Tag: author-megan whalen turner

The conclusion of the Queen’s Thief series was perfect. Once again, the story begins with a narrator seemingly unrelated to any goings-on; once again, the narration and the plot twist around until you can’t possibly conceive of the story taking place any other way. The relationship between the kings and queens of the three countries at the heart of the series is amazingly crafted; they say so few words to one another, but every interaction and glance exchanged shows how close they have become. Such an emotionally satisfying end to the series, and the short story afterwards is a beautiful little finish.

I continue to be stunned by the Queen’s Thief series, which is so good at writing politics that you care, on a deep personal level, about maneuvering between ambassadors and kings. It helps that the character at the center of this book, Sophos of Sounis, has a sweet, open-hearted, earnest nature that somehow makes him uniquely suited to face kidnapping, war, and imperial conquest. Love the interactions between the kings and queens, and how they balance their inner lives with the fact that every action they take will be evaluated for political impact. The language is deceptively simple; the plot is extremely layered and compelling.

The most amazing thing about the way Turner writes about Eugenides, former Queen’s Thief and newly crowned King, is how he constantly fools everyone into underestimating him, including readers who should know better, given that this is the third book. The writing is excellent; Turner is a master of conversations that convey a lot about the characters while they are actually saying very little. I was definitely a little unsure about the overall story arc going into this book, but now I’m firmly on board. The very complex and layered relationship between the Queen and King of Attolia, as well as between the rulers and their subjects, is very unique and extremely addictive to read.

Book 2 of the Queen’s Thief series, following The Thief. This one is told with several viewpoint characters, and features Eugenides’ interactions with the Queen of Attolia, who had to learn to rule with an iron fist in order to secure her kingdom. Something pretty traumatic happens right off the bat to Eugenides, who (deservedly) spends a good part of the book coming to terms with it while politics in the world around him become increasingly fraught. I loved the thoughtful, detailed, and believable sketches of the political situation and the characters caught up in it; the eventual love story fit in like a perfect puzzle piece, allowing the characters to escape the tightening plot without sacrificing their essential natures. I did not, however, love the ending given the events that kicked off the story initially. Extremely mixed feelings about this one.

The Queen’s Thief series has been highly recommended, so I put the first book on my list. It begins with Gen, the thief, languishing in the king’s prison; he’s stolen the king’s seal and publicly bragged about it, which landed him not only in prison but in multiple chains. The king’s magus (chief scholar) takes him out to help steal something else, something far away. The first half of the book is actually incredibly boring; it’s basically Gen complaining about having to ride horseback and the small party telling each other dueling tales of origin mythology. The story doesn’t kick into high gear until Gen actually does steal the MacGuffin and the gods turn out to be more than just stories. Nice twist at the end too. This basically functions as an extended prologue to a series that I’m definitely interested in reading, but in itself I’m not that impressed; it could have been sharper and tighter.