The Thief Anniversary Read-Along Chapters 7-9

[an_english_girl]

For the third week of The Thief read-along, we’re covering chapters 7 to 9, from “Good feelings persisted between myself and the Magus until the next morning...” to “Darkness that was deeper than the river swallowed me up.”They’re some pretty exciting chapters, as we finally get to see Gen ‘in action’ professionally, as it were, rather than just

Comments

[sunsethill]

You have done a fabulous job with these three chapters, hitting most of the things that just jumped out to me. I especially appreciated the comment about how wonderful the description of the temple was. I noted when reading just how simply it was described, but I could still completely picture in my mind what it must have looked like. Megan used such economy of words to bring to life something that was probably pretty hard to describe. I wonder how many edits this section took? And somehow she managed to do all this description and still make this a very tense, suspenseful section, when all Gen is doing is exploring a (dangerous) temple complex. Thanks for pointing out how much suspense and action was packed in this section as I hadn't really noted that in my reading, although my enjoyment of the book really picked up when we hit these scenes. This is where the book became a page turner for me

[an_english_girl]

I think the short words in the description probably add to the suspense while Gen's in the temple. They are like the short, terse way one's mind runs when under stress, and also a good "time passing" device. It's like a clock ticking -- tick tick tick...
Regarding the ending, I knew MWT was, as she notes at the end, a fan of Rosemary Sutcliff's novels -- a couple of which do actually have the chief character meeting nasty ends in the story :/ So I was truly worried about Gen... :)
As for children -- any Sounisians here who read it when it actually came out? Or have passed it to younger siblings/friends/own children? I've a friend whose little (14) brother is now crazy about QT, but I don't know if you'd count him in the YA age-bracket?

[sunsethill]

Yes, I would put a 14 year old in the YA bracket. I'm not exactly sure how old the target range for "children's lit" goes, but I really do wonder if children actually appreciate this story. I won't suggest it to my grandchildren until they reach high school, but maybe I'm missing something.

[live_momma]

I have been torn about reading it to my 9 yo. I definitely think she would enjoy it now, and the content isn't inappropriate or anything, but she might enjoy it more if she reads it to herself later. You only get to be surprised by the twist once. I don't want to spoil that for her!

(Also, Queen of Attolia is much less kid-friendly.)

[mander_lee]

“I keep getting my measurements turned around. That big piece of obsidian, though, is there...” It’s not at all noticeable on the first read, but I always grin at this now! Someone’s guiding Gen’s charcoal.

I just want to thank you for pointing this out, because I never interpreted it that way! I always thought that he just miscalculated.

After I found out that Gen is royalty, I've always really treasured that "What makes you think my sweetheart can read?" line. Like you said, it's just so clever in its ability to misguide. He doesn't even lie. But it just reinforces the wrong assumptions we've been holding on to from the start of the book (at least on the first read).

Anyway, I really love how you associated some of these things to the future books. In retrospect so many of these details come off as ironic, and others illuminating.

[an_english_girl]

The question is, did MWT put them in on purpose, knowing she had more adventures of Gen & co to write? Or were they throw-away lines that nagged at her until she went back and wrote more?!?
Love your avatar, by the way!

[mander_lee]

I seem to remember that MWT didn't plan for there to be sequels to The Thief, but don't quote me on that. But if we're to assume that had been the case, my best guess is that she went back and built off of what she had first written.

Thanks! The "First Rule of Thievery" thing came from The Legend of Eli Monopress which is a series about a thief as well (though Gen could wipe the floor with Eli for sure), but I was obsessing about that series and QT at roughly the same time, and hence the avatar. Hehe.

No plans for sequels?

[heiros_acumen]

I have no evidence to doubt your memory that MWT didn't have plans for sequels to The Thief, but if that was true-WOW. I feel like so much in The Thief and all the books builds up or at least foreshadows parts of the next ones. So much of The Thief fits perfectly into the sequels, it blows my mind to think it wasn't all planned from the beginning.

[checkers65477]

These chapters include one of my favorite parts, where the Magus beats Gen with the riding crop. It was the first inkling for me as to just how fierce a person Gen is. He is able to throw Pol to the ground (although he falls, too), when Pol is a much-larger trained soldier. The part where he punches Pol and goes after the magus...well...just <3 <3 <3. And, he wants to tell them all that he's a member of Eddis' royal family and his queen's thief but he keeps his mouth shut.