Turner, Megan Whalen. The Thief. New York: Greenwillow Books, 1996. (Fantasy)
The Thief has everything a good story should have: “fencing, fighting, torture, revenge, giants, monsters, chases, escapes, true love, miracles…” Well, it has everything except the true love and monsters, but you cannot have everything, can you? It follows the exploits of Eugenides, named after the God of thieves, who is recruited from the king’s prison by his royal scholar, the magus, to obtain an item of extreme importance to the king. What the object is and why Gen must obtain it remains a mystery that only the magus and the king hold. In return for his services, the king offers to grant Gen a pardon and set him free upon his return or place a bounty on his head so high every freeman “from this country or any other” (13) will come looking for him. Joining him on his quest are the magus; Pol, a soldier; Sophos, possible heir to the thrown; and Ambiades. From the dark of his prison cell to the light of the distant mountains, Gen makes his way to an unsure future. The best thing working for the novel, aside from the fact that it is wonderfully written, is that it is character driven. The characters are well developed and multi-leveled. It is Gen’s pride and boastfulness that land him in prison at the beginning of the novel, but it is these traits that ultimately redeem him by novel’s end. The worst thing working for this novel is that it is character driven. That is to say that at times the book might be too slow for some younger readers who might grow impatient with the pacing, but, should they be able to pass the halfway mark, they will be well rewarded as the action picks up and the true story is spun.
Reviewed by: Disreputable Dog
