and experienced a similar thing. His narration just isn't my style. But I would still recommend this story! If only to get to know the characters and better enjoy the next books in the series.

Fun book! Yet I am not convinced in it's twist.

Maybe I am wrong, but the twist in the end seem like a fabrication in the last moment. And most of the book seemed like the writer was not pre planning anything. With that said, a fun book, enough for me to buy its successor.

give me book 2

LOVED IT. NEED MORE NOW.
Going between the physical book and audiobook because i couldnt put it down.

Not a lot of substance

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

Would not read the rest of the series. Not a likable leading character.

Has The Thief put you off other books in this genre?

No but I will read more reviews.

Which character – as performed by Steve West – was your favourite?

Steve was pretty good.

If this book were a film would you go see it?

No but then some bad books make OK films,