The King of Attolia (Queen's Thief, #3)

by Megan Whalen Turner

Discover the world of the Queen's Thief New York Times-bestselling author Megan Whalen Turner's entrancing and award-winning Queen's Thief novels bring to life the world of the epics and feature one of the most charismatic and incorrigible characters of fiction, Eugenides the thief. Megan Whalen Turner's Queen's Thief novels are rich with political machinations and intrigue, battles lost and won, dangerous journeys, divine intervention, power, passion, revenge, and deception. Perfect for fans of Leigh Bardugo, Marie Lu, Patrick Rothfuss, and George R. R. Martin. Eugenides, no stranger to desperate circumstances, has gotten himself into difficulties he can't get out of. Used to being treated with a certain measure of wariness, if not respect, he suffers the pranks, insults, and intrigue of the Attolian court with dwindling patience. As usual, nothing is as it appears when he rescues a hot-headed young soldier in the Palace Guard.
The Queen's Thief novels have been praised by writers, critics, reviewers, and fans and have been honored with glowing reviews, "best of" citations, and numerous awards, including the Los Angeles Times Book Prize, a Newbery Honor, the Andre Norton Award shortlist, and the Mythopoeic Fantasy Award. Discover and rediscover the stand-alone companions, The Queen of Attolia, The King of Attolia, A Conspiracy of Kings, and Thick as Thieves, all epic novels set in the world of the Queen's Thief. School Library Journal Best Book Horn Book Fanfare ALA Top 10 Best Book for Young Adults New York Public Library Books for the Teen Age "The Queen's Thief books awe and inspire me. They have the feel of a secret, discovered history of real but forgotten lands. The plot-craft is peerless, the revelations stunning, and the characters flawed, cunning, heartbreaking, exceptional. Megan Whalen Turner's books have a permanent spot on my favorites shelf, with space waiting for more books to come."
-Laini Taylor, New York Times-bestselling author of the Daughter of Smoke and Bone novels and Strange the Dreamer "Unforgettable characters, plot twists that will make your head spin, a world rendered in elegant detail-you will fall in love with every page of these stories. Megan Whalen Turner writes vivid, immersive, heartbreaking fantasy that will leave you desperate to return to Attolia again and again."-Leigh Bardugo, New York Times-bestselling author of the The Grisha Trilogy and Six of Crows "One of the most fascinating and original children's fantasies to appear in years...Rarely does one see a hero as psychologically knowing and irresistibly attractive as Turner's Thief."-The Horn Book (starred review) "A winner."-Kirkus Reviews (starred review) "Eugenides, the former Thief of Eddis, is back and just as clever as ever."-School Library Journal (starred review)

• ISBN10: 0060835796
• ISBN13: 9780060835798
• Publish Date: 12 June 2007 (first published 24 January 2006)
• Publish Status: Active
• Out of Print: 4 April 2017
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Greenwillow Books
• Format: Paperback
• Pages: 432
• Language: English

Reviews

[Annie Jackson]

I thought I would be disappointed that this book was told from a brand new pov, especially when I wanted it to be Gen's pov. Turns out this was exactly the perspective for the reader to have the most fun in seeing (and most importantly discovering) what we needed to about Gen. Very enjoyable after all.

[dokie80]

Getting better and better.

[nitzan_schwarz]

Dec 29, 2018 re-read
Did I just read this in a day while drowning in University essays? Yes, yes I did. Because sometimes, mental health is important, dammit!

March 2017 re-read
This is definitely my favorite novel in the series. It is, to me, the perfect novel. Having just re-read it, I know this is the novel I will re-read again and again from this fantastic series.

I just spend an entire night, until the small hours of the morning, gulping this novel in one sitting, just as I had done the first time. Unable to let it go. When I reached page 320 and saw it was three in the morning, I tried to put it down. But my heart started beating fast and my mind started racing and all I could think about was seeing where things went from there, even though I already knew, so I gave up and returned to reading it. Ridiculous, right? But in the best way possible.

The King of Attolia is the story of an unwanted king, a king who doesn't even want to be king, proving to his court that he is not just a king... he is the king of kings. And he does so by what he does best - manipulation, long-game planning and play pretend.

Because at the heart of thing, Gen does not want to be in the spotlight. He does not want to be known, unless he must. But when he must... he is not a force to be reckoned with. He is a force to be feared and cowered from. A force so strong it could move mountains. And he does all of it not because he wants to be king.. but simply because he wants a woman, and he cannot have her without it.

And how this entire story plays out? Not through Gen's eyes, or anyone who believes him. Oh no... through the eyes of one of his opposes, a squad leader who--same as the entire Queen's Guard, and the court, and the people--considers the king to be a joke. He doesn't walk like a king, he doesn't talk like a king, he doesn't look like a king, and it seems like he doesn't care he doesn't. It's infuriating and humiliating to the queen they love.

Which is why he is the perfect pov to show us the gradual shift. The way Costis slowly changes his mind from hating the king to gradual respect and the eventual realization that he would die for him same as he would his queen, he is the entire court. He is the fruit of all of Gen's efforts. He is the perfect conduit. When the best and brightest of the Queen's Guard starts to talk about the joke king as a King, people take note.

He is also a new and unknown character - a character who has never seen Gen as The fearsome Thief of Eddis, the Thief who stopped a rivaling country from attack just by the fear of assassination. A Thief who is a hero. A Thief who is a master swordsman. A Thief who stole a Magus. A Thief who stole a Queen. All the Attolians see is a young, untrained, uninterested boy. And as long as it suits Gen, that's all they see.

Now, we as the readers, we know this. We KNOW this Gen. So we can only wait with held breath for it all to unfold, for all these stupid, underestimating people to come to realize who they're really dealing with... it's absolutely glorious.

And... THE OTP GAME IS SO STRONG IN THIS ONE. YOWZA.

2014 cleaning my shelves challenge + 2014 series challenge

[ladygrey]

This will likely be a 5 star book on a second or third read. I loved how intricate the characters are and I loved Gen. I love that this is the first book where we really get to see his character played out. I loved the complexity of the political machinations and the beautiful disparity between a king and a queen and all the other people. Eugenides is such a fantastic, absolutely brilliant character - complex and flawed and unbelievably cunning and so engaging to watch. And I liked Attolia so much more in this book also.

There isn't a lot of plot, but there's enough. I only mention that because the manipulation of politics and men reminded me of [b:Dune|234225|Dune (Dune Chronicles, #1)|Frank Herbert|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1434908555l/234225._SY75_.jpg|3634639]. But Dune has more plot. King of Attolia lets you dwell in how these characters are moved. So, I think they are similar books but one uses the characters to fuel a brilliantly complex plot - the other uses the plot to reveal fantastically complex characters.