Return of the Thief audiobook

A great conclusion to the QUEEN'S THIEF series! Review first posted on Fantasy Literature. I also did an interview with the author here on FanLit, so please go check it out!Megan Whalen Turner’s QUEEN’S THIEF young adult fantasy series, a masterwork of twisting plots, deceptive plans, and occasional divine interventions from the first book to the last, winds to a close with Return of the Thief, twenty-four years after the publication of The Thief. Return of the Thief introduces us to a new narrator, Pheris, oldest grandson and nominally the heir of Baron Erondites, Eugenides’s powerful enemy from The King of Attolia. (Alert readers, however, will recognize Pheris from a few brief scenes in Thick as Thieves.)Baron Erondites, whose two sons, Dite and Sejanus, were so memorably disinherited as part of the events that occurred in The King of Attolia, also has a daughter, Marina, whom he’d earlier disinherited for marrying against his will. Pheris, Marina’s oldest son, is a boy who is speechless and otherwise severely physically disabled. Eugenides enters into an agreement with the Baron that the heir to the House of Erondites will be raised in the king’s palace, “away from the malignant tendencies of his family.” The Baron offers up Pheris, sight unseen.The Baron has restored Marina to the House of Erondites (apparently disinheritance in Attolia is not necessarily as permanent as we were once given to understand). Everyone — including Pheris himself — assumes that Pheris will be rejected as a member of the king’s court and sent home, and the Baron, having gotten one over on the king, will then have Pheris killed and make his younger brother Juridius his heir. But Gen, surprising all, decides to clean up the filthy boy and make him one of his attendants.“He is Erondites’s grandson and heir,” said the king, “and I have conceived a great desire to see him live to adulthood. Now all of you go away.”But Gen has more to worry about than the scheming Baron Erondites and his troublesome young heir. Eugenides is now the high king of the Little Peninsula where the three countries of Attolia, Sounis and Eddis are located, but his acceptance isn’t universal in any of the three countries. Worse yet, the encroaching Mede empire from across the sea is weaving new plans to invade and annex their countries. The QUEEN’S THIEF world opens up as more borders are crossed and more countries get involved in the growing conflict.The political conspiracies and surprising plot turns that mark the entire QUEEN’S THIEF series are alive and well in Return of the Thief, and Eugenides, as usual, is at the center of the plotting. I shouldn’t be surprised by Gen at this point in time, but somehow he still manages to misdirect and beguile me. His mercurial character takes more of a central role in this book than he did in the prior two books, and my increased enjoyment of this book reflects that. Gen’s quirks, stubbornness, and lightning-quick insights, along with his ability to mastermind change, make him one of the most engaging and memorable characters in fiction, and his wife Irene, a queen in her own right, is a match for him.Almost every book in this series has a different narrator, and Turner branches out in a fresh direction with Return of the Thief. Though the series has dealt with disability before in connection with the memorable loss of Gen’s hand, Pheris’s profound disabilities make him an unusual and challenging central character. Pheris has suffered greatly in his life, both from physical pains and the cruelties of others, not least his poisonous family. “Little monster” is typical of epithets hurled at his face. Pheris is not mentally disabled, though, even though most people wrongly assume that’s the case, helped along by Pheris’s deliberate misbehavior (“the less people want to see you, the easier it becomes to be invisible in plain sight.”). Both Pheris and the people around him — and by extension, we as readers — have something to learn about the ways in which a disabled person can grow and even serve when given opportunity and encouragement.Turner engages in some interweaving of her timelines in the last few books of the series. In this case, the first part of Return of the Thief takes place concurrently with the last section of Thick as Thieves, and continues from there. There are several callbacks and allusions to events in the prior books, rewarding readers who have good memories for details … or, that lacking, have access to the earlier books and can revisit them (I have to admit I had completely forgotten the subplot surrounding a coveted statue owned by the Mede ambassador, but it was worth going back to refresh my recollection).It’s bittersweet to finally reach the end of the QUEEN’S THIEF series, but it ends on a high note. I’m sad to leave these characters behind (hopefully one day Gitta Kingsdaughter will call Turner back to this world, though she’s making absolutely no promises). The entire series begs for a reread, though, and I suspect it won’t be long before I’m dancing on the rooftops with these characters again.Thanks so much to Greenwillow for the eARC!Update #2: MORE EXCITEMENT! I have an ARC in my hands!! This is like the literary high point of my month. 🥰Update: We have a set publication date now: Oct. 6, 2020! I am SO EXCITED!!Initial post: I don't know if I can wait until April 2019 now summer 2020 *sobs* for this! Maybe I should just reread the whole series ...

Well. That was... brilliant.Very satisfactory conclusion to the series, but do not begin here. Start with the first book, The Thief. Do not read any cover blurbs or reviews or front matter or other descriptions or discussions first, just turn to page one and start reading.Now would be a good time.Publisher's blurb somewhat plaintively tries to present this one as a stand-alone, which I interpret with some experience as "Please, please don't put this book down without buying it and wander off because you haven't read the others!" Yeah no. Read the others. The Thief first, The Queen of Attolia second, and after that you should be able to figure it out on your own.(I just reread two of them, booting up my memory for this new one, and may circle back for the rest before I'm done. I find them all very rereadable, a quality which usually boosts a book up a star on its own for me, but there's more here.)By the historical accident of its publication, the series is classified as YA, so you may have to look for it outside the usual F&SF sections. Do so. (Though e-editions make these artificial barriers more moot, happily.) It's actually in a class by itself, but I'm not going to attempt to define it.Ta, L.

Return of the Thief follows Pheris, the grandson of powerful noble Erondites, and his relationship with Eugenides, the high king of Attolia, Eddis, and Sounis. Written in the style of a tragic autobiography, it’s a delight to read. Much of the novel takes on Gen’s fights alongside Irene, Sophos, and Helen to keep the bay theirs, away from the Medes. I honestly found these sections less compelling than the rest, but perhaps this is only because of my adoration for our newest narrator. Pheris has been given up by Erondites in an attempt to pull one over on the king, by giving him a grandson he believes to be not just physically but mentally disabled. But Gen and Pheris soon strike up a close bond, one impossible not to get invested in. Pheris is perhaps one of my favorite characters of this series so far. Megan Whalen Turner’s emphasis on his agency in the narrative, and clarity in making this a goal, will long stick with me. [And allowing him to be friends with Kamet is wonderful.]With cameos from all of our other favorite leads, and as many political games as ever, this was an excellent conclusion to a series I will long value as one of my favorite fantasy series. This series is just a delight. series: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 Blog | Youtube | Twitter | Instagram | Spotify | About |

I don't think I can objectively judge these books anymore, because I am such a slavish fan of MWT's writing and find the way she her words together so incredibly soothing and satisfying. Return of the Thief is a long book, but it was never boring to me. It is, however, quite complex, so I need a couple of rereads (and not in the time of an anxious pre-election brain fog) to get a better grasp of the things I've surely missed. I also should have reread the rest of the books in the series again, because some characters faded in my memory.It's not exactly a spoiler to say that this novel is about Mede's slow approach to conquer the small peninsula of Sounis, Eddis and Attolia. It is mostly about political machinations and plots, broken down by my favorite scenes of love, heartbreak and courage. In tone, Return of the Thief is more like A Conspiracy of Kings. I was also pleased that MWT FINALLY, had it in her to show some queer characters. I am still bitter about how opaque and wishy-washy things were on that front in Thick as Thieves.Can't wait to read all these books again and decide more firmly between 4 and 5 starts. Did I love it or just like it? At this point, I think "liked it" is a fairer rating for now.Gen's journey is over, but, like many others, I am hoping a certain someone will have a story too.P.S. Do read a short story at the end - it’s a lovely romantic little thing that combines all my favorite ingredients of WMT’s writing.

2022 ebook reread: Reading this in snatches using the ebook on my phone, I was forced to slow down to read this one. However, unlike the earlier books in this serious, I don't think slowing down was necessary; this book is already one of the more ponderous in the series. I could see this frustrating some readers, since this book dealt with huge amounts of time on things like politics, court intrigue, and troop maneuvering. For me, and probably other die-hard fans, I'm just so happy to be spending more time in this world with these characters that I don't object to the pacing. If MWT wanted to describe every meal and every meeting that they sit through, I'd be pretty content. Pheris is growing on me more and more with each reread. As I said during the last reread, the gut-wrench near the end didn't knock me over like the first time since I knew it was coming (though I still felt the heartbreak), but I still found myself tearing up twice this time around: once toward the end when Attolis humbles himself to ask Attolia to do something for her own safety, rather than trying to pull rank and order her as high king. And second, I still leak actual tears in the last chapter when Eugenides gazes down into a certain little face, and this time I didn't even have to hear a certain name. Just knowing it was coming...the moment he freezes while looking down.... *aching sigh* I love these characters so so much.2021 audio re-read: I can tell that I'm still in just the beginning stages of picking this book apart in my mind, and that it will get deeper and richer with each re-read. *happy sigh* I connected much more with Pheris on this 2nd read, and it was interesting to see all of my favorite characters through a new pair of eyes. The gut-wrench near the end didn't hit me as hard this time since I knew it was coming, but the tear-jerker scene got me just as choked up. So excited to see what MWT does next.2020 first read: I'm very tempted to open this book back up to the front pages and begin rereading it at once, since I know these books get better and better with each reread. I have no doubt that this will not be an exception. Soooo many details to be gleaned here, but of course on the first read there's too much going on to really absorb the minutiae. Without spoiling too much I'll say that my initial reaction to closing the book is a profound sense of peace. Some grief, some joy, but mostly contentment. There was a gut-wrench near the end of the book that almost got me, but a happy moment (specifically a name) later on was what turned on the water works. I'm sure in a little while it will sink in that this is the end of the Thief stories, and that will feel like a loss.....but I knew they had to draw to a close eventually. And, again, these books are made for rereads. The story made be concluded, but the enjoyment of the story has just begun. Holy smokes, that dedication though? That made me swoon just a teensy bit. Oh Megan....

I put off reading this for a few days because I knew I would want enough time to read it in one sitting and then write this review. As with Thick as Thieves, I went into it cold, not for fear of spoilers, but for fear of trying to second-guess the author if I knew anything about the story. And, as with the other books in this series, I did not regret this decision for a moment.Ending a series is bittersweet even when the ending was implicit in the rest of the series. On the other hand, I would never have predicted where this would go from reading The Thief, which is excellent and complex in its own way but not nearly as powerful as the later books. This book is an incredible achievement in bringing the story of Eugenides to a close, satisfying and complete.I wrote in my review of Thick as Thieves that I expected the problem of the Mede to have to be resolved sooner rather than later. As a result, in many ways this is a war story, and it's an exciting and complex war story. But from my perspective, it is exciting and complex because of the personalities involved. There's never a moment where I forgot the cost of war is personal on so many levels. Even the accounts of maneuvering troops and fighting exhausting battles aren't tedious, and I never felt eager to get past them to find out what was happening with the characters.Despite what I said, I didn't go into the book completely blind; I read the few lines at the top of the back cover: This is a book about the reign of the High King. It is written by the grandson of the Baron Erondites. Because history is written by the winner. This, along with the preface, promises a terrible change, not least because Erondites is a more present enemy than the Mede. But combined with Pheris, the narrator's, vow to record only what he sees or reliably knows, this is also a promise of a brilliant, unexpected future, because anyone who has read this far in the series knows that things never happen as we expect.Pheris is a great choice as narrator. He may be Erondites' grandson, but birth defects and politics have forced him to hide who he is for his own safety. That means that on some level, he is nothing more than the fool and mental incompetent he appears to be, because you can't pretend on that level, can't be abused as much as he is, without some of it rubbing off. (I also wrote in that review that I wanted to know who "young Erondites" was, and I'm so glad this is how he was revealed.) But when he enters Eugenides' orbit, everything changes for both of them. I like how in his record, Pheris refers to Attolia, Eddis, Sounis when speaking of those rulers, but Gen is always and ever just "the king." That strikes me as telling when contrasted with how very much Gen hates being the king; this is a role forced upon him, not something he wanted.This would not be a MWT Queen's Thief novel if there were not a twist, and I admit she did catch me: (view spoiler)[Stupid me, I actually believed Gen's capture didn't have some deeper plan involved. I'd feel less stupid if she hadn't put it in the damn title. (hide spoiler)] And here I'm not sure what else qualifies as spoiler. In the most general sense, this book comes full circle to The Thief, down to the coda at the end.In a more specific sense, (view spoiler)[this is a book about what it means to fight a war you cannot win by changing the playing field. Only Eugenides could have fought the Mede, and only he could have fought the war his way. Which isn't to say that they didn't need the army, because without the army, Gen wouldn't have been in a position to lull the enemy into complacency. And I love love love the end solution, where Gen determines that the High King cannot be hereditary, that the three countries must work together--and what that means for young Pheris' fate. Wow. (hide spoiler)]Other things, smaller things: I've never seen done with a female character what MWT does with Irene. I call it the Mr. Darcy Solution--Mr. Darcy of Pride and Prejudice works powerfully as a romantic character because we never see anything from his perspective. Irene/Attolia is an incredible presence in this book because she is both distant and beautifully, intimately rendered. Most of the time, this happens with male characters, and MWT has been working on this for several books now. I think I love Irene most of all.This overlaps somewhat with Thick as Thieves, but it's not obvious until a good ways in, and then we get a different perspective on certain events that have already played out once. I found that personally gratifying, because I like how well this author controls the flow of information, altering the reader's understanding of events simply by showing them from someone else's point of view.And it ends so well. Everything is resolved, even a few questions I didn't really have, with happy endings for everyone I care about. The romantic in me is very happy with the coda. (Oh, and the dancing on the rooftops. Even Helen.)At some point, I will read this series in one go, sometime when I've gotten emotional distance from it, because I admit to being personally engaged with the series and the characters in a way that is not always comfortable. For now, I look forward to seeing what Megan Whalen Turner comes up with next.

Glorious.I've been rereading the entire series, working my way up to this final book. Reading them all in one summer has allowed me to see how every little piece has come together so cleverly. The intricacies of the politics, the personal relationships . . . just glorious. I'm in awe. And I adored, simply ADORED the new POV character Pheris. And had I not just read Thick as Thieves last week, I don't think I would have realized that Pheris was in that book, too, and how the narratives overlapped. This might be the most well-executed fantasy series in years. There. I said it.

6 August 2012: This should be called "The King of Kings"!--------28 April 2021Not a review but some random thoughts about the Queen's Thief series.-I need to apologize for the remark I made on the 6th of August 2012. I have learned the errors in my judgment and I have finally realized that the Thief is better than the King 🤧-I thought it was anti-climactic that the author would gloss over details of the war but although war is definitely a major plot point, it's not really what the whole series is all about. -I have a love-hate relationship with how the MWT makes the important parts soooo subtle that you would completely miss it if you don't focus on the story 101% like for example that person who came back at the end of the story was important but why did the author saw it fit to not state directly that it was him who came back ??-The way I had to reread so many chapters because of the above random thought-I've had a reading slump since January 2020 and this book healed me-I never had to think twice telling people that this is my favorite series and now that the story has come to an end, I feel even prouder to say that it is still my favorite series.-I read Queen of Attolia at least once a year since 2011 and every time it feels like I'm reading it for the first time. I can see Return of the Thief becoming like that-I am very happy that my head canons for Irene and Gen came true at the end of the book-Overall, I'm happy, satisfied, angry, sad, unfulfilled, impatient, and hopeful-I'm considering becoming religious again. I need to gather disciples for when I build the Church of Eugenides-Gen x Irene-------3 May 2021I was reading community discussions about this and I hate that there are so many things I didn't notice, again, but at the same time, it cements my love for these series. There's no such thing as reading these books too many times because the reader almost always picks up a new discovery every time they read the books. If you didn't pick up a new discovery, it only means that you need to read it all over again.

“It probably only works in Eddis.”!!!!!!!!Granted, I wasn’t shocked until page 338 (I kept thinking, why don’t I see where this is going?) - but then the shocks kept coming. There is so much here I wasn’t expecting - from the callbacks to previous books, so seamlessly folded into this more politically-advanced narrative, to that incident on page 338, and every incident which followed, to the ending - THE ENDING -Frankly I am shocked by this, and by how much it had the capacity to surprise me.(view spoiler)[“A king and his Thief” - I wanted to throw things in joy - and dancing on the roof, a callback to book three - and what I can only consider a reference to The Perilous Gard, an entirely truthful message seen most clearly in hindsight - “Turnabout is fair play” -and that Gen had to be the Thief -“I can do anything I want” -“People love a dancing bear,” he murmured. “No one wants to be one.” (hide spoiler)]I think I can say that this ending was foreshadowed most in The Queen of Attolia: “Diplomacy - in my own name.”What a tour de force. What a spectacular account of the tenuous, shifting politics of small, seemingly unimportant kingdoms, and the meddling of their gods.I’m not sure what to do with myself now that it’s over: let it settle, I think, and then reread it. I’m not sure this is a five-star book the way the first three are; in general, I’m not sure the second half of the series has that same strength for me. It gets so much bigger, though, and there are still pitch-perfect moments that show you it hasn’t lost sight of who it is...But I’m less convinced by the character moments, and the back-and-forth of the loyalties. I think the series shines when its focus is on the politics and the gods and the larger-than-life surrealism they lend to the worldbuilding. None of the moments that shocked me came from the non-royal characters; instead, they were all born of the perfect juxtaposition of worldbuilding and plotting. So I’m going to reread and come back to this. I’ll probably have a lot to say about point of view (that intro!) at some point, and more about Relius (view spoiler)[- frankly, he’s a loose thread, and the character that most bothers me; maybe the magus shouldn’t have been sidelined so much? Also from QoA, and maybe another apt summation of this book: “Your queen’s entire two-word answer: ‘War, then.’” - (hide spoiler)] but I’ll come to those later. Somehow they feel less important than the big-picture things. Fittingly, I suppose. This isn’t Harry Potter and the end of my childhood. It’s a capstone for something else, though - it must be - it’s too significant not to be. And LOOK AT THAT DEDICATION. PS: ELEPHANTS!PPS: I was right, Brandy - it wasn’t Philo ;D (PHILO.)

I devoured this book pretty much in one sitting, and it was absolutely worth it. This series is so complex, and there are so many subtle details to the narration (not to mention so many different narrators), that it's hard to imagine a final book could possibly wrap it all up in a satisfying way. Especially when you consider how many eagerly awaited finales of the past few years have ended badly and left fans devastated and furious.I didn't really expect MWT to blow the landing on her own series, but even at that, she exceeded my hopes and expectations. I spent the last quarter of the book holding my breath because I was so afraid for the characters and so unsure of how the plot would play out, but in the end I was fully satisfied with the way things wrapped up and excited to go back and read all the books again. The Queen's Thief series truly is a classic, and an epic story I'll treasure for the rest of my life.

Such a satisfying end to a phenomenal series! Seriously, this is an incredible fantasy series written for teenagers without speaking down to them. The world-building, character development, and political intrigue are complex and brilliantly executed to a degree I rarely see in YA fantasy. (no shade to YA fantasy at all, it just tends to focus more on emotional and romantic character arcs rather than intricate political and strategic ones) If you are a fantasy reader and haven't tried these yet, I highly recommend them.In Return of the Thief the narrative is delivered through the perspective of a teen boy who is mute and severely disabled but secretly brilliant, particularly with mathematics. He may act as if he lacks intelligence and understanding on the outside, but in reality has a rich internal life and is incredibly perceptive. He is thrust into the court of Eugenides the king and embroiled in court intrigue and politics, chronicling for the reader the truth of what occurred during a time that has since fallen into myth. His character arc is such a good coming of age story, growing into who he CAN be rather than the expectations of his often hateful family.This book continued to hammer home why Eugenides is one of my favorite characters in literature. He is constantly underestimated and wily as a fox. I won't say more about the plot specifics, but this was great and well worth your time if you've also been a fan of the series.