The Queen of Attolia by Megan Whalen Turner Published by Harper Collins on September 22nd 2009
Genres: Young Adult Fiction, Action & Adventure, General, Fantasy
Pages: 368
Format: Audiobook
Narrator: Steve West
Length: 9 hours and 33 minutes
Source: Publisher
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Discover the world of the Queen’s Thief
New York Times-bestselling author Megan Whalen Turner’s entrancing and award-winning Queen’s Thief novels bring to life the world of the epics and feature one of the most charismatic and incorrigible characters of fiction, Eugenides the thief. Megan Whalen Turner’s Queen’s Thief novels are rich with political machinations and intrigue, battles lost and won, dangerous journeys, divine intervention, power, passion, revenge, and deception. Perfect for fans of Leigh Bardugo, Marie Lu, Patrick Rothfuss, and George R. R. Martin.
The brilliant thief Eugenides has visited the Queen of Attolia’s palace one too many times, leaving small tokens and then departing unseen. When his final excursion does not go as planned, he is captured by the ruthless queen.
I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
The Sound:
As stated in my previous review of the first book, The Thief, I love Steve West! Will always be a fave narrator for me — so much emotion in his narrating!
The Story:
The switch from first person to third person POV caught me a bit off guard but it is necessary in this sequel as there are so many different things going on in different locations. I don’t think I disliked the POV switch itself but I just really liked Eugenides and missed just seeing the story unfurl from his POV.
The book starts off quite dramatically and I have to say, I was NOT expecting those events to occur! I really liked seeing more of Eugenides personality and background and really getting to know him more in this one than what we saw in The Thief. I especially liked his relationship with Eddis and honestly, all the background of previous thieves of Eddis was fascinating to me. The politics and military talk in this one was interesting to me but there is definitely a segment in the middle of this one where the pace really drags.
Things pick up in the latter third again and of course we get some trademark twists and turns. Although… View Spoiler » The spoiler part of my thoughts has a lot to do with why my enjoyment of the book took a downhill turn after enjoying The Thief so much! Definitely still interested to see where things go though.
The King of Attolia by Megan Whalen Turner Published by Harper Collins on September 22nd 2009
Genres: Young Adult Fiction, Action & Adventure, General, Fantasy, Romance
Pages: 432
Format: Audiobook
Narrator: Steve West
Length: 10 hours and 22 minutes
Source: Publisher
Buy on Amazon
Goodreads
Discover the world of the Queen’s Thief
New York Times-bestselling author Megan Whalen Turner’s entrancing and award-winning Queen’s Thief novels bring to life the world of the epics and feature one of the most charismatic and incorrigible characters of fiction, Eugenides the thief. Megan Whalen Turner’s Queen’s Thief novels are rich with political machinations and intrigue, battles lost and won, dangerous journeys, divine intervention, power, passion, revenge, and deception. Perfect for fans of Leigh Bardugo, Marie Lu, Patrick Rothfuss, and George R. R. Martin.
Eugenides, no stranger to desperate circumstances, has gotten himself into difficulties he can’t get out of. Used to being treated with a certain measure of wariness, if not respect, he suffers the pranks, insults, and intrigue of the Attolian court with dwindling patience. As usual, nothing is as it appears when he rescues a hot-headed young soldier in the Palace Guard.
I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
My thoughts:
I’m going to be honest, I really struggled with a large portion of The King of Attolia. Don’t get me wrong, I liked Kostos, the character POV we were getting this book from. However, the majority of the plot for over 50% of this book is the Attolians thinking Eugenides was a stupid, dumb king that didn’t know much of anything. We, the reader, clearly know otherwise and for me, that just made the plot seem really… boring. It would’ve been fine if it were only for a third of the book or something, just to set up how the Attolians would be proven wrong, but it just kept going. That premise was too thin to hold up the plot for the entirety of the book! I just need something more. Another plot arc or something. I guess I was just left wanting.
I did like seeing the usual “aha” moments reveal themselves but at the same time, it was almost too little too late. I was pushing myself through the thin plot just to see what was going to be the payoff and when I finally got it, it wasn’t as exciting as I expected.
I sound really down about this book and really, there were things I liked! I very much love Eugenides and his ability to play the role of whatever he desires. I liked seeing Eugenides through Kostos’ eyes. I was interested to see how uniting Eddis and Attolia would turn out. I liked the political intrigue.
If there were only MORE PLOT, my opinion of this one would be much higher. Oh and the romance? Eeeek, sorry, still not a fan, I still can’t get myself used Attolia and Eugenides actually being in love?
A Conspiracy of Kings by Megan Whalen Turner Published by Harper Collins on August 23rd 2011
Genres: Young Adult, Action & Adventure, General, Fantasy & Magic, Love & Romance
Pages: 352
Format: Audiobook
Narrator: Steve West
Length: 8 hours and 26 minutes
Source: Publisher
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Sophos, heir to the throne of Sounis, has disappeared without a trace. Eugenides, the new and unlikely king of Attolia, has never stopped wondering what happened to his friend. Nor has the Queen of Eddis, who once offered Sophos her hand. They send spies. They pay informants. They appeal to the gods. But as time goes by, it becomes less and less certain that they will ever see their friend alive again.
Battles are fought, bribes are offered, and conspiracies are set in motion. Across the sea, a ruthless empire watches for even the slightest weakness. And Sophos, anonymous and alone, bides his time. Until, drawing on his memories of Gen, Pol, the magus—and Eddis—Sophos sets out on an adventure that will change all of their lives forever.
I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
My Thoughts:
There were definitely parts of A Conspiracy of Kings I enjoyed so much more than The King of Attolia which was such a relief! I loved Sophos from The Thief and was really excited when the book started out from his POV! I think it was refreshing to see something different and to see what was happening in Sounis. Sophos had a great character arc and I liked seeing his growth over the course of the book.
The political intrigue definitely went up a notch as there are a lot of things in motion in this book. I wasn’t really sure where things would end up politically, so that kept me on my toes. But the romance! I think maybe the romances in this series just aren’t for me. I felt zero things about Eddis and Sophos and I wish I could have rooted for some romance in these books. It’s definitely not the focus at all in this series but if it’s going to be there, I wish it wasn’t so…dry.
Anyway, for the most part, really liked the beginning, but as with all the books in the series for me, the pace hits a wall somewhere in the middle. I’ve noticed that with each of these books, there comes a time when I just get bored. Like there’s so much I do like in these books but the pace will just slow too much for me. However, there are definitely enough things going on that I definitely want to continue into the next book!
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