As the travellers break their journey, they also tell stories which reveal the world’s myths and its pantheon of gods, from the thief-god Eugenides (after whom Gen is named) to the goddess of Fate, Moira. We have at least a glimpse of all three kingdoms in this book, setting the stage for Gen’s future adventures. Further east still, and down to the south, is Sounis’s ancient enemy Attolia. Sounis borders the sea, while Eddis lies to the east, up in the valleys of the Hephestial Mountains. The story functions as an introduction to Turner’s world, plotting outlines which will (I suppose) be filled in by later books. And so Gen, grumbling, intransigent and permanently hungry, finds himself trotting off on horseback (he hates horses) with the magus, the soldier Pol and two inept assistants, Sophos and Ambiades. Of course, the Gift has been lost for centuries but the magus thinks he’s figured out where it is. In order to force her hand, he wants to be in possession of Hamiathes’ Gift, a stone from ancient legend, which is believed to confer the kingship of Eddis on the bearer. It just so happens that the King has ambitions to expand his territory by marriage with the queen of neighbouring Eddis. When the prospect of freedom does arise, however, it does so from the most unexpected quarter: the King of Sounis’s chief adviser, ‘the magus’.
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We first meet our hero Gen in prison, where he’s contemplating the irony of the world’s greatest thief being unable to free himself from chains. I’m not about to give up, though, and am sure things will warm up later in the series. At the end of this first novel, however, I can’t help wondering when that promised court intrigue is going to get underway. The Thief is an enjoyable young-adult quest novel, throwing together the traditional bunch of ill-assorted companions in search of an ancient relic, but I don’t feel it’s hugely out of the ordinary. By popular demand (usually from Melita), I’ve finally got round to Megan Whalen Turner! I understand from Kerstin that the Queen’s Thief books are loved by Dunnetteers, among many other readers, for their twisting plots and intrigue, and so I’d really been looking forward to them.