Thief’s Gamble by Juliet E. McKennam, a Review
This, you won’t be surprised to discover, is a fantasy novel. Its also “The First Tale of Einarinn” although quite what that means isn’t clear. It might be interconnected stories or it may be a full blown series ala Jordan. Its also the authors first published work so make whatever allowances you feel appropriate.
The main viewpoint character is Livak, a thief. She’s also rather full of herself, very cynical and bitchy. Given that so much of the story is seen through her eyes this can become rather wearing.
The plot itself goes something like this. A new form of magic has been uncovered and the Archmage is a little nervous about its origins. So he sends out some people to gather artifacts from the past. They quickly discover that someone else is also gathering these artifacts, for reasons unknown. When one of the group is kidnapped, finding out who these strange men are and dealing with them becomes the primary goal.
Nice touches to this book are the way that magic works. The basics are outlined clearly, but without making it sound like a rulebook. Wizards are powerful, but not omnipotent. And they seem particularly vulnerable to this new “aetheric” magic.
Also good was the authors willingness to make most of the central characters less than perfect. They argue, sulk and misbhave. It should be noted though that the author clearly doesn’t believe that being nice will make you live longer. You have been warned.
The weakness of this book is more with the structure than anything else. Several chapters are seen from the viewpoint of a particularly snobbish and selfish mage. There is no obvious reason for this. It doesn’t add anything to the plot and the characters he interacts with don’t really connect with the pain story in any significant way.
Similarly a number of characters pop up halfway through the book and suddenly become central to the story. Granted thats how real life works, but it a book it feels very arbitrary.
At the end of one chapter we are dramatically told that a wizard can’t do weather magic on his own and yet the party are facing weather magic. Thre is no follow up on this. It turns out that a single wizard has been doing weather magic, but how is not explained. The characters don’t even think to ask.
This sort of thing is repeated throughout the book and I can’t help feeling that another couple of re-drafts might have resulted in a smoother story.
The conclusion is equally annoying. Despite Livak’s statement that she won’t have anything more to do with Wizards, the numerous unresolved plotlines and of course the cover blurb are screaming SEQUEL.. SEQUEL… SEQUEL at me.
Its not that this is a bad book. The characterisation is good, the dialog works well. Its just a little rough round the edges and besides I get nervous when fantasy series won’t tell you how many books they’re going to take to tell the full story.
Eoghann Irving is amongst other things the creator and Editor of Solar Flare. He has a life long interest in all forms of science fiction and fantasy and a pressing need to share this interest with anyone who will listen. Find out more at his personal website eoghann.com..
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