Having heard so many amazing things about Megan Whalen Turner's The Queen's Thief series, I finally snatched up the THE THIEF. After bragging that he "can steal anything," Gen ends up in the King's prisons, only to later be selected by the King's scholar, the magus, to accompany him on a journey to seek out-and steal-and invaluable ancient treasure. 
 I found the beginning of this one a little slow, but the second half made up for it tenfold. Talk about twists and turns and surprises. (Like Jellicoe Road, I would tell hesitant readers to give this one ~100p before quitting.) Gen's voice is blunt and humorous-he's lazy, and yet completely sympathetic, likely because he does have the skills to back up his bragging (and then some). He's also one of my favorite types of narrators: an unreliable one. This fantasy world is rich and evocative-an almost Greek-like setting, but with a unique series of gods/goddesses and their own histories-and the character development is top notch. None of the characters we start out with as a reader are left unchanged by the end. I've heard the second and third installments in this series are where the story really shines, so after a thoroughly enjoyable tale in THE THIEF, I'm pumped to pick up THE QUEEN OF ATTOLIA. 
 Originally posted here.