Thief's Covenant (Widdershins Adventures, #1)

by Ari Marmell

Filled with excitement and adventure, this is an engaging fantasy novel for young adults. Once she was Adrienne Satti. An orphan, she had somehow escaped destitution and climbed to the ranks of Davillon's aristocracy in a rags-to-riches story straight from an ancient fairy tale. Until one night a conspiracy of forces - human and other - stole it all away in a mist of blood and murder. Today she is Widdershins, a thief making her way through Davillon's underbelly with a sharp blade, a sharper wit, and the mystical aid of Olgun, a foreign god with no other worshippers but Widdershins herself. It's not a great life, certainly nothing compared to the one she once had...but it's hers. But now, in the midst of Davillon's political turmoil, an array of forces is rising up against her, prepared to tear down all that she's built. The City Guard wants her in prison. Members of her own Guild want her dead. And something dark and ancient is reaching out for her. Widdershins and Olgun are going to find answers, and justice, for what happened to her - but only if those who almost destroyed her in those years gone by don't finish the job first.

• ISBN10: 1616145471
• ISBN13: 9781616145477
• Publish Date: 21 February 2012 (first published 1 January 2012)
• Publish Status: Out of Stock
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Prometheus Books
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 240
• Language: English

Reviews

[Angie]

Thief’s Covenant sounded like a fun and exciting adventure novel, and for the most part it was. Unfortunately, I found myself extremely confused and not very into it in the beginning. It’s not so much that the storyline was confusing, but the way it was written. The prologue starts out two years prior to the main story, and it was fantastic. It’s strange and disturbing, but it definitely hooked me. But then it jumps to eight years prior, then to the present, and then back to six years ago, and so on. The story continues to flip-flop between now and then and it was quite jarring. It was difficult to settle into Widdershins’ tale, since I was constantly being thrown into various times in her life. It wasn’t until nearly the end when anything made much sense and I found myself really enjoying it.

Widdershins aka Madeliene aka Adrienne is an orphan turned thief turned aristocrat turned thief again, and Thief’s Covenant follows her through all of these changes, although not in chronological order. Widdershins has had a tough life and now someone is out to kill her. Is it the Founder’s Guild because she owes them some money? Is it the Guards after several failed arrests? Or is it someone else entirely? She spends a lot of time running and hiding and having her loved ones injured and she’s sick of it. Widdershins is a tough chick and she’s not going to cower in the shadows while this person is out to get her. I really liked Widdershins. She’s kick ass without being over the top. She doesn’t win every fight, but she’s good and she knows it. She’s also fiercely loyal to those she cares for, something I always admire in a heroine.

The main thing that kept me from enjoying Thief’s Covenant more was the writing style and format. The writing is very wordy and there are some extremely awkwardly phrased sentences. I don’t even know how many times I had to reread the same passage multiple times just to figure out what it said. As for the format, I ordinarily love alternating time periods, when they make sense. In this case it jumped all over the place, from two years ago, to six, to four, to eight, and back again. I would have liked the story much more if it had been told mostly in order, with maybe a few flashbacks. As it was, I found myself extremely confused as to how Widdershins had gotten herself into this mess and what the heck was going on. I also needed to know more about her connection to the god, Olgun, which didn’t come until almost the end. However, as soon as we got that information I was very interested in the story and really liking it.

I absolutely loved the authors take on gods in Thief’s Covenant. In this world there are over a hundred patron gods that watch over the aristocracy and are probably responsible for much of their wealth and good fortune. Olgun was a lost god, rediscovered and now Widdershins is his last follower, so they have a special bond. A lot is revealed closer to the end, so I can’t say more without spoiling some of the plot twists. However, as much as I loved the gods, I didn’t like the rest of the world building. It felt too much like France in the 1700s rather than a fantasy world. Sure a lot of fantasy is based on old Europe, but this was too similar. There wasn’t much that made it stand out other than the people worshiping many different gods.

After a rough start, I ended up quite enjoying Thief’s Covenant. I just wish it had been presented in a less confusing way. The time jumps were also combined with several character shifts–some of whom had multiple names or titles–which made it hard to settle into. Widdershins and Olgun made a wonderful team, and I enjoyed seeing them in action. The story is also quite violet and gory, even disturbing at times as demons play a role alongside the gods. Overall, I did like it and think it’s worth a shot.

Read more of my reviews at Pinkindle Reads & Reviews.