A Conspiracy of Kings (Queen’s Thief, 4)

The Thief The Queen of Attolia The King of Attolia A Conspiracy of Kings Thick as Thieves by Megan Whalen Turner This is one of those series of books that you really ought to read in order. While each book can and does stand alone, this is a tale that unfolds like a flower, one petal at a time, and you owe it to yourself to let yourself enjoy it the way it was meant to be enjoyed. Take Humpty-Dumpty’s advice. Begin at the beginning, go on to the end, then stop — and then wish that there was more to the tale! So: Imagine a land that looks like Greece but isn’t, inhabited by a people with Greek sounding names, who worship gods with Greek sounding names, but who have pocket watches, window glass, and flintlocks. They speak a common language, worship common gods, but have divided themselves into three separate states: Sounis, Eddis and Attolia: The queendom* of Eddis is both protected and trapped within its mountainous geography. It is sandwiched between the kingdom of Sounis on one hand, and the queendom of Attolia on the other. The king of Sounis covets Attolia, Eddis, and especially Eddis’ queen. The Queen of Attolia is struggling to keep her throne and her power against the machinations of the large empire of Mede across the sea to the south. Like the wolf at the door, Mede is hungry to get a foothold on their shores by using intrigue and influence to gain control of all three states, and another powerful empire to the north of them is equally determined not to let this happen. The tale starts with The Thief, whose name is Gen, locked in the palace dungeons of the king of Sounis for being what he is, a thief. It’s a heist tale, suspenseful and exciting; it sets the stage for everything that comes after. By the end of it we have come to understand the where’s and why’s of the story, and have met all the important who’s but one. The second book continues the career of Gen the thief, and introduces us to the last of the key players, The Queen of Attolia, a woman who must walk a tightrope to stay one step ahead of the machinations of the Mede ambassador who already sees himself as Attolia’s next king. When Gen falls into her clutches, she takes something important from him, but he steals something much more important from her. In The King of Attolia, the third book, Attolia gets the king it needs but doesn’t want, and in order for Gen the thief to obtain the one thing he wants most, he also has to take what comes with it — which is the last thing he wants In the fourth book, A Conspiracy of Kings, Sophos, the chief advisor of Sounis’ young apprentice whom we met in The Thief, gets to tell his tale. He is an unwilling hero who has the wit to make the right choices and then somehow find the strength to carry them out. He survives betrayal, slavery, conspiracy, pitched battles and the loss of his mother and sisters. This is the fast-paced, action packed story of how a boy becomes a man, how a man becomes a king, and how the young apprentice Sophos puts the heir of Sounis on his throne. I suspect that Ms. Turner succumbed to the plea that every story teller hopes to hear, “Just one more story! Please!” That “one more story” is Thick as Thieves. In it, the chief slave of the former Mede ambassador to the court of Attolia tells how Attolia’s king enacted his revenge on both master and slave. I was lucky that the first three books were already out when I started The Thief. I only had to wait two days for the second and third books to arrive from Amazon. I read them again when the fourth book came out, and have just finished reading them all again now that the fifth book is out. I know at some point I’ll want to read them all again. Yes, they are that good. By the end of the first chapter of The Thief, the characters had stepped off the page and into the miniseries that was playing in my head as I continued reading. As I said at the start of this, do yourself a favor and read the books in order. Just when you think you know how the tale is going to go, the tale takes an unexpected twist. Things are not what they seem, and people are not who you think they are. Oh, and did I mention the volcano? *Don’t tell me a queendom isn’t a thing. If a country ruled by a king is a kingdom, then a country ruled by a queen is a queendom. Sit down and hush.

I'm going to have to get this out of the way right up front: I was disappointed when I finished this book. It was about 2 am, I was slap-happy, and I kept waiting for Megan Whalen Turner to leave me with my jaw on the floor, as she did in her previous books. Since the last Attolia novel managed to surprise me by making me think I had already been surprised, I guess the next clever trick was to surprise me by not surprising me at all. SURPRISE! So, Attolia addicts be warned: There is no "WOW!" moment in this book. After a few hours sleep and further reflection, I decided not to be disappointed after all. Because this book can stand proud next to any of the other Attolia novels in terms of the quality writing, fast-paced storyline, complex politics, and everything else that has made the Attolia novels some of my favorite reads since I first encountered them a few years ago. Here's what you do have: The pleasure of meeting with Sophos again. Sophos is a great character, although, admittedly, a little pitiful. He's smart, loves to read, and is very introspective. So, of course, he is expected to fight, council and read. He is still very much a boy. A Conspiracy of Kings gives us the chance to watch him become a man, and none of that experience is boring. There are several interesting, distinct phases here, but none of them drag. As usual with an Attolia novel, there is a good constant sense of suspense and mystery. Whalen Turner also continues her tradition of playing with narrative structure. The first part of the novel is told from the first-person perspective of Sophos to an unknown listener... just one of the many fun mysteries for the reader to ponder. Then the we get a chance to delve a little into the minds and motivations of others with a 3rd person semi-omniscient perspective. The narration eventually is given to Sophos again, and concludes in 3rd person. Thankfully, Whalen Turner is skilled at this, so it becomes fascinating rather than confusing. All in all, this is a fine Attolia novel, even if it will never be my favorite. More to the point, it was nice to just relish being in that world again. Recommended for ages 12 and up. Great for all genders.

I am loving this series this summer. Very nicely written with good charactor development, plot lines with unexpected twists, and a refreshing sense of humour . The author's skill in painting a realistic description of scenery, events, and emotions makes me feel I am there with the characters and experiencing what they are experiencing. I look forward to the next one and plan to read it before life gets busy again in the fall

I liked Sophos in the fist book but kinda forgot about him. This book turned him from an annoying presence to a great character

Beautiful book - can't wait for the next in the series. The author has done such a good job of these books (this one being the fourth in the series). Cleverly and well written, fast paced but such attention to detail. And so many things revealed at the end, things you didn't even realise needed revealing.... Much better than many people believe YA fiction to be.

Erneut ändert Megan Turner die Perspektive ihrer „Legenden von Attolia“: In diesem vierten Teil wird die Geschichte von Prinz Sophos, der bereits im ersten Teil aufgetreten ist, geschildert. In den Bänden 2 und 3 wird in Nebensätzen seine Entführung erwähnt, ohne dass man nur die geringste Ahnung über seinen Verbleib gehabt hat. Nun erfährt von diesen Geschehnissen aus Sophos’ eigener Sicht: Der unglückliche Thronfolger, der nie mit dem Erwartungen seines Vaters zurechtgekommen ist, wird von Sklavenhändeln entführt, zur Unkenntlichkeit verprügelt und muss erfahren, dass seine Mutter und seine Schwestern mit der Villa verbrannt worden sind. Mit einem kurzerhand entworfenen Plan entkommt er zwar dem Einfluss der Entführer, nur um sich schließlich als Feldsklave wiederzufinden. Auch wenn er sich überraschend gut unter den anderen Sklaven einlebt, kann er sich dem Erbe Sounis’ doch nicht entziehen, als er von Mordplänen gegen seinen Vater erfährt… Der Charakter von Sophos ist sehr symphatisch und lebensecht dargestellt und die Teile des Buches, die aus seiner Ich-Persektive erfolgen, zeichnet eine eigene Sprache aus, die die Absurdität mancher Situationen erkennt und kommentiert. Sophos’ Unzufriedenheit mit sich selbst steht zudem in Kontrast zu den Stellen, an denen er spontan und entschlossen handelt, politisches Verständnis zeigt und dennoch jugendlich bleibt, was seine lebendige Darstellung verstärkt, ohne in irgendeiner Hinsicht zu übertreiben. Gepaart wird die gelungene Charakterdarstellung mit einer spannenden Handlung, die endlich den Zustand des dritten Landes im Konflikt, Sounis, und seine schwierige Beziehung zu den Medern ins Auge fasst. Dass dadurch Attolia und Eugenides in den Hintergrund rücken, hat mich persönlich eher weniger gestört, da ich nach dem mir etwas auf die Nerven gegangenen Ende von „Der Gebieter“ eh Lust auf die anderen Figuren bekommen habe, aber dennoch spielen die beiden eine wichtige Rolle für die weitere Entwicklung und das Können der Autorin kann auch mit anderen Figuren eine erstklassige Geschichte wiedergeben. Erneut spielt Frau Tuner meisterhaft mit der Erzählstimme, die mal aus der Ich-, mal aus der Er/Sie-Perspektive berichtet und im letzteren Fall gekonnt über die Schulter des einen Charakters blickt – mal nur von außen, mal mit Einblick in seine Gedanken-, um dann montagenhaft für einen kurzen Moment zu einem anderen zu wechseln, wobei sich der Sinn des Wechsels oft erst im Nachhinein ergibt. Diese Anwendung eines allwissenden Erzählers – wie aus dem Olymp - ist gerade deswegen so genial für diese Reihe, da der übernatürliche, schicksalhafte Einfluss der Götter auf die Handlung immer wieder angerissen wird. Insgesamt ist „Die Verschwörung“ ein sehr empfehlenswertes Buch, dass wie die Vorgänger eigenständig gelesen werden kann, und mit einer Vielzahl lebendiger Charaktere sowie selten schöner Sprache und überraschenden Wendungen aufwarten kann. Bleibt nur noch die Frage, ob Frau Turner nur noch einen fünften Akt schreibt oder die Leser noch mehr Teile erwarten können.

Good book!!