NOTE: The King of Attolia is the third book in The Queen's Thief series. My review contains SPOILERS for the first two. If you haven't read The Thief or The Queen of Attolia yet, you should probably not read below. See my spoiler free thoughts on those books HERE. I have a confession. I was really worried about Eugenides' choice of brides when I finished The Queen of Attolia. Don't get me wrong, I love unconventional relationships. I am especially amazed when an author has the ability to make me like a character that I had previously despised. But by the end of The Queen of Attolia, we had seen very little interaction between Gen and Irene, and every second of it was strained. Not only was it impossible for me to get a sense of how they would work as a couple, but I'll admit that I was still angry at her for hurting Gen over and over again. I know you can't always choose who you love, but I thought Gen made a particularly poor match in the queen. However, that's also one of my favorite things about Eugenides' character, the fact that people are constantly underestimating him and questioning his decisions. He proves them wrong every time. You win again, Eugenides.The King of Attolia is told in rotating third person limited perspective. This time, instead of focusing on Gen's thoughts, most of the book is told to us by a palace guard named Costis. At first I was put out by this choice. I wanted to be in Eugenides' head, and find out from him how he was handling his new role as king. But the more I read, the more I believed that the book was stronger because of the way it was written. As king Eugenides is in a very public role. How his subjects see him is essential to his reign. As a reader invested in this series, I know that Gen is always up to something. But the people of Attolia don’t know that, and through Costis we are able to see what they think about their new ruler. I also had many of the same questions that Costis wonders about Eugenides and Irene's relationship. Do they really love each other? Is Irene still intimidating Gen? Is Eugenides going to step up to his role as king? Getting the answers to these questions by watching Gen through Costis' eyes made the the answers more meaningful, because I could see how the new king affected those around him.Eugenides and Irene are still an unconventional couple and very different from each other, but as this book progressed I was able to see the strength of their bond, and how powerful they are together. I especially I loved the few peeks we got into their private world. That isn’t to say their relationship (or either of them) is perfect. Irene comes across as cold and abrasive at times, and it's clear she's still struggling with guilt over what she did to Gen in the previous book. Eugenides on the other hand, appears uncomfortable with his role as king and continues to get on everybody's nerves. “He whines, and complains, he ducks out of the most obvious responsibility. He is vain, petty, and maddening, but he doesn’t ever quit.” As The Queen's Thief series continues, I love thinking about how we first saw Gen in The Thief and compare that to who he has become now. He is still so much the same person but has grown tremendously. Eugenides is never to be underestimated and truly is a force to be reckoned with.After four books, I've become amazed at Megan Whalen Turner's abilities as a writer. The care and life she's breathed into Eugenides' world is visible on every page. She excels at using small, subtle moments to tell her readers important information, and has a brilliant mind for political strategy and intrigue. Often things are not what they seem, and everyone is somewhat sympathetic if you view the world from their perspective. That alone brings a complexity to this series that I rarely see.I love The Queen's Thief series so much, and The King of Attolia is the best book yet. Do yourself a favor and pick it up now. Love Triangle Factor: NoneCliffhanger Scale: LowFind this and other reviews on my blog Love is not a triangle
Buddy Read with some series fanatics at Buddies Books & Baubles This series isn’t your typical sort of fantasy. Most of the book is more intellectual than actionable in that I spent most of the time trying to figure out the subtle interactions between Eugenides and the Queen of Attolia.After a few books shown from the PoVs of Eudenidies and The Queens it was interesting that most of this book was shown from the perspective of Costis a member of the Attolian guard. At first I didn’t really understand what the author was doing, but then it made perfect sense. It was a much more interesting story to see how everyone else in Attolia perceived Gen and try to figure out what he was really up to. If we got the story from his perspective then the mystery of it wouldn’t have been half as entertaining. I almost feel bad for Costis caught in whatever game Gen is playing. “Don’t hang Teleus. But I don’t see how you can hang Costis if you won’t hang his superior officer.” The queen turned back to face him. “I could hang you,” she said. Eugenides looked up at her. “You missed your chance for that,” he said. The queen lifted a hand to briefly cover her eyes. “It is remarkable how you cloud my otherwise clear vision,” she said. “What is it you propose?” “I propose that you let me trade him to Teleus. His life in return for Teleus’s good behavior.”AND LET THE GAMES BEGIN…..The people of Attolia have made sure that Gen does not feel the least bit welcome in their country. Most of the time they like to refer to him as a jumped-up barbarian goatfoot and play little vengeful tricks on him in order to chip away at his resolve and respect. It was so weird to see what they thought of him since we know how deadly he truly is. The gods above knew that the king could be laid out by a toddler with a toasting fork. What hope had he against an assassin, trained as a sword is sharpened, honed to one purpose, to murder?I really enjoyed trying to figure out myself what game he was playing and why he was pretending to be so much less than he was. While I was certain there was something up I struggled to put the clues together. Everyone thought that they were getting the best of Eugenides, when he was really maneuvering them to move to the steps of the dance he set in motion. We get little glimpses of Gen and the Queen together and it made it all the more special to also see those through Costis’s eyes. There aren’t a lot of them as this is not a romance per say but the moments we get really are pretty beautiful and spectacular because there aren’t a lot of them. “Tell me you won’t cut out my lying tongue, tell me you won’t blind me, you won’t drive red-hot wires into my ears.” After one moment of gripped immobility, the queen bent to kiss the king lightly on one closed eyelid, then on the other. She said, “I love your eyes.” She kissed him on either cheek, near the small lobe of his ear. “I love your ears, and I love”—she paused as she kissed him gently on the lips—“every single one of your ridiculous lies.”There are a few moments of action in the book. But for the most part it is a political maneuvering conspiracy and most of the fun was in the revelation of clues and the big reveal of why Eugenides would put up with so much for so long. There was a great sword fight towards the end and I enjoyed the reason behind it and why it finally happened. It was great to see Gen finally figure out his place in Attolia and claim it in true Thief fashion.
What do You think about The King Of Attolia (2006)?
This is my favorite book in one of my favorite fantasy series. It starts out a little bit slow, although it's fun watching for all the clues in the text that I missed the first time I read it. But the second half of this book: it is completely made of awesome. I love every single page of it.Full review to come, after it's posted on www.fantasyliterature.com.July 2015 reread with the Buddies Books and Baubles group.Prior review:This book is just so brilliant and well plotted. I've noticed that of all the books on my "Favorites" list, this one has the highest overall average rating, and it's for a very good reason. I can't think of anyone I know who wouldn't enjoy this book and its plot twists.Presumably if you're reading this review you've already read (or are thinking of reading) the first book in the series, The Thief, which is also a wonderful book, though I found it a little slower than this one. You really do need to read The Thief and The Queen of Attolia to understand and appreciate The King of Attolia, though. Personally I didn't like the 2nd book in the series (or the 4th, for that matter) nearly as well as the 1st and 3rd, but they're all worthy books. So go plow through the 2nd book, if only so you can get to this 3rd one in the series. It should not be missed.
—Tadiana ✩ Night Owl☽
Okay, this book. It snuck up on me with all its cleverness and wit and romance while I wasn't paying attention, and suddenly I’m having a full-body moment of squee flail, like you do. Which would have been fine if I hadn’t been moving very fast on a treadmill at the time. Things got a bit hairy for a second there.This book is like – and I’m just going to say ‘no really’ preemptively here – this book is kind of like Dorothy Dunnett’s Lymond Chronicles if they were little young adult fantasies. No really! It’s the quality of ruthlessness to self that they prize in their hero, who will use his history, his known character flaws, his disability in service to his political ends. They’re not particularly alike in any other respect, but there’s some fundamental accord there.Anyway. I think the best word for this book is indulgent. But in the good way where you’re grinning the whole time, and maybe wriggling a bit, and it’s not actually so much about suspending disbelief anymore as meeting the books halfway because this you will indulge. This pushed my buttons so hard with its outsider POV on a beloved character, and its story of personal reconciliation to political power (I, uh, have a thing for that as I’m sure absolutely no one has noticed *cough*), and its continuing attention to the aftermath of violence.Ah.
—Lightreads
Clever and Cunning, The Thief is King No one said marriage is easy. The one between Eugenides, the spy/thief of Eddis and his sworn enemy the queen of Attolia seemed doomed from the start, a marriage of political convenience, imposed on Attolia by their rival kingdom. For how could the thief possibly love the queen responsible for the loss of his hand? But Eugenides is anything but predictable and has married the queen for love, even if by doing so he must leave his beloved Eddis behind.As the third book in this excellent series starts, Eugenides is stranded in the Attolian palace. Ridiculed by the Attolian courtesans, despised by the Queen guards and his own attendants, he endures their daily pranks, pretending to be a guileless idiot while weaving a web of intrigue to gain his queen’s heart and bring his enemies to their knees. If only he lives long enough.Cleverly plotted and beautiful written, the story moves at a fast pace to a satisfying conclusion that answers many questions while posing new ones, Is the Queen pregnant as her fainting may suggest?Where is Sophos, the heir of Sounis? Would he marry the Queen of Eddis?Would the political situation in a not distant future set Eugenides against his cousin, the queen of Eddis?The only thing I know for sure is that I’m impatiently waiting for the King’s return.
—Carmen
