Look. I know I gave it two stars. I know.
But I think this damn thing has potential! Reminds me of an extended version of the early part (Kylar's childhood) in (SORT OF, please don't rain your fury down on me) of Way of The Shadows by Brent Weeks. Emphasis on the early part though.

It does get a bit boring. I definitely wanted Berren to be more kickass, I wanted Syannis to be more... restrained? Masterly? Flawless? I dunno, better I suppose. The nicknames (for eg. Master Sy) did get on my nerve More...

Set in the same universe as the author's Dragon novels but in a land far away and connected with the previous books only by the mysterious traders appearing in both, this novel is a series beginning which ostensibly features a young orphan and his mentor an exiled prince moonlighting as an "official" private eye or "unofficial" cop - thief-taker - in the local jargon. But there are hints of much more, so who knows where the series will go.

Almost to the end i enjoyed this novel as much as the aut More...

The Thief-Taker’s Apprentice is a tale of bounty-hunters and thieves set in a historic fantasy world. It’s not your fantastical creatures or special power type of fantasy, more an alternate world with temples, priests and the occasional witch doctor.


Berren is a teenage dung-sweeper and pickpocket. He is one of Hatchet’s boys and lives a miserable life in Shipwrights by the docks. He shares a rotten floor with a lot of other unwashed boys, eats scraps of stale bread and basically stinks of fish a More...

At the beheading Berren ,a thief, get's his first sight of the thief taker, a man who catches thieves and sends them to work at mines. Berren sees the thief taker get a sack full of money for bringing in the thief and decides to follow him. He follows him into an alley way where the thief taker confronts Berren for following him, but a mugger steps out and intervenes and in the confusion Berren is able to steal the thief takers purse and make a run for it. When he is finally a far way away he op More...

My thoughts:

I don't know if I would have know this was YA if I hadn't read it somewhere, and because of that it works just as well for a young reader as for an adult reader.


The main character is a thief named Berren, he is somewhere between 12 and 15, an orphan and a tough young boy that has seen the city at its worst. I did like him, one have to, he steals to survive and he is smart enough to realize (after a while) that being an apprentice to a thief-taker could get him out of his old life. Bu More...

The Thief-Taker's Apprentice is Stephen Deas' first YA novel. It's is set in the same world as his A Memory of Flames trilogy and is the first in a trilogy of its own. The book, as mentioned, is YA, but Master Syannis, the titular thief-taker, offers adults a great connection and a way into the novel. The story never gets boring or too telegraphed and while the writing and length of the chapters are bite-size, Deas doesn't talk down to his younger readers.

I really liked the protagonist Berren. I More...

I picked up this one after having loved Deas' A Memory of Flames series and it's been on my shelf for some time now. At a short 282 pages it was a nice quick read.

As a YA read I would give this 5 stars. For my personal tastes it was a little too shallow and simplified, but I'm definitely not complaining as this was definitely the aim of the novel - something I think many people tend to forget when reviewing (but the reasoning for my 4 star decision).

Great traditional fantasy; medieval setting, t More...

The Thief-Taker's Apprentice is a dark novel starring an ex-thief in a medieval style world that is frighteningly realistic. I'm going to say up front that if you aren't alright with the realities of public executions, bloody sword fights and back alley beatings, this isn't the book for you. If that sound's like it's up your alley, carry on.

In some ways, this book goes with a lot of the ordinary tropes; there's an orphan boy that's more than what he seems; the dour assassin(thief-taker in this c More...

Having read Deas' other books ('The Adamantine Palace' and 'The King of the Crags') quite recently, I was pleased to pick this one up in my local charity shop.

There's a tiny bit of crossover between the world of 'The Thief-Taker's Apprentice' and those others, but not sufficient that it can't be read regardless - the basic premise is that it's the story of Berren, who is a thief and a pretty good one, ekeing out a living in a city where theft can often be punished by execution. Watching one part More...

A good, short, entertaining read. The apprenticeship part of the story works very well, and is quite interesting enough in its own right. But the main mcguffin plot about finding the pirates seems a bit thin, and almost tacked on. The world-building is nicely done in small accretions, without any huge info-dumps. The main characters are well drawn. Only the token female remains a closed book, but I'm going to generously hope that she comes into her own more in subsequent books, which I will be r More...

Awwwwww. I LIKE coming-of-age stories. And this is a cute one. It has all the ingredients you'd expect: young boy plucked out of obscurity to learn the secret trade, deals with his past, struggles a bit to adapt to the present, succeeds, then happily accepts his future. The plot drags a little big in places but the world-building is fantastic. A great opening chapter - I'm looking forward to the next one. And I can't WAIT to see how it ties in with the Dragon books.

Simply, I enjoyed this book.

It wasn't a blow me down spectacular book, but for what it was it was fantastic; a great start to a hopefully great fantasy series.

I would like to write more, but I read this over two weeks ago and have read four books since so any recollection I have is bare and not worthy or writing.

However, I will say that if you enjoy fantasy then this is a great book to read.

Have fun reading.

Its nice to be able to read some grown up fantasy novels of late, George R R Martin led the way and then stuck his gnarled old mans big middle finger up at his legion of devout followers and into the void amongst a couple of select others picking up the slack for an engrossing read. Goodbye George no more of my money will you receive. but Deas Abercrombie Hulick all have new avid fan.
Sin

Solid first novel in a brand new fantasy series. A young thief called Berren is caught by the infamous thief-taker, Master Sy, but instead of being punished, becomes his apprentice and enters a world of crime in a medieval city. The book is very readable and the main characters are vivid and don't leave the reader uncaring. The book lacks magic and strong villain to become a match for classics like "Ill Met in Lankhmar" or "Hawk & Fisher", but is still a quick and satisfying read. The sequel More...

Solid, unpretentious YA fantasy that doesn't try to outreach itself. Cheats slightly by leaving the majority POV on a couple of occasions without adequate set up, but can be forgiven through the sheer readability of the work. Engaging, likeable, and with enough of the exotic side of the standard 2nd world medieval city setting to keep the reader galloping along until the end.

A decent read with a Cup-A-Soup in bed on a sick day! (part 3)


EDIT: I've looked at the other reviews, now, and gone, "YA?? THAT MAKES SENSE!" Because even though it was a teensy bit formulaic, it was fun, and if I could send it back to my YA self, who only wanted to read different versions of "Magician" and "Sorcere's Apprentice" for about 5 years straight, I totally would, and she would be gushingly grateful.

For YA it wasn't bad. I've read worse. I wouldn't say it was good either, for it was lacking many things. I actually wanted to read the second one to see if the plot and characters would turn out better.

Still the book has a lot of potential, but does fall a bit flat when compared all the adult thief-books out there.

Not bad but not great. It was so slow I had to force myself to read it. But once things got started it wasn't so bad. I like the fact that Berren wasn't led around by his hormones. He liked this girl but he had his priorities - be dangerous, learn swords. I'm pretty sure they will end up together in a later book, if this is a series. But for the moment the boy has his head on straight-ish. There were too many unanswered questions in the end though. I wasn't satisfied. But for a book I struggled More...

Sometimes things become a rage, a name, a plot, a character type. remember the vampire rage. In this case, the name of the book. Another apprentice series.
Very average plots, poorly fleshed out characters plague this book.

Very small as these books go, it can be finished in a day.

This was a brilliant read within a few chapters i was wandering the streest of Deephaven, seeing the sight and smells of the place. The story was discriptive and engaging, the charaters are skillfully brought to life. the book isn't due for publishing until September/October but I am already eagerly awaiting the next enstallment

The first few chapters really pulled me in because I really wanted to find out more about The Thief Taker, about Berren and generally about his world. But...as the novel progresses, it started loosing its "pull" factor. Then...perhaps leaning towards the end (say chapter 35 onwards) things started getting a bit more interesting again especially the fight off with the shipwright boys.
Overall...beautiful description, made me felt like I was actually experiencing all the sights, smells and feelings More...

I couldnt put this down , totally my cup of tea, i love the idea of such a sprawling city i want to go and explore it myself,What a wonderful story ! Poor boy to be dragged into such a world, but what an adventure.

A well written and quite blood thirsty tale set in a detailed and incredibly believable world. It has a good pace and creates a dark and seedy atmosphere full of mystery and mayhem.I enjoyed it.

Just not my cup o tea, was given it by friend of my daughter's in a trio of books she couldn't return to a book club. Lost interest after a few chapters.

Only read sample so far. Like the writing; not standout original but will likely buy and see (author new to me)

This was a pretty good book. it wasn't amazing but it certinaly cut through the boredom. The large amount of killing surprised me, but I guess that it could have been like that a long time ago.

This was quite dull - I felt like it was somebody telling me about their weekend. It never got going.

An enjoyable read.

A different take - being the Thief-Taker (or Catcher) instead of the thief. I liked the story. Berren is a mostly likeable character, but he gets himself in a couple of messes because he didn't listen to his master. The master thief-taker, Syanis, has an air of mystery about him. It seems like this is just an introduction to the characters and the city. I'm not sure, but this feels like the opener to a series. I would read another book about Berren and the Thief-Taker if it's available.