Thursday, December 2, 2010

The Spirit Thief by Rachel Aaron

The Spirit Thief (The Legend of Eli Monpress)From Goodreads:
But not just any thief. He’s the greatest thief of the age — and he’s also a wizard. And with the help of his partners — a swordsman with the most powerful magic sword in the world but no magical ability of his own, and a demonseed who can step through shadows and punch through walls — he’s going to put his plan into effect.
The first step is to increase the size of the bounty on his head, so he’ll need to steal some big things. But he’ll start small. He’ll just steal something that no one will miss — at least for a while.
Something like a king.
You may have noticed that I had this book up for a while. Believe me when I tell you, that it is not a hard nor a long read. It was my fault not the book at all. I haven't been feeling well and I could only read a chapter or two at a time. I finally felt better yesterday and I went through the book at lightening speed. It really is a fast paced and good read. 


The cover is perfect for the thief. I think that sly smile describes Eli well. And although he is the main character of the story, I found myself more interested in those around him. Especially the wizard Miranda and her ghosthound, Gin. I also found the relationship between Miranda and Eli interesting. They were like polar opposites in terms of morality. Eli was much more in tune with how nature might view human morality and responsibility and Miranda was his "opposite" in her almost evangelical view of right and wrong. Although this did not create as much tension as I would have liked, it still provided a interesting axis to view the characters. 


Later on we find out a little more about Josef his swordsman and Nico a girl with a dangerous demon-seed. Even though they are really secondary characters, I found them interesting and wanted a book about them. I wanted to know more. 


In a world where everything has a spirit and wizards have the ability to command and communicate with these spirits, I found this book captivating. Even though I did not find myself liking the main character of Eli in this book, I have a feeling that will change as we begin to learn more about him. After all, we really only get to see a tip of the ice burg of what he is capable of and his arrogance. I suspect more of his softer and sweet side will come out further in this trilogy. 
The Spirit Rebellion (The Legend of Eli Monpress)

I give this fantasy book 4 stars and can't wait to read the next in the series, The Spirit Rebellion.


I received this signed book from the author and no compensation for my review was given.

11 comments:

  1. The thief looks hella creepy on the cover haha I love your review, and I'm glad you enjoyed it :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. I'm desperate for a copy of this book - it's on my christmas list and I'm hoping santa will be generous! Thanks for the review! :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. ohhh way cool :D I saw this one on the orbit blog and have been curious about it ever since. great review

    ReplyDelete
  4. I have to agree with Melissa (commenter Melissa), there's something about that arched eyebrow on the cover that's a little disconcerting and a lot creepy! I love when secondary characters are really well developed and you find yourself wishing they were main characters, that's a huge plus in the positive column for this book:) Great review Melissa!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Melissa! I really hope you are feeling better. If not, let me know and I'll cook you up some tortilla soup. :D

    hmmm... I don't think this book would be for me. It sounds interesting enough but I need to like my main character especially if I'm gonna read fantasy if not, I'll get bored.

    The cover is great though.

    ReplyDelete
  6. This is the first I hear of this book - it sounds like a good read!

    Glad you're feeling better. :)

    ReplyDelete
  7. I'm sorry you haven't been feeling well, Melissa.

    I like the worldbuilding here, but I confess that the second one looks to be more interesting than the first, because it looks like the protagonist will be a gurl.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Thanks for the well wishes. I may take up Missie on the tortilla soup... *cough* ;) heehee

    Even though this was an Eli book the other characters seemed to be more in the front, so in a way Miranda was more a part of the book than Eli in this one. @Stephanie, you might like that. :) @Missie, it wasn't that I hated him, but it wasn't quite there for me. You can see his huge potential, however.

    ReplyDelete
  9. You're right about the cover. His sly smile is so intriguing. It makes you want to pick up the book so see what he's thinking.

    ReplyDelete
  10. sounds like a great read! great review =D

    I know what you mean, sometimes it can be the best book ever, but you cant seem to go through more than a few pages at a time =D

    ReplyDelete
  11. Ohhh,

    Wait. Look. She dropped a book on the floor when she left. Oh, that wasn't on my shelf. But it has my name in it! Ooo, this much have fallen out of Melissa's purse when she was taking my books. ;P

    I've had this one on my list to get, I just can't seem to get caught up to go get it. But sounds like a great read! Thanks for the review!

    ReplyDelete

Thanks for commenting! I ❤ comments!