The Thief (The Queen’s Thief #1) by Megan Whalen Turner
Gen, the most skilled thief has been captured and jailed. When the magus learns of a treasure he gets Gen out on the condition that he uses his thieving skills to help obtain the treasure he seeks for the king.
The Story
Okay, so let me just point out that the synopsis of the book is exactly what happens. The entire story is built upon this journey to this treasure and the tasks involved with obtaining it. What I loved so much about this story was that it felt like an ancient story unfolding. The thing is, throughout the entire book is the characters are sharing ancient tales that help develop the story into more than just a few guys trekking across country. There aren’t a ton of super climactic points in the story so it reads sort of slow and I can see why so many people didn’t like it. But through the interactions of the characters on their journey you get some complex characters that personalities adapt and change as the story continues.
The Wold Building
During the travels there is obviously a lot of descriptors of where they’re off to, but the primary world building is in the folklore they are sharing. I loved all the stories being shared back and forth that was told, especially when Gen and the Magus would have different opinions on how a story went. It really helped support the differences of their upbringing and social standing.
The Characters
Hey guys, I am here to tell you that the world building was not my favorite part of this book. I loved Gen’s character, his history, and how he comes across throughout the entire book. All the struggles he goes through to become such an accomplished thief and to get to the treasure and earn that freedom was great. I love how prideful he is despite his circumstances
On top of Gen’s character I love the interaction between the characters. Here we have a guy is sort of enslaved to perform a task in order to win his freedom, yet a sort of camaraderie is built. If there are some books with slow burning romance, then this book has a slow burning partnership (? I wouldn’t say all out friendship) between the characters. I really enjoyed the development of the relationship between Gen and the magus and their growing respect for each other.
The Soundtrack
Journey – Separate Ways
