Intro., and a question

[ladyofastolat.livejournal.com]

Since intro. posts seem to be fairly common around here, here goes. I'm a children's librarian living on a curious little island floating just off the bottom of England. My hobbies are all ones the media like to label "sad": traditional folk songs, role-playing games, sf and fantasy, Morris dancing, historical re-enactment, writing, board games and computer games etc. (While I am not ashamed of these hobbies, the fact that the media labels them all as sad is something I rant about quite a bit.)

I read mostly fantasy and historical novels, and mediaeval and early modern history. I read The Thief 7 or 8 ago, and loved it. QoA I was less fond of, but when I read KoA last year, I fell madly in love all over again (and now like QoA a whole lot more.) As for other books, childhood favourites, all of which I still reread, included Swallows and Amazons, Rosemary Sutcliff, Walter Scott, Alexandre Dumas, and Tolkien. Favourite authors nowadays include Diana Wynne Jones, George RR Martin and Dorothy Dunnett.

Anyway, as if that wasn't far more introduction than anyone could ever have wanted, I also have a question. When you recommend The Thief to others, how much do you reveal?

I don't seem to have had much success in getting friends to read The Thief. With most books, I find it fairly easy to tell people why I love them, and explain the basic plot set-up without giving things away, but I find this next to impossible to do with his series. I'm so scared of giving away spoilers, that I end up saying hardly anything, and completely failing to convey my enthusiasm.

The "twist" at the end of The Thief is, in my opinion, a vital part of the genius of the novel, but I feel I can't tell any new reader this, because it's a spoiler. Even saying something vague about it constitutes a spoiler. "Just wait until you get to the surprise twist at the ending!" is tantamount to telling people the twist, since it makes them alert for it, and actively seeking out clues.

There are some books and films that would be pretty mediocre were it not for the gimmick of a twist at the end. I do not think that The Thief is one of those. Even if Gen had proved to be no more than he appeared to be, it would have been a well-written book set in an interesting and well-realised world. However, without the twist, I think it would just be a pretty good story. With the twist, it is – in my opinion - a book to fall head over heels in love with for ever more.

I can't remember what it was that "sold" the series to me, so that's no help. I read something about it on a children's book newsgroup, but the book didn't seem to be available over here. I mentioned it to an American friend, in case she'd read it, but she hadn't. She must have noted the title down, though, since she bought it for me for my birthday months later. However, by then, I couldn't remember what I'd read about the book, so I came to the book with no preconceptions at all.

So how do I "sell" a book when I feel I can't mention the main thing I love about it? I can tell people, straight-faced, that it's about a common thief plucked from prison to go on a dangerous quest, but that feels a little like lying, and also makes it sound like a fairly cliched set-up. I can wimp out completely, and tell people about the setting, but that feels rather unemotional and cold. Or I can hint at the twist, convey my enthusiasm... but spoil the ending as I do so.

However, everyone else here seems to be able to inspire their friends to read the book, so I'm clearly doing something wrong. (Probably agonising too much about it.)