#queen's thief

[irrel]

"Please," he whispered. His voice was low but clear. "Don't hurt me anymore." Attolia recoiled. Once, as a child, she'd thrown her slipper in a rage and had knocked an amphora of oil from its pedestal. The amphora had been a favorite of hers. It had smashed, and the scent of the hair oil inside had lingered for days. She remembered the scent still, though she didn't know what in the stinking cell had brought it to mind.

Fanart inspired by The Queen of Attolia by Megan Whalen Turner

[bonaesperanza]

Doing a Queen's Thief reread and I gotta say I always love how obvious it is, in retrospective, that Gen is an educated upper class person.

He opens the narrative with nuanced thoughts about politics and an extensive overview of a building's history and how it ties into a country's broader history and you're supposed to go, "Yup, that's an illiterate street urchin there".

It's also fun that, on a meta level, it really plays up to your genre expectations: many a mediocre fantasy book does have its barely literate farmboy infodumping about the setting in a highly OOC way because the author is desperate for a way to convey that information.

[ineedlelittlespace]

I'm not saying it means anything, but I am saying that everyone I've spoken to that likes one of these things likes at least 1-2 of the others.

[makethosenarratorsfight]

UNRELIABLE NARRATORS; FINALS.

Eugenides Propaganda:

the entire plot hinges on a detail he lets the reader (and every other character) assume is true. I don't want to spoil it because it's a really fun reveal but he is lying from the first second he appears on the page and you can't trust him to tell the full truth about ANYTHING related to himself and his goals. he mostly does it to keep his advantage and not have other characters be suspicious of him but it's just so fun when you realise he's been lying the whole time

Lemony Snicket Propaganda:

(I would like to preface this by saying that Lemony Snicket is the author's pen name, not a real person, and he exists as a character in-universe as well as being the one in-universe who writes the books!) I'd say he's unreliable because he spent time collecting information about the Baudelaire kids and then... wrote books about it. He has no idea what any of their dialogue actually was, what they were thinking, or even the whole plot, he's just doing research into the incidents and then filling in the gaps to make it a story. What ACTUALLY happened to the Baudelaires? Nobody really knows for sure

While the Baudelaire siblings are in potentially life threatening danger, he will randomly start talking about his own life and just leave the siblings hanging. For example, once Count Olaf was threatening to kill Violet, and then Lemony randomly began talking about how he met the love of his life at a costume party. This man CANNOT stay on topic. Usually when a new character is introduced, Lemony tells us right at the start that they’re either going to die or that the Baudelaire siblings will never see them again. Foreshadowing is not subtle in these books. CONSTANTLY emphasizes how miserable he feels while writing these books. At one point he admits that he had to put his pencil down and go cry for a while because of how sad it made him. Once he filled an entire page with nothing but the word “ever” to emphasize how dangerous it is to put forks in electrical outlets. He also repeated a paragraph about deja vu later on in the book to give the reader deja vu.

[emerydraws]

gods bless you

[shebsart]

Costis and Kamet reading ''Thick as Thieves'' For Hamiathes's Gift Exchange for @allcanonisrelative :) <3

aaand a secondary gift with Teleus and Relius

pose referenced from Salman Toor's beautiful piece ''Reunion''

[svetlacreates]

And Costis heard, as clearly as he'd heard the king speaking, another voice. It said, "Go to bed." Eugenides the man and Eugenides the God, an illustration of one of my favourite scenes from The King of Attolia! This was my gift for @etoilegarden for the @hamiathesgiftexchange!

[citadelofthestars]

My twin first picked out The Thief by Megan Whalen Turner at our tiny town's library in 2010. I still remember that the cover was the dark blue one that highlighted a golden-orange Gen looking over his shoulder. That weekend we were going on a road trip and, even tho I was on the fence about continuing it since I wasn't super interested at the very start, I decided to bring it along as one of my travel books. I am so glad I did as, by the end of the book, Gen had skyrocketed into a place he would never leave as one of my favorite characters of all time and across all media. I definitely have a type when it comes to favorite characters: witty, talented, loyal, competent, charming, and slightly overpowered. Gen checked all the boxes and The Thief contained a richly drawn and fascinating world as well. I rarely reread books, but I have reread the entire Queen's Thief series multiple times (and the third book more times than I can count). This series is brilliantly clever, heartwrenching, cathartic, and so so interesting and well written, with fantastic characterizations, a world full of depth and life, and some of the most beautifully written and emotionally resonate lines I have ever read. Words honestly fail me to adequately describe just how good they are. It's like there is a magic in these books and I truly think anyone would love them.

[the-wise-mans-fear]

This:

always makes me think

[crocordile]

Happy valentines daaaaay <3

[trans-elrond]

why you, yes you, should read the Queen's Thief books

for #WinASignedSetofTheQueensThief2024, I am here to gently yet persuasively yell at you about why you should read the Queen's Thief books, in a helpfully numbered list (no spoilers, only vibes):

I like unreliable narrators. You like unreliable narrators. You know who the most unreliable narrator is? This scrunkly little guy, blorbo of all time, Eugenides (Gen). You're gonna fall in love with him. You're gonna want to throttle him. It's okay, it happens to us all. (official character art by Emily B. Martin isn't it gorgeous!!!)

Tumblrinas far and wide are known for our love of ancient Greek and Greek-inspired fantasylands. What if I told you that we could have it all (coastal Greek-esque kingdoms, political intrigue, The Gods Are Getting Involved) PLUS there are, occasionally, guns. Yes you heard that right. It's great. Come for the fantasy, stay for the Fantasy Guns(tm).

I could wax poetic about the female lead, Attolia Irene, for approximately 25 years without drawing breath, but suffice it to say she is THEE fantasy queen of all time. Her arc is incredible. I want to be her. I'm scared of her. I adore her. PLEASE read these books so you can also fall head over heels for her.

DYNAMICS!!!!!!!! we have ALL OF THEM. kings and queens and vassals and loyal advisors and scheming diplomats and brave soldiers and anxious scribes and we toss them into a blender and see what happens and who lands where. it is delicious.

Did I mention The Gods Are Getting Involved? the way these books weave the political reality & the godly, mythical, numinous aspects takes my breath away. Truly the blueprint.

Twists and turns that fly by like a rollercoaster. Truly, no one is doing the Plot Twist like MWT. You start out on these books and you think you know where they're going. yOU DO NOT. And you will be delighted every time.

Incredible prose, with occasional excerpts of poetry and song and myth that provide SUCH fertile ground for lore and worldbuilding and delicious, delicious Character Parallels. If you've ever been into classical reception even a smidge, you will rejoice at the plentiful references.

Bro's Road Trip of All Time (book 5) will knock your socks off. If you ever read Eagle of the Ninth, it's kind of like that, but got me even more good. deeply moving, I am never getting over them, (wails to the sky) I just want to be able to read this book for the first time again so YOU SHOULD TAKE THE CHANCE WHILE YOU HAVE IT

anyway, what are you waiting for, go read queen's thief, you will surely not regret it, what are you talking about these books ripped my heart out ha ha ha ha but i mean in a good & fun way okay enjoy!!!!!!!!

[cogentranting]

The thing about Queen's Thief is that the reveals that come with Gen's trickster type, don't just reveal that he is smarter or more skilled than the people around him (or the readers) thought, but also that he is more good than they originally thought. Gen's goodness is a part of the twist.

This is probably most prominent in King of Attolia where his surprising mercy is a huge part of the plot (and his genuine love and friendship). But it happens over and over again.

In The Thief we are led to believe that he is motivated primarily by self-interest and we are surprised by the depths of his loyalty, the generous affection that comes out for the Magus, and by the fact that he is actually primarily motivated by duty and love for his queen/favorite cousin/reigning bestie.

In Queen of Attolia the twist is that his actions which looked like generalized mischief and political power plays actually all spring from love, and that love arose initially from empathy with a girl's loneliness.

Or when he becomes king, and then it's revealed that yes he got what he wanted but actually this is an act of self sacrifice (for the sake of Irene and Hellen and Eddis).

And on and on.

The pettiness and the pride and the mischief for its own sake are all still there, but they coexist with this deep undercurrent of loyalty and duty and love and mercy and kindness. And when push comes to shove that undercurrent will always win out and its that which makes the twists so triumphant and satisfying.

[meganwhalenturner]

Return of the Thief will be released on October 10, 2024 and there will be TWO matched sets of all six books! Wahooo!

[opifex-nobillima]

Gencore

[ihamtmus]

thief's queen

[widowsresolve]

It should come as no surprise that Attolia quickly became one of my favorites, so of course I had to make her my first quick drawing practice in forever!