Buddy Read: The Thief by Megan Whalen Turner

[D.G.]

Vi, Miss and yours truly will be buddy reading The Thief by Megan Whalen Turner. Anybody that's interested, feel free to join us.

When can everybody start? I can start on Tuesday or Wednesday of this week.

[Vi]

I thought it was Miss? Anyway, I would prefer Wednesday as I'll be traveling on Tuesday.

[Miss]

I've started reading it today for bingo, and I like it so far. No spoilers though till everyone starts it, I promise.:)

[D.G.]

I'm going crazy, LOL!

I was going to start it for Bingo too but then picked something else.

[Miss]

Lol, I went with a Heyer book at first but then I saw this thread and switched to The Thief instead.
Really good so far, the author's style is one of those that seems so easy and flowing that you don't really appreciate it. The main character is really distinct and memorable, I love his sense of humor.:)

[D.G.]

Glad to hear it's good, Miss. The book I'm reading is moving right along so I hope to start this one next. :)

[D.G.]

I started it already...around 20 pages in. So far so good but I'm wondering if this is really fantasy (I haven't seen any magic or weird creatures so far.)

[Miss]

I thought it is fantasy any book set in a fantastic world, does it have to have magic? There's some interesting folklore later and magic too. :)
How is it so far?

[D.G.]

A bit boring...the same conversations over and over and we don't know much about The Thief. Why does he feel he has to brag about his deeds? Why is he so good? How exactly does he do it?

And I'm 50 pages in.

So far this doesn't seem to be set in a fantasy world. The food (olives, yogurt) and the description of the statues with lion's heads made me think they were in the Middle East so now I see why people have been shelving it in 'Alternate History' (I'm reading this book for that shelf in another group I belong.)

[Miss]

I thought it was a bit boring too at the beginning, but I really liked Gen's character so I kept at it. Everything will make sense later.
I hope you'll like it by the end.

[D.G.]

The thing is that after reading Locke Lamora, this seems a bit amateurish. But I hope to learn exactly why Gen is so grandiose!

[Miss]

Well of course it doesn't compare to Locke, and it won't but I loved the character's sense of humor and sarcasm. I don't think many fantasy books compare to locke and I don't want them to, it took me quite a long time until I got into that book, and even though I loved it I still haven't gotten around to reading the next in the series. You have to be in the right mood for a complex book like that.:)

[Miss]

Miss wrote: "I thought it was a bit boring too at the beginning, but I really liked Gen's character so I kept at it. Everything will make sense later.
I hope you'll like it by the end."

My feeling from the beginning was that he had tricked everyone into believing he was the best of thieves, but in fact he wasn't all that. So, I didn't expect some big reveal every turn of the page and got to enjoy his adventures.

[D.G.]

When you have books with similar premises, it's difficult not to make comparisons. I don't necessarily want the book to be like Locke or any other but I expect books to be good in their own way. If they're not, then of course they will suffer by comparison with the superior book.

[Miss]

I did find the book very similar in premise to The Lies of Locke Lamora at the beginning but it's nothing like that later so I forgot about it until you mentioned it.:)

[D.G.]

I figured out what was going on as soon as the story of the Earth and the Sky came up so now I'm enjoying it more.

[Vi]

I finished the book yesterday - I found it to be a quick read. I haven't read the Lies of Locke Lamora yet so I couldn't make any comparisons. But I did enjoy the book. I liked the Earth and the Sky stories.

[Miss]

I'm glad to hear that Vi, D.G.
:)