It and four more stand-alone volumes bring to life a world of epics, myths, and legends, and feature one of the most charismatic and incorrigible characters of fiction, Eugenides the thief. The lamp sputters and Gen begins to panic, unsure how much oil he has lost or what time he has left. If The Thief winds up being the only adaptation ever produced and the sequel scaffolding is clear, it might make the standalone not, well, stand alone quite as strongly as it could have. Conversely, Eugenides must become comfortable with his fears of stealing Attolia’s power from her, trusting that his desire for power can be balanced by her experience, and that they can successfully rule together.

The Thief - Megan Whalen Turner The Thief - Megan Whalen Turner

But, you know, once that passes, he looks up and studies the massive pieces of obsidian that stud the walls of the maze. That night, the magus leads the group across the dystopia to the banks of the river and a large waterfall.Like the magus of Sounis, who he frames for sabotage and whisks away to Eddis to be their honored prisoner. 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. The biggest ones are from Costis’ perspective, as his view of the king becomes the readers’ (despite the information we already know), and so it almost seems as if Eugenides and Attolia do not actually love one another. For three quarters of the book, we saw him being taken out of prison, walking across countries and complaining about food.

The Thief (Turner novel) - Wikipedia

Hegoes into something of a fugue state while fighting, with the book cutting away from the action and only hinting (through the others’ impressed/horrified reactions) at the damage the skilled Thief dealt via the swordplay he so hates.

While it seemed as if this series would just continue on into perpetuity, The Queen’s Thief series is coming to a bittersweet, sure to be emotionally ruinous, end. Obviously the aforementioned Hamiathes’ Gift reveal in The Thief, but I’m also super interested in seeing how Gen’s fight with the Attolian guard plays out. After Nahuseresh’s plot is made clear, Attolia gets dressed in all her finery and, playing the part of vengeful enemy, makes sure to yank Eugenides’ head up so he can see her earrings when she asks if he knows what’s going to happen to him. It’s not until Sophos gets him alone that he finally gets to glimpse Eugenides, with the two old friends getting only one private moment to plot how Sounis will earn the respect of his barons and fight off the latest Mede ambassador, Akretenesh. Series Moment: At this point, while we share Sophos’ frustration at Attolis giving him the cold shoulder, we know that Gen is still in there.