Skip to main content

The Queen's Thief Week

My friend Chachic over at Chachic's Book Nook is hosting a week on her blog dedicated to the Queen's Thief series by Megan Whalen Turner. If you go and peruse the My Favorite Things posts I have you will see these books come up quite a bit. It is my favorite series which contains my favorite book which contains my favorite character of all time. I have never written "reviews" for these books because I just don't know how. It is almost impossible to discuss all the whys and wherefores of loving something so much. Which is why Chachic is a genius for coming up with this awesome event where all of us who love these books can share little pieces of their brilliance and what they mean to us individually and this is my small contribution to that. Plot elements in the second book are hinted at here, there was no other way I could write it, but I managed to (mostly) avoid outright spoilers.
The picture used in the poster there for this event comes from the Japanese edition of The Queen of Attolia. I love this cover for oh so many reasons, but mostly because I think it captures the spirit of the book and its titular character the best of all the covers for this, my favorite book.

Much of the love for this series you will see poured out on its main character Gen, the sarcastic lazy vain arrogant brilliant hero we all fell for in the first book, The Thief. I fell for him just as hard as anyone and my love for him knows no bounds to be sure, but he is not my favorite character. Irene Attolia is. And let me say, for those familiar with the series and story, it was not something I had to grown into. It started from when she made her first appearance almost at the end of The Thief. The one and only scene she has in that book is fascinating. The way her presence hovers over the action in the rest of the book despite her physical absence only served to make me more curious about her. Then I read The Queen of Attolia and whoa. When I hit chapter three I literally cringed and not just because I was horrified on Gen's behalf. Even on a first read through I was concerned for her too. About what that action had cost her as a person. This is a credit to the immense talent of the author. Ms. Turner managed to create two characters who are in opposition to each other, yet both are sympathetic.

Why do I like this character so much?  I wrote about it more than a year ago in my favorite female character's post. Here is what I said: I LOVE her.  She is something rare, a female anti-hero. She is not evil.  She is not the antagonist.  She is a woman who has done some truly terrible things for some very good reasons.  And she has done some terrible things for less acceptable reasons.  Nothing about her character is comfortable.  Irene made some hard choices at a young age.  These choices were the best she could make for her people and the security of her throne but they were not good for her personally.  They isolated her and pushed her further and further behind a mask of power, ruthlessness and inaccessibility until that persona gradually started to become all she was.  Irene is brilliant.  She is a master strategist, a fantastic manager, has amazing patience, and a fierce control on her temper (mostly-one person tends to set it off).  She has a wry sense of humor.  She doesn’t enjoy her loneliness.  However, her inability to trust and rely on anyone slowly begins to erode her humanity away.  And she knows this and sees it happening.  This is the one area she is powerless to control though.  She can’t let down her guard while directing a war, managing her fractious barons, manipulating her enemies, and maintaining her country’s independence.  Someone else knows all that and recognizes that she, Irene the person, is worth saving from herself and offers her a lifeline.  The choice to take it is entirely in her hands but it costs her pride.  She makes the sacrifice of that pride with much reservation.  But this doesn’t change the essence of who Irene is.  She is still powerful, brilliant and ironic.  She can still freeze the blood in a man’s veins with a single glance.  She just has someone to help take the edges off her ruthlessness and allow her to be a woman as well as a queen.  ,


The part in bold is why I love the story in The Queen of Attolia so much. For me it is a book largely about the inexplicable nature of forgiveness and the power it has to release and transform. Some might (and do) question how forgiveness can be given to someone who has committed the wrong she has. I love that through her character we see how difficult it is to accept that forgiveness. It isn't simply about admitting you have done wrong. That's the first (and easiest) step. What comes next is so much harder, and Irene's struggles through the last third of Queen demonstrate this beautifully. 

While these are my favorite elements of the series there are so many other reasons why I keep coming for rereads. There is adventure, mystery, myth, complicated relationships of every type, intrigue, politics, war, some amazing fight scenes, and heart stopping moments (of  more than one variety). 


This is only one snap shot of what is a far more complex and engrossing tale which begins in the first book and continues to the fourth. (And will be continued further in the final two volumes of the series that are in the works.) For more of these snap shots check out the posts on Chachic's site: 
Post One:  How I Discovered the Series by Chachic of Chachic's Book Nook 
Post Two: The Thief and Secrets by Sherwood Smith (author of the wonderful Crown Duel and other books)
Post Three: On Sounis (meeting place for the seriously devoted fan) by Checkers (our fearless moderator)
Post Four: Gen as Hero by Melina Marchetta (another favorite author of several books including The Piper's Son)
Post Five: A Gen Acrostic by Holly of Book Harbinger
Post Six: Not Telling by Megan Whalen Turner (the amazing author herself)
Post Seven: Bibliovangelizing the Books by Angie of Angieville
Post Eight: The Queen's Thief, Sarah, and Book Pushing by Sarah Rees Brennan (author of The Demon's Lexicon trilogy and the wonderful lj sarahtales
Post Nine: Why I Adore The Queen's Thief Series by Ana of The Book Smugglers
Post Ten: How I Fell in Love with The Queen's Thief Series (and Why) by R.J. Anderson (another of my favorite authors-seriously this week is killing me-of The Faerie Rebels series and Ultraviolet)
Post Eleven: Looking Together in the Same Direction by Elizabeth Wein (an author whose books I need to read yesterday including The Sunbird)
Post Twelve: The Romance by Chachic of Chachic's Book Nook, the brilliant and awesome hostess of the festivities

Comments

Charlotte said…
That's a great summation of Irene! And I can see why you like her so much, I do, on paper at least. But I think she would scare me in real life...
Chachic said…
It's a love letter to Irene! I love it. I've told you that Gen is my favorite character in the series but that doesn't stop me from loving all the other characters as well. Irene is probably my second favorite, for all the reasons that you mentioned here. She's such a complex character. As much as I love sword-wielding heroines in fantasy, I love that in the Queen's Thief series, women are portrayed as strong characters without warrior-like skills (well, Eddis is probably competent but she's not amazing).

Thank you for putting up this post for Queen's Thief Week! I was trying to think of a way of promoting the series and realized that I could organize a week-long event for it and here we are.
Brandy said…
Yes, she would most definitely be scary in real life. Is it crazy that is part of the reason I like her so much?
Brandy said…
See I prefer heroines like Irene to the sword-wielding ones. If sword-wielding is their only claim to being a "strong female character" that is. Strength of character has nothing to do with butt kicking. That is a physical strength. I like that Irene's strengths are inner strengths. (Probably because so are mine and I could never do any actual butt kicking or sword wielding. And don't really want to.)
Brandy said…
Also Chachic, you are awesome and this was the best idea EVER.
Betsy said…
Great post, friend! I love that Irene and Gen are so completely feminine and masculine, respectively, and it just makes them stronger--neither is having to be "more gender neutral" nor is Irene having to be sword-wielding (as you mentioned above). And their strengths marvelously complement each other, even thought it's not an easy pairing.
Chachic said…
I love the sword-wielding heroine trope if it's done well, so many of my other favorites have characters like those. But I'm a big fan of strength of character as well. LOL one of the reasons why I like heroines who can kick butt is because I can't do it myself.

I know, such an awesome idea, right? I never expected that the authors I invited would say yes to guest posts. Let alone reply in the comments section.
Jade said…
see Brandy and THIS is why we are friends.

Oh and this comment:
See I prefer heroines like Irene to the sword-wielding ones. If sword-wielding is their only claim to being a "strong female character" that is. Strength of character has nothing to do with butt kicking. That is a physical strength. I like that Irene's strengths are inner strengths. (Probably because so are mine and I could never do any actual butt kicking or sword wielding. And don't really want to.)

I just. I mean, I love Gen, and I am fond of him, but Attolia just--she's SO complex and SO vulnerable and SO strong at the same time and she just--everything you said. She just *grabs* me and holds my attention and my sympathy and I love her for all of her faults and her strengths.

basically if I ever publish any book ever you will probably just find me trying to create my own Attolia. Even if it's not intentional! She's just...ingrained in me. Gah. LOVE.
Brandy said…
I love that they are not an easy pairing-what pairing in real life is? It makes it so much more realistic.
Brandy said…
"but Attolia just--she's SO complex and SO vulnerable and SO strong at the same"

YES! And in a world where many of the heroines in books aren't considered interesting unless they a)have supernatural powers b)can't walk down a hallway without tripping over their own feet or c)emotional basket cases, she is a wonderful breath of fresh air.

Popular posts from this blog

Favorite Kissing Scenes

When thinking of a favorite things post I could do for February I decided it would have to be kissing. I've already done couples and I was feeling in the mood to do something fluffy and Valentine's related. So kisses it is. I read more MG than YA, and the YA I read tends to not focus on romance so this was actually harder than I expected it to be though a few jumped into my head right away. (And one of my choices does actually come from a MG book. One is adult. Gasp!) The actual scene from the book is quoted followed by my thoughts. The king lifted a hand to her cheek and kissed her. It was not a kiss between strangers, not even a kiss between a bride and a groom. It was a kiss between a man and his wife, and when it was over, the king closed his eyes and rested his forehead against the hollow of the queen's shoulder, like a man seeking respite, like a man reaching home at the end of the day . - The King of Attolia by Megan Whalen Turner Turner doesn't write the

TTT: Most Recent Additions to My TBR List

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly themed blog hop created by  The Broke and the Bookish  and now hosted at  That Artsy Reader Girl . This Week's Topic: Most Recent Additions to My TBR List From Most Recent to Least: What books have recently caught your eye?

This Side of Home

What attracted me to This Side of Home by Renee Watson was the cover. The story hooked my interest. The characters made me fall in love. Maya has lived her entire life in the same neighborhood in Portland hanging out with the same group of friends: her twin sister Nikki, their best friend Essence, and Ronnie, Malachi, and Devin-three boys her father mentors. They have plans for the future that involve each other: prom, college, life. But things in their neighborhood are changing. People are moving in and starting new businesses. Property values are going up as a result. In addition to change, this is also causing trouble. Essence has to move out of her  house when the owner decides he can make more money selling it than renting it. The racial demographics of the school, which has been mostly African American, is shifting. This presents new challenges and choices for Maya and her friends. It brings new people into their lives at the same time. Maya has to figure out how-and if-she wa

Serafina and the Black Cloak

Serafina and the Black Cloak  by Robert Beatty is a thrilling tale of mystery and adventure set at the Biltmore Estate in Asheville, NC in 1899. Having lived in Asheville and visited the house several times, there was no way I was going to pass up a chance to read this. (Also it's MG fantasy, always a bonus for me.) Serafina lives in secret in the basement of the Vanderbilt's spacious vacation home. She has lived there most of her life. Her father worked on the house as it was being built and is the mechanic who runs the massive generator and keeps the electricity going. Serafina is the chief rat catcher, slipping through the halls of her massive home secretly and quietly. She is light on her feet, sees well in the dark, and is quick enough to catch the vermin and keep them out. Serafina knows she if different and strange. Her father insists she stay hidden. But all that changes when one night Serafina witnesses a horrible crime. A little girl, a guest in the house, is fleein

Shorter Musings MG Fantasy

Here are some shorter musings on recent MG fantasy reads. Anya and the Dragon   by Sofiya Pasternack This book is fun. It is a book full of adventure, an obvious bad guy, some more complicated morally gray area characters, and a strong, brave heroine. It is also a book about friendships, community, and fighting for what is right. All things that usually work for me really well. While I enjoyed this, I did feel it was a little overlong and there were certain plot points at the end I didn't love. However, there were things I thought were done really well, such as Anya's Jewish faith and the idea that power needs to be challenged. In the end it was a middle of the road read for me, but it is one I will certainly be recommending to dragon and fantasy adventure lovers I know! R is for Rebel   by J. Anderson Coats This is tough because I usually really like Coats's books. I had such a hard time with this one though on so many levels. It's difficult to get into because t