The Thief (The Queen's Thief, Book 1) by…

The Thief (The Queen's Thief, Book 1) (edition 2005)

by Megan Whalen Turner (Author)

Series: The Queen's Thief (1)

Members	Reviews	Popularity	Average rating	Mentions
5,435	211	2,062	(3.97)	525
Gen flaunts his ingenuity as a thief and relishes the adventure which takes him to a remote temple of the gods where he will attempt to steal a precious stone.

▾Book information

Member:	tmbookluvr
Title:	The Thief (The Queen's Thief, Book 1)
Authors:	Megan Whalen Turner (Author)
Info:	Greenwillow Books (2005), Edition: Reissue, 280 pages
Collections:	Lost Interest, Read, Your library, Wishlist, Currently reading, To read, Read but unowned
Rating:
Tags:	to-read

Work Information

The Thief by Megan Whalen Turner

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▾LibraryThing Recommendations

▾Member recommendations

80
The Queen of Attolia by Megan Whalen Turner (mak_mohn)
70
The King of Attolia by Megan Whalen Turner (mak_mohn)
70
Graceling by Kristin Cashore (notemily)
60
The False Prince by Jennifer A. Nielsen (gluestick, humouress)
gluestick: Boys who come up with ingenious plans and incredible plot twists.
humouress: The protagonists in both books are cheeky street boys who become in embroiled in royal politics and kingmaker's plans. But they decide to do things their own way.
71
Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones (bell7)
40
Poison Study by Maria V. Snyder (quigui)
30
The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan (bwebb22)
20
The Raven Ring by Patricia C. Wrede (ut.tecum.loquerer)
20
Scaramouche by Rafael Sabatini (gluestick)
20
StarCrossed by Elizabeth C. Bunce (multilingualmaid)
20
The Silver Pigs by Lindsey Davis (electronicmemory)
electronicmemory: Although one is Greece-esque fantasy and the other is a Roman-era mystery, both share scrappy, compelling characters in the form of Gen and Marcus Didius Falco.
10
The Legend of Eli Monpress, #1-3) by Rachel Aaron (gluestick)
gluestick: Another charming,ingenious,mischievous thief with a secret agenda and an inflated sense of his own worth.Could be Gen's long lost twin brother.
10
The Twelve Kingdoms: Sea of Shadow by Fuyumi Ono (Anonymous user)
Anonymous user: Similarities: interesting characters, no romance, politics. I recommend the Eugene Woodbury translations.
10
Take a Thief by Mercedes Lackey (Nikkles, gluestick)
10
The Warrior's Apprentice by Lois McMaster Bujold (electronicmemory)
electronicmemory: Two unusual protagonists who rely on their tongue, wit and ingenuity to get themselves out of tight scrapes.
10
Joust by Mercedes Lackey (gluestick)
11
The Crown Conspiracy by Michael J. Sullivan (gluestick)
gluestick: Tale of two thieves.First book is great.
00
The Book of Three by Lloyd Alexander (themulhern)
themulhern: Both books are closely inspired by a mythology and a geography. But both books are also highly original and the first in a series of similar books.
00
The Curse of Chalion by Lois McMaster Bujold (mysimas)
00
A Conspiracy of Truths by Alexandra Rowland (mysimas)

(see all 21 recommendations)

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▾Member reviews

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Showing 1-5 of 211 (next | show all)

The first in an amazing alternative-past history series (the fourth is coming out in March). I read the third book in the series first and then went back to read the first two. I felt no loss of enjoyment in reading them out of order--the books stand alone. I hesitate to call them fantasy--they are more like Etruscan alternative history.

The main character of the first book is Eugenides, hero-thief. The second book explores the character of the mysterious Queen of Attolia--you couldn't ask for a smarter, stronger, and more flawed female role model. And the third book provides a different perspective of the Queen's life, taken from the eyes of a soldier.

I've recommended this book to teens who liked Cashore's Graceling. This series is tough stuff--I would recommend it more for teens and adults than tweens. But I've seen certain 12 year olds gobble it up. Definitely worth a read no matter what age you are. (

)

cgalvin | Nov 9, 2024 |

Fast and enjoyable read, with a twisty plot and great anti-hero as protagonist. A thief is freed from prison to steal a magical item for the king. But how did he end up in prison in the first place? And how will he make sure he doesn't go back? (

)

mfred333 | Sep 1, 2024 |

senza infamia nè lode: libretto da ombrellone
il protagonista è un supponente ladruncolo YA e la trama dovrebbe seguire il colpo del secolo ma invece è la cronaca dei pasti e riposini durante il viaggio (

)

LLonaVahine | May 22, 2024 |

This book is really fun to reread because there are so many little throwaway lines that end up being foreshadows. Knowing what was coming next never made me bored, either - just excited to get to the next big moment.

I really appreciate the visceral description of Gen's hunger and exhaustion coming out of prison, and I really came to love all of the main characters (except Ambiades, whom I suppose I can manage to pity on a good day). Although not a lot happens plot-wise in the first half of the story, the dialogue and description keep me invested. (

)

AdioRadley | Jan 21, 2024 |

3.5 (

)

sweetimpact | Jan 18, 2024 |

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Showing 1-5 of 211 (next | show all)

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▾Other authors

» Add other authors (3 possible)

Author name	Role	Type of author	Work?	Status
Turner, Megan Whalen	—	primary author	all editions	confirmed
Natale, Vince	Cover artist	secondary author	some editions	confirmed
Stengel, Christopher	Cover designer	secondary author	some editions	confirmed
Wyatt, David	Cover artist	secondary author	some editions	confirmed

▾Series and work relationships

Belongs to Series

The Queen's Thief (1)

Is contained in

World of the Queen's Thief Collection by Megan Whalen Turner

The Queen's Thief Books: The Thief; The Queen of Attolia; The King of Attolia; Conspiracy of Kings by Megan Whalen Turner

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▾Common Knowledge

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Canonical title

The Thief

Original title

The Thief

Alternative titles

Original publication date

1996-10-01

People/Characters

Eugenides (Gen)

The Magus (from Queen’s Thief)

Important places

Important events

Related movies

Epigraph

Dedication

For Sandy Passarelli

First words

I didn't know how long I had been in the king's prison.

Quotations

Last words

(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)

Disambiguation notice

Publisher's editors

Blurbers

Bujold, Lois McMaster

Original language

English

Canonical DDC/MDS

813.54

Canonical LCC

PZ7.T85565

▾References

References to this work on external resources.

Wikipedia in English (1)

The Thief (Turner novel)

▾Book descriptions

Gen flaunts his ingenuity as a thief and relishes the adventure which takes him to a remote temple of the gods where he will attempt to steal a precious stone.

▾Library descriptions

No library descriptions found.

▾LibraryThing members' description

Book description

"There is something I want you to steal. Do this for me, and I'll see that you don't go back to prison. Fail to do this for me, and I will still make sure that you don't go back to prison."

The king's magus needs a skilful thief. Incarcerated for stealing from the king himself, Gen is the just the pawn the magus is looking for. Cocky, brash and extremely uncooperative, Gen is press-ganged into an unlikely band of travellers and marched through Sounis, into hostile Attolia.

Concealed in Attolia is an object of such power it can make or break a king - but even stolen treasure has it's price.

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