Megan Whalen Turner

So, my wife has been encouraging me to read Megan Whalen Turner since I've met her in 2016. We even got to meet Magan Whalen Turner at ALA one year (she was very kind and invited us to a fandom party). I recently read that The Thief has earned comparisons to The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss (one of my favorite books) and vice versa, so I thought I should finally dive in and find out what is so enthralling about this series. One word: Eugenides.
The story is told (first person) by Gen (who is later revealed to be Eugenides), a thief who opens the book imprisoned in the kingdom of Sounis. He is freed by the King's Magus---a wiseman-type councilor---who needs a skilled thief to help him recover a lost artifact. They set out on a LOTR's type expedition, accompanied by the Magus's two apprentices and a soldier. In the first half of the book, we slowly get to know the characters through Gen's eyes, and learn something of the world where this story is set. Turner does a good job developing and describing the mix of relationships between the members of this quest---rivalries, respect, jealousy---and as we get to know the characters better, it becomes apparent that there is a bit more to each of them than meets the eye. Turner also envelopes us in the mythology of the world she has built (based on Greek mythology btw) by using the story within a story device that is found within recently popular fantasy series, such as the Kingkiller Chronicles.

Folks have commented that a chunk of the book is focused on the relationships of the characters who've embarked on this journey for the lost artifact and its true but it is highly intriguing and never boring. It's slowly revealed that the lost artifact that Gen has to steal is the precious stone called Hamaithes's Gift in the country of Attolia. Midway through the book, the tempo increases dramatically. There are fights, escapes, chases. And as the action unfolds, the puzzle is revealed showing the character's true motivations- including our narrator, who carefully hides a few secrets of his own until the end. And that is why I love this book - Gen tricks us. For a good chunk of the novel you assume that Gen is just a lazy, starved boy, who is probably incapable of stealing Hamaithe's Gift, and as the book progresses to its astounding climax you realize: Gen is extremely clever and so is Turner.
Turner's writing is never verbose, and she is able to craft an epic story in few pages (if this was being told by another writer this could easily be a 1000 page fantasy novel that is well, way too descriptive and uneventful). Turner is an economical fantasy writer and one of the best.
This deserves to be mentioned alongside of Lewis, Tolkien, Le Guin, Rothfuss, McKinley, Sanderson, etc. Highly recommended.… (mais)

I love the characters--both the amazingly gifted and probably equally annoying to live with, Gen, and the people who hate and love him. It's wonderful to experience their weaknesses and strengths and the way they are surprised by both. I love the story world and the way Turner makes us fall into it, even when you would think it would never work. [Who can quote fictional archaic epi poetry in the middle of a book and make me actually read it and enjoy it, instead of skipping over it? Okay, she doesn't do that in Return of the Thief.]

But if you want to appreciate twisty intricate plotting, complex and believeable character motivations and go away from this world for awhile, try this whole series. She's a master at work, so she makes it all look and feel so easy.

Readers of Jennifer A. Nielsen's smart and surprising series "The Ascendance" (begins with The False Prince) will enjoy these books too.

This series is young adult, both because the motivations of the characters require thoughtful puzzling out--one of the great pleasures of these books--and there is a violent, on-page scene in the second book that I can't tell you about, because it would be a spoiler. Of course, if you are reading this one now, you already know what that spoiler is. There are references to adult relationships, but again not on the page.

People often say that reading fiction "teaches" empathy. Without "teaching" at all, Megan Whalen Turner's books are like experiencing the world from all sides. I've read this three times at least, so it's about time I wrote a review! Books like these that I really like are hard to review. Mostly, I want to hand it to you and go away.… (mais)