( 30 reviews )
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Posted: Aug 13 2009
I really enjoyed reading this book because it does not talk down to its audience. Turner writes books for children; this book won a Newberry Award. But she is aware of the fact that children are intelligent and that they deserve intelligent writing. She does not write for children, specifically. She writes a story and children read it. As an adult, I found the story engaging and complex- even the vocabulary was at a more advanced level. I love authors who do this because I think it's important to challenge and stretch your readers, whatever their age. Turner does this very well, adding a twist to the story and giving her characters depths that you don't often find in books for children (and sometimes in books for adults). Turner also builds up a multi-layered world in her story. The book is fantasy, and while she doesn't include a map of the world, she certainly builds up the culture. I love fantasy that comes complete with religions, superstitions, fairy tales and history. Turner has all of this in a very thin book. The history and religion in The Thief is based loosely upon ancient Greece and early medieval Europe. We are even treated to three mythical stories in the course of the novel. All great! We also learn that the countries in the novel- Eddis, Attolia and Sounis- all have long, intertwined histories centering around old gods, new gods and invaders. Really, the amount of detail that Turner manages to pack into the pages is amazing. She creates a fully-fleshed out fantasy world, and I can't wait to read more about it. I do think that this book was a bit slow going in some ways- not much happened for pages at a time. But Turner meticulously builds a world that readers can believe in, and creates characters that readers can cheer for. And I fully intend to move right on to the next book.
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Posted: Jun 29 2009
I stumbled across this book in the library and decided that it might make great vacation reading. Little did I know that I wouldn't be able to put it down. After a marathon read with several twists and turns, I finished the book and found myself looking for the next. I have since listened to it on CD and read the other books. It is great story with a well developed plot and interesting characters. After reading, I really felt the need to go back and read it again to uncover all of the things that I missed the first time.
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Posted: Jun 10 2009
This book was not just a book, it was an amazing experience and an enjoyable ride! I read The Thief, The Queen of Attolia, and The King of Attolia in very quick succession only to find the next book isn't out yet! These books immediately became favorites for both my husband and myself. The writing is witty, the characters are extremely likable (and you get to know them well through dialogue and actions, not long descriptions), and the strategy is intriguing especially as you get further into the series. This is a fantasy book, but not overly-fantastical, if that makes sense--there are gods that play a part, but don't take over the book and there aren't any wands or magic or fantastical creatures other than that. It's like an adventure story in a medieval-like time that happens to have gods in it. (Don't get me wrong, I love Harry Potter, but this simply isn't that deep into the Fantasy realm.) I mention this only because I know some people are wary of fantasy books.
