The Thief by Megan Whalen-Turner

The Thief by Megan Whalen-Turner
Publisher: Puffin Books (Penguin)
Genre: YA
Paperback, 219 pages
Book Source: Free Library of Philadelphia
My Rating: 95/100
From the author's website:

The most powerful advisor to the King of Sounis is the magus. He's not a wizard, he's a scholar, an aging solider, not a thief. When he needs something stolen, he pulls a young thief from the King's prison to do the job for him.


Gen is a thief and proud of it. When his bragging lands him behind bars he has one chance to win his freedom-- journey to a neighboring kingdom with the magus, find a legendary stone called Hamiathes's Gift and steal it.

The magus has plans for his King and his country. Gen has plans of his own.

My Thoughts:

This story begins with Gen in jail. He was caught because he boasted about a huge heist he did. (Hmm....why would he do something as stupid as that?) Gen winds up in the King's jail and it is not an easy existence down there in the bowels of the palace. Due to his reputation of being a great, yet boastful thief, the King's magus gets him released in order to perform an important and secret mission for the King, steal Hamiathes's Gift. The Gift has the power to affect the course of history for the three surrounding countries in this story, Sounis, Attolia, and Eddis.


Gen, the Magus and several companions embark on their secret journey to find the Gift and along the way we discover more about Gen, and more about this world that Whalen-Turner has created. It is very similar to ancient Greece in landscape, foods eaten, manner of dress, and religion of course. I came to adore Gen on this journey because he is such a smart ass. He knows how to get under people's skin and he enjoys it. But for all his stone breaking, when push comes to shove, Gen is there when you need him. And he has the back of his companions too, much to their surprise. Yes, Gen is quite the character.

That is all I want to say about the plot because you really must read this book for yourself. I want you to get lost in the story and experience as I did. I read this book so quickly because I couldn't wait to find out what happened next. There were also several surprises along the way, and I know more will be revealed in the next book. No cliff hanger, but the story is certainly not finished. The Thief is a fun adventurous read and I can't wait to pick up the next one in the series.

For more information please visit the author website: http://meganwhalenturner.org/index.html





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