The Spirit Thief by Rachel Aaron - review

*whenever possible, I link to excerpt of novel - simply click on cover*

The Spirit Thief
Rachel Aaron
fantasy
2010 mmpp

*****  (5 out of 6 stars)
cover - mmummmmUMPH!  that eyebrow - amazing eyebrow.  it has a personality all its own.  that nose - that is one good nose, it's not too skinny.  And those lips.  yummy.  you just want to nibble on those lips...(did I just say that out loud?  me?!)  Doesn't the whole thing together just scream wicked?  Oh yeah - wicked fun.  Ironically, this book isn't about that kind of wicked fun.  However, it IS about a wickedly charming man who charms spirits....

The Spirit Thief is a charming, fun fantasy read with some characters that I want to read more about.  Though the series is titled The Legend of Eli Monpress, there are three characters besides Eli that appear throughout The Spirit Thief.   There is, of course, Eli Monpress - self titled the best thief in the land.  He wants to prove this by making his bounty larger and larger.  His stated goal, to become worth a million might not be all there is to this story.  He is traveling with two companions.  Josef is a swordsman who has been chosen by a certain sword that he refuses to use.  There is Nico, who has this ability to disappear and reappear.  There's something about her that frightens the spirits - they aren't simply frightened, they are terrified.  And finally - there is Miranda who belongs to an order (The Spirit Court) that uses and protects spirits, keeping the lands safe from nefarious wizards and other dangers.  Miranda has some strong beliefs about spirits.

In this first of (now) five novels, Eli has decided to raise his bounty by kidnapping a King.  Miranda's order has learned that Eli is in the Mellinor Kingdom and Miranda is sent to arrest him.  Seems it's kind of hard for anyone to detain Eli...  Eli is able to talk and charm the spirits of wood, doors, plants, water, all kinds of spirits.  In this world, every item - living or inanimate has a spirit, some more awake than others.  And Eli has a way with all spirits, they all seem to adore him.  Though his chosen life is as a thief, he does have a strong sense of  respecting all spirits, and never forces the spirits - he talks to them.  All the time; as he's traveling, when he needs something from them, when he just passes by...builds good will.

Miranda, on the other hand, enters into a contract type of co-existence with some spirits, using them as servants in return for protecting them.   She also travels with this huge mist hound - a hound that is as big as a horse with abilities of his own.  While in pursuit of Eli, she stumbles on a plot by the King's sinister brother.  This brother has been exiled from the Mellinor Kingdom  - a kingdom that for four hundred years has banned anything to do with magic, especially wizards.  So when Renaud (sinister bro of the king) began exhibiting wizardly abilities, he was sent away.  Needless to say, he grew up bitter, planned to worm his way back into the kingdom and when an opportunity arose, jumped on the chance to take over the kingdom to begin his plot...

I usually don't go into this much detail on a book review, and hope I stayed away from any spoilers.  However, this novel has been around since 2010 -so any spoilers are already out there.  I enjoyed reading this novel - quite a bit.  The characters were fun to read, the dialogue was fitting, and there were some chuckles to balance out some of the more intense moments.  Not that there were any extremely scary moments, or gore - the moments between wizards were more of a will vs will duel, and even the swordsmen fighting weren't bad - there was blood, to be sure, but nothing that would keep a sensitive person from reading...I think.

In this novel, you have all the parts you need - good dialogue, some chuckles, mysterious pasts, interesting characters (though for some reason, I found Miranda to be irritating - not irritating as in, I do not want to read about her, but in the way of, I'm glad she's not in MY face), and I loved that the spirits -a big part of the world building- weren't just mentioned here and there, but their roles were threaded throughout the book.  I would have loved to find out more about Josef and what makes him tick, Nico - where did they find her?   what made them want to protect her? etc.   In addition, there are endless possibilities of storylines, subplots and side characters just with the idea of the spirits of ALL the items in this world.  The door has a spirit - a wood spirit that is most likely deeply asleep....the water in a river, the sand, metal, even a leather bag - and this Eli seems to understand what these spirits need.  The narration was pretty good, even though I found a few spots where I felt like I was in a classroom listening to teachers talk at each other on the use of magic.  Minor issue, since it wasn't over done, but something that does sometimes pull me out of a story.

When the story ended, I wanted to read more.  This is the type of book that I enjoy enough to buy a sequel to see where the characters are going, or just to enjoy Eli's roguish charm, Josef's intensity and Nico's way of frightening all that surrounds her - all except Josef and Eli.  What is up with her?  you'll have to read The Spirit Thief to find out.  I'll be eventually buying the next story in the series, The Spirit Rebellion.  By the way - the first three books are now available in an omnibus edition - three novels for the price of one book - well, for the price of a trade sized ppb.  

**In fact, there was one moment... correct me if I'm wrong  - but if you injure your left leg in a swordfight - wouldn't you favor your left leg and NOT the right leg?  or would it be the other way around?**

Unseen Academicals by Terry Pratchett - review

Unseen Academicals
Terry Pratchett
fantasy
Discworld novel
2009 h/c


******  6 out of 6 star


Cover - I love this cover - it's just a hint of what's going on.  Only I would have expected a rugby type of ball....or at least the shape.  However, I realize this game is symbol of ALL games everywhere, and therefore, it's totally possible that a basketball like ball is used in a combination football/rugby/soccer type game....hell, it could even be a head being kicked around by an ancient people in a precursor to the game of ..... well,  soccer/  :)

For some odd reason, totally not my usual way of doing things, I bought this book the moment it came out (okay, that's normal with a favorite) and then put off reading it for quite a while....which can be normal for me with a lot of books, but NEVER with a Terry Pratchett book.  In fact, I ended up reading the next book, Snuff, before I finally dug Unseen Academicals back out of the TBR pile.  Of course, once I began reading I was soon pulled into the story....


Reading a Terry Pratchett novel is quite an experience.  The man is clever, brilliant AND on top of that, can write a charming, interesting, humorous novel full of twists, turns, surprises, tidbits and social satire.  He does not shy away from difficult or uncomfortable subjects and yet can write with humor, so while you're laughing, you're still thinking about the injustices of the world.   Somehow, and rightly so, you're left know just how idiotic these injustices are yet even while the novel seethes with trouble makers, the poor, the desparate - by the end of the book you are enjoying the fact that while still imperfect - the characters have had small victories, huge victories, or temporary victories, and even if they don't necessarily get a fairytale happy ending - they get the right ending.


In this case, we're not only reading about sports and how it affects people, but all the other behavours and issues that a popular well attended sporting event can bring up - bigotry, politics, rights of the people, rioting, cheating, loyalties, competition, ....you know, all the craziness that can accompany sports and sporting events and even within sporting families. 


There's this game that's been going on since forever, it gets bigger and bigger, truly mythical proportions, even the spectators seem to be part of the game (like in American football, when they call the crowd the 12th man).  The game seems to be a cross between Rugby, Soccer and Football, and in this early, discworld version the game seems to move from place to place; not because of the day, but because of where the players are throwing the ball.  The game and "12th man" becoming so epic has drawn the attention of Lord Vetinari.  When he becomes interested in something - watch out.


There are some familiar faces in Unseen Academicals - The Unseen University, the wizards within; Ponder, Stibbons, Ridcully, The Librarian, etc.  However, Pratchett introduces new characters to readers: the head of the night kitchen, Glenda, who is a no nonsense type of woman, one everyone depends on and who seems to be middle ages, though she's much younger; Juliet, the beautiful worshipped maid, who is the same age as Glenda, yet seems years younger; Trev, who works for the Unseen University - a young handsome roguish man, big sports enthusiast, and unfortunately a supporter of the wrong team.  Unfortunate, because he's in love with Juliet and her family/neighborhood are for the other team.  There's a bit of a Romeo/Juliet thing going here - just the beginnings....  There is also this whiz of a candle maker - Mr.  Nutt.  In fact, he seems to be an expert on just about everything, and yet there is something slightly sinister and mysterious about him  People seem nervous around him...


There's such a wondrous mix of stories here.  I see a sort of West Side/East Side, Romeo and Juliet, Necessary Roughness, all kinds of stories going on here - and it's all weaved into one master story by this brilliant writer, Terry Pratchett.  As usual, Pratchett uses humor, satire, cleverness, multiple storylines and wonderful dialogue all together to bring his take on things - in this example, sports and love.  If you haven't yet tried a Discworld novel by Terry Pratchett, this is a good one - though he has over 30 novels set in this Discworld, they all stand alone in their own right.  And if you have read them, just haven't yet picked up this one, go get it, you won't be disappointed.

Sir Terry Pratchett has already released one new book, The Long Earth this year, and is releasing another book in September, 2012.  The Long Earth is a mix of Science Fiction and Fantasy - looks very interesting.   Out right now.   




Dodger, coming out in September, is Young Adult, and mixes in some history with fantasy elements - Sweeney Todd, Charles Dickens, promises to be an interesting novel.