Monday 4 June 2012

Review: The Spirit Thief - Rachel Aaron


Eli Monpress is talented. He's charming. And he's a thief.

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 for now. He'll just steal something that no one will miss - at least for a while. Like a king.

My thoughts:
Sure it was good and all and I liked it, but I am feeling negative today. It's just one of those days. (edit: well it was one of those days last week or whenever I wrote this. It all goes together with those other reviews:)

I liked Eli, sure he was a bit too, dunno really, he was just a bit too much of something. Maybe it was the obsession with getting a big bounty on this head, now that just feels silly.

Josef I did not get, he was all I shall fight and not lean on my sword that has been given me (long story.) Nice though, their other partner, she has something. Must be the demon she is fighting inside of herself.

After them comes Miranda..*shrugs*. That was everything about her. Ok I am coming to the bottom of things now. I see. I liked the story, Eli is gonna steal a king, people want to catch him, something big is brewing and there is a cool system of magic. Everything, I mean everything has a spirit. But what the book was lacking was a well built world. A world can't stand on magic alone and I did not feel the world around me. Neither do I know if I want to meet these characters again. They did not make a long lasting impact on me. They worked for a book, but more *shrugs again*.

Conclusion:
Still I enjoyed the ride cos it was light and easy to read. That makes a book more than ok for me. I never struggled with anything, I was swept along. But, yeah, there could have been more. Very light fantasy.

B's cover snark:
Wipe that smug look off your face! Yes it just makes me want to slap him

Series: The Legend of Eli Monpress #1
Genre: Fantasy
Pages: 310
Published: 2010 by Orbit
Source; Bookshelf

45 comments:

  1. Lol. The cover model does have an annoyingly smug look on his face! I do like thiefs in fantasy books, but I'm not convinced yet. I'll have to mull it over. :)

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    1. Thieves, oh I love them! :D But this thief, I fear he just did not manage to steal my heart ;)

      And just look at him, wipe it off man!

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  2. Lol, I know, *slaps the guy* I just do not like him one bit. It's not like he could charm me and steal something either. He looks so creepy.

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  3. Sometimes we just want more---there is nothing wrong with that. I mean it is great and all when a book is good but sometimes we just want more when we want more :)

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    1. I just wanted more and like you say, that happens :)

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  4. LOL! I had the exact same reaction to that cover! *tries to control hand of smacking*

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    1. Smack away, he looks like he deserves it

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  5. Mhmmm I'm sorry. Books are like shoes...not every one fits right

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    1. So true :D Even if I always do try to force down my feet

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  6. Sorry it didn't blow your mind away. It's a book I need to read, I heard great things about it. I hope your feelings will improve this the next ones.

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    1. Well..I doubt I will ever read the next one. Maybe if the library gets it, which I doubt :/ Too bad cos the magic system was so cool

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  7. I though it was going to be good when it started off with a talented, charming, thief, but it just doesn't seem worth my time.

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    1. Sometimes books are good, just not good enough

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  8. You do seem to be in a pessimistic mood! I think the series does get stronger - and it is light but sometimes that's what you need! :-)

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    1. I do love light, but fantasy, nope I do not want my fantasy light. Romance yes and most other genres, just not fantasy

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  9. Someone's feeling snarky today..LOL I do have to agree i want to slap him too. Glad to hear it was a good read. Oh, and I finally added your button to my blog roll..sorry it took so long!

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    1. No worries as I do not even have one, trying to de-clutter the blog so I always got to spotlight each week :) ...which i should change cos it has been up for a while ;)

      I totally got my snark on

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  10. But what the book was lacking was a well built world.

    Eeek, your snarkiness, pity. Feel better soon btw!

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    1. I do feel better now :D Damn my hormones drove me crazy last week. i was a wreck

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  11. Sounds like you really didn't have a good day! Oh well, you can't like every book...

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  12. I had really enjoyed the beginning of the book, with the whole talking door scene, but after that I found the story kind of boring and I never ended up finishing it.

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    1. Then you understand me, the book and I did not connect. I read on cos. well there was still something, the magic was cool, I wanted to see what happened, but I still did not care

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  13. Slap! LOL

    I enjoyed this one as well. I think I felt as you did... enjoyed it, was swept along, but didn't fully connect with the characters. I still want to read the rest tho.

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    1. There you did better than I, read more..eh. And then I read reviews that the same theme happens in the next two books. So, already read about that

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  14. As soon as I saw the cover I thought the same thing, he needs a slap for whatever he's done to make him smirk that way...lol.
    The book sounds ok, nothing great though. I do need good world building in these types of books. Thanks for the honest review.

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    1. Fantasy and good worlds is a must for me. In that way it just felt so light. And I like my fantasy epic, rich and all of that

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  15. Sounds like this wasn't the best. Oh well!

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  16. Light fantasy? Geesh, usually any fantasy book I pick up has at least 12 volumes and takes years to get through! :D

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    1. Lol! Well it does have 4 more parts and maybe more to come ;) Still light in the sense of things happening and atmosphere

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  17. You sound very indifferent to the world and the characters so perhaps this isn't the most exciting read.

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  18. hahaha he does have a smug look on his face doesn't he, my hand would be itching to slap too.
    Might give this one a miss I think, I have too many on my wishlist that you've raved about that I'll go to first :)

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    1. Let's just all slap him, he sure looks like he need one :)

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  19. Steal a king? A real life king? Or a chess piece?

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    1. A real life king, a king who will not be happy about being stolen

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  20. Ha ha. Well slap him. :D And thanks for the review. I do still want the books, and that they are light sounds like a good summer read. :D Thank you!

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    1. Go for it :) I am sure you will not wanna slap him

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  21. Yeah, I agree about the cover, too smug. Maybe that was the missing part, the MC's humble attitude. LOL

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    1. He was pretty good at everything when I think of it, kind of like a male mary sue

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  22. Looks like the story telling quality wasn't up tp par...

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