SPOIL-FREE SUMMARY
After being imprisoned for stealing the King's of Sounis' seal, Gen is eager to be free again. He eagerly accepts the task of stealing...whatever they want him to. But the task proves dangerous as he and his escorts enter another country named Eddis, where if they are caught, the Queen will behead them.
CAST OF CHARACTERS
Gen, short for Eugenides is a young thief. He doesn't trust anyone and has no problem starting fights. Also, he can be overly confident. We learn from the beginning that his mother died from falling to her death when he was only ten. Gen later reveals his father was a soldier. For the most part, Gen remains a mystery until the end of the story.
Sophos is a young Duke. He is rather meek at first but gradually starts to share details about his life with Gen. Turns out this father doesn't think he is suited to be a duke. He loves learning and books, instead of physical activities like riding and sword fighting.
Pol works for Sopho's father. He is the head of the guards and is rather stern with Gen. Even so, he does help him heal his wounds from prison.
Ambiades is a man who travels and trains Sophos. He is harsh on his sparring partner and rather arrogant. He shares a strong dislike for Gen, who he thinks is a coward. He is protective of his items as it turns out his father lost his title and his wealth.
The Magus is in charge of the quest. He is rather strict and has no love for Gen. Later we learn that all of his family was killed by a plague.
PACING
The story statrs off with Gen being taken out of prison. He gets the vague details and then he and his escorts depart. The best part of the story, with the most suspense, is when Gen has to find the stone necklace in a maze. After that there is a chase scene, and near the end of the story, a second chase scene. Even so, for the most part I wouldn't call it a fast paced story.
MYTHOLOGY
There are four myths that are told in the story. Most are told by the Magus, but Gen tells one as well. The first is a creation myth about how earth created the sun, then the moon, and then the sky.
The second, the birth of the god Eugenides, the god of thieves. Which Gen, himself, tells.
The third, Eugenides and the sky god's thunderbolts.
And lastly, Eugenides and the great fire. Gen tells this story, because the Magus wanted to compare Gen's version to him.
I found them interesting as self contained stories but they didn't really add any dimension to the characters or even the story. I just think the author loved mythology and wanted to write her own.
GEN'S PUNISHMENT
Gen ends up getting accused of taking extra food. In respone he is taken and whipped. Gen is furious at the turn of events and vows revenge. That is probably the first scene where we see him truly feel anger and learn about some of his motivation. His hatred seems to be the only thing pushing him on.
GEN'S DREAMS
Gen has dreams of a woman in white. She tells him not to offend the gods (I guess she isn't one of them?) and to be cautious because many have gone and perished. I guess she is supposed to be evidence that some sort of deities exist and its not all myth. But he has a vision when he finds the amulet and is told to take it.
I am not sure what dimension this added to the story. Gen didn't seem particularly religious but he admits that he isn't sure if he can take it, because of his childhood tales. So perhaps that was a religious conversion?
RELATIONSHIPS
One problem I have with the story is relationships, mainly the story doesn't have any. The only character that Gen actually comes to like is Sophos. I suppose he has a grudging respect for Pol. He despises Ambiades and this never really develops into anything else. Not even respect.
GEOGRAPHY LESSON
When the group nears Eddis, they learn of another country named Atollia. Turns out that Eddis controls the only easy path between Sounis and that country, and they are the wealthiest trading countries. I did find this interesting and appreciated the effort of history being presented.
GEN THE RESCUER
Gen ends up pointing out to the Magus that the area they are on will be destroyed by a river. And if they stay (while he is in the maze looking for the stone) they will be drowned. Unfortunately Gen doesn't come off as truly caring about anyones' lives, not even Sophos. And although I wanted to like him and have some relationship developed, there wasn't much more than temporary respect from the Magus.
THE MAZE-SPOILERS
Gen spends a few nights with only a lamp and has an alotted amount of time each night before he must return, or else he will be lost and trapped. He comes across bones of those who previously attempted to find the stone. Not to mention doors that threaten to close behind him and forever trap him. He even has to face water that threatens to drown him.
There is on particular scene where Gen has a panic attack, thinking that he will forever be trapped inside. It was the most relatable scene in the whole book. So many authors write characters who never get scared, or when they do it's quite rational and it doesn't really overtake the character. Gen actually admits that he was freaking out over nothing. He simply let his emotions get the better of him.
DEATHS-SPOILERS
Gen manages to sneak off when guards from Atollia show up. Eventually he ends up in jail with Sophos. There Sophos reveals that both Pol and Ambiades were killed. We get a flashback scene with them but we don't witness their demise.
Gen actually says he wished he could have killed Ambiades himself. I don't think he deserved that kind of hatred, he was a jerk but that Gen actually felt as though this deserved being killed felt overblown.
If anything it should have softened Ambiades to him, causing regret of the fact that they had gotten on so badly. Some sympathy should have been in order. If not when Gen first learned of Ambiades' past then when he learned of his death.
CLIMAX
Gen meets the Queen of Atollia and shows his usual arrogance and overconfidence. Later, he, Sophos and the Magus manage to escape only to be chased by the guards. In the end they arrive safely in the kingdom of Eddis.
TWIST ENDING-SPOILERS
Gen himself is a prince who created a reputation for himself as a thief and swiped it from Pol. There are some problems with this. Mainly that the story is told by Gen. Yes, he doesn't tell the reader much. He acts as though Pol lost the necklace. He even pretends to search for it, which is fine.
What isn't is fine is when we go into Gen's mind: He's furious because the Magus dismissed him risking his life (he says he can copy the lost amulet) while in fact Gen had been expecting him to react in horror that he had failed at his mission. That's where the anger should have been focused, on Gen's plan at pissing off the Magus and how it failed.
I felt like that was what we would have learned if we had been in his mind. It all felt so clunkily written in an attempt to be clever and withhold information from the reader.
Also, after being whipped, Gen thinks he wants more than to get the amulet and be famous (he's already a famous prince, but I guess he wants to prove himself?). He wants to be given the credit for being a king maker. But he already planned that he would just take it back to his own Queen. So who did he want to make a king, exactly? I was left completely confused.
Not to mention he calls his escorts overeducated. I was left thinking he was annoyed because he wasn't educated, when in reality that being a prince, he knew more than any of them. So did he call them overeducated as sarcasm? Did he think non-royals who are educared think they are so smart that he was actually making fun of them? I couldn't make sense of any of it.
CONCLUSION
Of all the characters, the only when I grew to like was Sophos. I never knew enough about Pol to like him. And while I was sympathetic for Ambiades, his character never develops any relationship with Gen so he was wasted. As for Gen, the only feeling I was felt was sympathy when he was mistreated. Otherwise I only felt indifference. I never understood his motivation and I suspect because I was supposed to be kept at bay so the twist ending could take me by surprise. But it just left me confused.
Perhaps the story would have been better told if Gen wasn't the main character. Or the story wasn't told in first person.
As for the story itself, it wasn't a bad idea. But the lack of relationships and motivations caused the story to become sterile. Some parts are amusing and some are interesting, like the maze. The myths were intersting but they didn't make up for everything else.
I give “The Thief” two stars.
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