When did you first read the Queen's Thief books?

[readsintrees.livejournal.com]

I am in the process of convincing a coworker, who is 40, to read these books. He's alright with reading young adult fiction, so I'm sure he'll love these. I was explaining to him how these are often placed in the Childrens' section of the library, which drives me insane because so few adults are willing to read "childrens'" books that unless they read these growing up, most will never read them. But, it got me thinking.

What age were you when you met Eugenides? How old were others that you convinced to read the books?

I was in middle school when I first read The Thief, in high school for The Queen of Attolia, and college for The King of Attolia. I'm curious how many  people read these first as "grown ups".

Comments

[shimotsuki.livejournal.com]

I'm curious how many people read these first as "grown ups".

I did! Last month, actually. :) I'm 37, for what it's worth, and I read the books because they were recommended by a friend. I've since recommended them to a couple of other people over 25, who have enjoyed them.

I'm actually quite fond of reading YA books in general -- they tend to be short, which is good for when I'm busy, but also many of them are very good.

[hrymfaxe.livejournal.com]

I've since recommended them to a couple of other people over 25, who have enjoyed them.

This. And thank you. Because I certainly needed another fandom to play in. ;)

[prosebook.livejournal.com]

I believe I was in my final year of high school when I first read all three books at once and fell in love (right after King was published, I think). The recommendation I received was actually from an adult on my flist, a librarian. I almost wish I had read them "growing up", except not as all those years between waits would have driven me crazy.

[zumie-ashlen.livejournal.com]

I read The Thief when I was... eighteen, I think? And I read the next two when I was nineteen.

[peggy-2.livejournal.com]

I was an adult with two kids in grade school when I first read The Thief. I have a feeling I'll be in a nursing home by the time the 6th one is finished, so I'll have a whole new community to introduce the books to.

:D

[tearoha.livejournal.com]

I have a feeling I'll be in a nursing home by the time the 6th one is finished

...MWT, are you reading this?

[tiegirl.livejournal.com]

I was in my late 40s when I first read TT, then there was a lag before I found out there were sequels. I have no children, so no excuse for reading YA other than that I like YA. :P I have long since quit telling librarians and bookstore employees that "I'm looking for a book for my niece", and let them think what they will. I finally convinced a friend (in her mid 40s) to read the books. And I hope to introduce them to my supervisor (friend), also in her mid 40's. I introduced the books to my brother (mid 50's) and my niece (now early 20's) and 2 of her friends. My conclusion?

Eugenides-love is ageless!

[tiegirl.livejournal.com]

Hey everyone! Looky what I did up there! *points to own comment*
I made it big, bold, and italicized! *is excited* *pats own back* *toots own horn*

[keestone.livejournal.com]

I can't remember the year I first read The Thief, but it was because it got recommended on the Lois McMaster Bujold email list (by LMB), and my copy is a first edition. I'm pretty sure I was in college. I was definitely pushing it on some of my friends in college when The Queen of Atollia came out.

[crazededdisian.livejournal.com]

Why does your icon remind me of a certain Thief? Hmmm

[sgwordy.livejournal.com]

Since "grown-up" is in quotes I am going to assume I qualify even though I don't feel much like a grown-up. ;-)

I was 28 when I first read them. Ages of others I know that have read them: early thirties, late twenties, early fifties.

[adalanne.livejournal.com]

I first read TT summer 2003, the summer after I graduated high school. My friends and I had swung by a local bookstore to reserve our HP5 copies, and I spotted the book in the Newberry section, and was very intrigued. Didn't buy it then, (because I didn't buy books at the time; always been a cheapskate) but long story short, I got the book weeks later as payment for a sewing project I did. I, of course, fell in love and threw it at my friends. (We were Harry Potter fans; no worries about them judging books as too childish. ^_^)

Being me, though, I didn't even think to look if MWT had written more. I mean, QoA wasn't shelved by TT where I had found it because that didn't get any Newberry recognition, and TT struck me as such a perfectly complete story that I didn't even fathom that there would be more. A couple years later, I came across it on Amazon and read the first page online; I was so thrown by the change in POV that I couldn't read on and decided to forget there was a sequel to my perfect book. Then summer of 2006, I stumbled on KoA and all the positive reviews it was getting and the whole reissuing of covers and thought, "Well, the sequels have to be good if the publisher reissued covers." So I bought, read, raved, and had another friend buy them within the week. In the end, I am kind of glad I was first unaware of, and then unwilling to read, QoA because at least I didn't need to wait so many ages for KoA. ^_^

It actually struck me the other day that my younger brother might like the books, too. Silly, but as you can see above, logic and me don't always see eye-to-eye. Right now the series is with a friend because she wants to reread before CoK (...oh dear, that acronym is going to make me giggle a lot...) but I'll have to make him read them soon.

[tearoha.livejournal.com]

she wants to reread before CoK (...oh dear, that acronym is going to make me giggle a lot...)

And I thought I was the only one immature enough to find that funny! :D

[ninedaysaqueen.livejournal.com]

I was 15 when I first picked up "The Thief" from the YA section in my local library. I'm nearly 18 now, and my sister who read the "The Thief" when she was about 18 is now 27 and still loves them. She actually did not know about "The King of Attolia", and it was only because I started reading them that she discovered it.

Honestly, I don't like most adult fiction, because it is just that - adult, as in graphic/erotic adult. At least the genres (fantasy and historical) that I am interested in tend to be that way. There isn't any reason for it. Most adult fiction is far too emotional heavy, as well. Also the reason my sister still reads YA. I'm honestly more embarrassed to be reading adult fiction than YA fiction. I value my innocence and clean mind, thank you!

[styromgalleries.livejournal.com]

It was about three years ago, so I was 18. Read QoA soon after and I just read KoA a few months ago.

I am working on convincing others around my age now. My best friend has TT because I practically forced it on her, but she has yet to even start it. *sigh*

[elsa12790.livejournal.com]

I read it in my 40s. I'd have to say that overall I read more YA than 'adult' simply because I find it more likely to be interesting, well-written, and engaging.

[magicsandwiches.livejournal.com]

YA makes my heart soar. :)

[qwentoozla]

I think I was 11 or 12 when I read The Thief, and 13 when I read QoA and KoA. I remember there being a gap between when I read the first one and the second two. I didn't realize there were sequels until I came across them in the library some time later.

I'm 17 now and I've read all of the books multiple times. :)

[fathomlesssky.livejournal.com]

I was fourteen when I first read The Thief. At that point I'd already convinced myself that I belonged to the upper spectrum of YA fare (and The Thief is more "children's") but jade_sabre_301 talked about them so often that I was overcome with curiosity and finally read The Thief, QoA, and KoA.

I constantly bother friends of mine into reading the Queen's Thief books and I think my difficulty it's more difficult to get people to start at The Thief, which is a "children's" book, since it's kind of crucial to the development of Eugenides's character, when my (similarly jaded) friends and I are fine with "young adult" and beyond.

[jade-sabre-301.livejournal.com]

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO THAT'S ME also, wow, that's about the age I was when I first read them...granted, I dunno if I would've picked up Thief. I read QoA first. An interesting question...

ramble ramble ramble

[rosaleeluann.livejournal.com]

I first read Thief sometime in the spring of my senior year of highschool--Mayish, I think. I read it because it was on a (VERY VERY LONG) list of books that had been recommended to me by the Readerville book community. I read Queen the month after. Unfortunately, while I was reading Queen my family went on a trip to my uncle's wedding, and somewhere on the trip the book got lost (though fortunately not before I'd finished it). I'd never lost a library book before. I didn't want to get the next book until I'd found Queen and returned it... which didn't happen. Also unfortunately, I was in the middle of senioritis and a book slump and life frustration at the time. This is how I explain that I wasn't completely in love with the books from the very start. :-}

A few weeks after reading Queen I decided it wasn't going to turn up, checked out KoA, fell in love, read it four more times in a row, and was absolutely DESPERATE to discuss. My siblings weren't really interested in the books. I really only had one close friend who might be persuaded to read them, and she said she'd get around to it. (She has read them since then and absolutely loves them and says she will always pay attention to my book recs from now on. Smart girl.)

So, desperate to fangirl in company, I turned to the internet. Found you guys. Made ambigrams.

Its weird to think that, here I am still, two years later. Two years. I'm thinking "Only two years?" and "TWO whole YEARS?" at the same time :-)

Re: ramble ramble ramble

[crazededdisian.livejournal.com]

Whereas I go "Two whole months?! That's all I've thought about/done in TWO WHOLE months?!!!!!!" (or was it three?)

[jade-sabre-301.livejournal.com]

I was thirteen, in eighth grade, looking for a book to read and review for the school newspaper. And The Queen of Attolia had hit the shelves recently, and was sitting there, all shiny with that big hand on the cover, so I said, "sure, why not?" I saw that it had a prequel, but we didn't have it at school, so I read QoA and enjoyed it, and six months later reread it and went OH MY GOD, OH MY GOD, BEST BOOK EVER.

I don't remember if I had found TT between reading 1 and reading 2 of QoA, so I don't remember when I first read it. I read KoA as a senior in high school, which was when it came out (and subsequently lost my first copy on the bus that we took on our senior trip to D.C.--I like to pretend someone found it, though, and read it, and loved it.).

I've read QoA at least once (usually twice, but last fall I was abroad and didn't get the reread done) a year for going on eight years now. :-)

[readsintrees.livejournal.com]

It would be seriously awesome if a comment further down the page was, "I fell in love with Eugenides when I found a copy of KoA that was left on a bus..."

[faebee-fic.livejournal.com]

I first read "Thief" back in... eighth grade? Freshman year? Something like that. I had tried to read it when I was about eight or nine, but it was a little over my head or I was bored with it or something, 'cause I didn't finish it.

The other two I read during high school, when they first came out at their respective dates. I'm twenty now and I STILL love them:)

[wondersuntold.livejournal.com]

I actually read "The Thief" for this mother-daughter book group. I was maybe around 11 or so. I think we were all looking for a book and my mom actually read a review of it in the Chinaberry book magazine, so we decided to give it a try. I read "The Queen of Attolia" a year or two later. I honestly thought the series ended there and was very surprised when I found a copy of "The King of Attolia" in my library about five years later. Surprised but also very, very happy.

[peggy-2.livejournal.com]

my mom actually read a review of it in the Chinaberry book magazine

I have discovered so many wonderful books for myself and my children over the years through Chinaberry. Yay Chinaberry!

*shares the love*

http://chinaberry.com/

[jezmitt.livejournal.com]

I guess I'm a young one! I read The Thief when I was nine years old, The Queen of Attolia when I was fourteen, and The King of Attolia when I was nineteen. Both QoA and KoA came as pleasant surprises.

I got The Thief from my mom, who saw it on the Newbery shelf at the local bookstore. When I was little she was always coming home with awesome books for me to read. That's how I got into the Dark is Rising series. :)

[laya-aria.livejournal.com]

The Thief was one of my favorite books growing up. I think I first read it when I was around 11 or maybe even younger? But I never knew there was a sequel until college. After King of Attolia was already published. But in hindsight I'm glad I got to buy Queen and King together because I needed to read King after reading Queen. :-p

[shimotsuki.livejournal.com]

I'm glad I got to buy Queen and King together because I needed to read King after reading Queen. :-p

Oh, agreed! I had to wait two or three days between finishing QoA and getting hold of KoA, and I was worried for Gen's psyche the whole time -- imagine having to wait years. ;P

(I'm also glad I've discovered the series this close to the release of CoK. I'm not good at waiting...)

[emmaco.livejournal.com]

We've got a fair spread of ages here - I wonder if there are older people who have enjoyed the books but aren't in Sounis? I think I was in my early 20s when I first read the books. I've since convinced friends of the same age group to read them, even those who don't typically read YA (whereas last year I think around 1/3 of the books I read were children's or YA).

[tearoha.livejournal.com]

Hmm, I'm a youngie too, I guess. I was 10 or 11 when I read TT and QoA, and 18 when I (finally!) discovered KoA. I guess that puts me squarely in the target age brackets for each book!

My parents enjoyed the series when I sicced them onto it, (and they're OLD) and I had to practically wrestle TT and QoA off the children's librarian, in her early 20s, who introduced them to me.
There were also three other kids in my year at school (all 17 or 18) who saw me reading KoA during lunch, confessed to being addicted to TT and QoA and tried to rip KoA out of my hands on the spot.

Have we established the all-age appeal yet? :D

[tiegirl.livejournal.com]

HEY! Watch it with the OLD comments, young'un!

[ballet2nite.livejournal.com]

I was 13 when I read all three. Bing, bam, boom!

[magicsandwiches.livejournal.com]

I read the books for the first time last year. So I was thirty-six.

I actually received TT from a friend two years prior, but couldn't get past the first few chapters, which I'm rather ashamed to admit. But providence stepped in and blessed me: I had a baby last year and TT was the only book within reach of my nursing chair one day! I read it and realized what an idiot I had been, raced through Q and K from the library, read the whole series again, bought my own copies from Amazon, read the series again, read them again (out loud to my husband), and have since read them three or so more times.

I love the range in ages we have here. This place is gold.

[inkasrain.livejournal.com]

I discovered and read all three books in this past year, when I was 21. (Now I'm 22. Yikes.) I've tried to get my 20-year-old sister, 14-year-old brother and two 21-year-old fantasy-freak friends into the books, with disappointingly minimal success.

It's easier to push away the frustration of not hooking others when I haven't read the books in a while, but I've just picked up QoA again and the brilliance and beauty of it is staggering me again. (It's worse, because my brother hated it; he's liking KoA more, but his censure is both painful for me and a deterrent for my sister, who last took a book suggestion from me in about 1996.)

[(Anonymous)]

I think I was about 7 or 8 when my mom read the books to me at one of my brother's basketball games (I was one of those long suffering youngsters perpetually forced to attend every single one of my siblings's sports activities). I was a little too young to really enjoy it, but I can still remember my mom reading the opening lines to me. Years later, when I was about 12 or 13, I found QoA while lurking in the library (one of my favorite haunts), and I was 14 when I read KoA (which I credit for helping me survive the painful aftermath of knee surgery). Now I'm 17 and will be 18 when CoK comes out.... I guess I really have grown up with these books, haven't I?
~ toastisyummy