Hello, everyone!

[laserpe.livejournal.com]

I finally, officially decided to join this community. I have loved Megan Whalen Turner's works for such a long time now. I have visited this website before sometimes, reading your posts with a lot of joy, but never actually participating. Well, I'm doing it now. 

I first read the Queen's Thief series at fourteen, hungry for something new after "Thief Lord" by Cornelia Funke had first sparked my love for charming, clever master thief characters in fiction — and fell in love fast and hard. I'm pretty sure I have reread the series four or five times now, especially my favorite installments, TT and TQoA. I'd love to exitedly tell you all the details of my reading experience, but it seems a bit overbearing to me to post a wall of text in my first post ever. So I'll try to sum it up for you: if I had to explain in a single sentence why I love these books, I will say that they have soul. The world feels genuine. The themes are subtle, but strong. Even the gods feel real. And the characters themselves feel alive in a way you rarely see. But who am I telling this? You all wouldn't be here if you didn't feel the same way — and that's why I'm here too. If you are wondering what my general taste is like: Other favourite books of mine include The Count of Monte Christo, The Princess Bride, The ocean at the end of the lane by Neil Gaiman, Phantom by Susan Kay and The Winter Prince. 

So, yeah. I really look forward to talking about a book series that has really shaped me. If there is anything you think I should be aware of being new here, let me know. I have to confess that I am completely new to livejournal, having just created my account for this very purpose, so if I make any bizarre mistakes, thats why. And no, I don't have an Icon yet — I'm working on that, though :) . 

Be blessed in your endeavours — Your LaSerpe.

Comments

[ibmiller.livejournal.com]

Welcome! Beyond obviously having the shared love of MWT, you also clearly share the love of reading past and present classics! Hope you have a great time here!

[laserpe.livejournal.com]

Thank you! And you're definitely right about the classics - I already noticed how often those are mentioned in the book recommendations, so this community has another point going for itself in my eyes!

[checkers65477.livejournal.com]

Glad you're here! I think 14 is a good age to read TT for the first time; you're old enough to get some of the nuances that younger readers might miss. Did you read the other books as they were published, or were some of the others already out? I read TT and QoA one after the other (though I admit I read QoA first and then raced to read TT) and had to wait on the other books to come out.

Phantom by Kay is the only book you mention that I'm not familiar with. What's it like?

Feel free to post your random thoughts or questions here. We don't mind a bit and love to talk about the books.

[laserpe.livejournal.com]

First of all, I am so happy you ask!
When I started, the first four books had already been published, i read them shortly after one another. I agree that fourteen was the perfect age, I think I was old enough to handle some of the more mature themes.
Phantom is a gothic novel, its supposed to be a prequel to "Phantom of the opera". Its really dark and depressing, but the writing style and characters are so good.
I'll admit that I find the thought of someone not reading the thief first horrifiyng, because I still distictly remember fourteen-year old me being blown away by that wonderful twist ending - I was just sitting there reading on my grandparents roof (appropriate place, don't you think?), and then suddenly I reached that point in the story, and had to read it twice until I could comprehend what was going on.
But then again, I remember that MWT said somewhere that TT in a way spoils KoA, so I suppose you *can* read them out of order.

[checkers65477.livejournal.com]

Yes, it's sad that I read those out of order. I read a non-spoilery review of Queen and checked it out from the library, deciding to skip past Thief because all the copies were checked out. So mine was kind of a weird experience. BUT, as Megan says, reading TT before QoA spoils QoA. I was totally in the dark as to what Gen was capable of and was surprised at every turn by what he did. The worst thing, however, was that it was really, really hard for me to go from third-person QoA Gen to first-person TT Gen. It just didn't seem like the same person. Which, really, it wasn't considering all that had happened to him.

But of course I wasn't surprised at the ending of TT, which kind of let me in on the fun, as the clues of Gen's identity didn't get past me. That same sort of fun from reading KoA, knowing Gen wasn't the idiot everyone thought he was.

[laserpe.livejournal.com]

Regarding the narration, for me it was kind of the other way around: After TT, I was a little shocked that the second book was in third person. (But I'm biased, I love 1. pers. PoV) And I will forever be a little sad that there are no other books from his PoV in the series. But who knows what "return of the thief" might bring, with a title like that?
Honestly, I am actively scared to read the sixth book, because I know then it will be OVER. Once and for all. And who knows what might happen. (I didn't even read No. 6 blurb on goodreads because i want to go in completely blind)
Can you believe I used to think the series was finished after ACoK?
Sorry for replying a little late!

[readsintrees.livejournal.com]

I read TT shortly after it was first published, when I was 12 or 13. I definitely enjoyed the story as-in, but rereads as I got older certainly helped me glean all of the little details. When QoA came out, I was a teen by then so I was able to "get" that book as well (though, of course, I find more and more with each reread even to this day). I will say that QoA was a total shock to me, since I'd reread The Thief a bajillion times by then, and done book reports on it....so to have it told NOT from his first-person POV, and then to open with THAT traumatic event......and then he wants to MARRY her??? It was a roller coaster of emotions, and I think I kind of hated MWT for a little while for doing that to one of my favorite characters........but subsequent re-reads and analyses have since made it my favorite out of the entire series.

[laserpe.livejournal.com]

I know I'm super late with the answer, but you know what, this is my very own introduction post and QoA is pretty much my favorite in the series, too. Its just that I relate so much to the experience you talk about. The two big start-of-QoA shocks are something of nigh-universal QT-fan-expierience, I think, I've read other reviews. Looking back on it, The Event was kind of a literary rite-of-passage for me because I had read lots of fantasy and adventure before, but you could always rely on the heros plot armour. The author would make the villain threaten him with death, torture, maiming, but you just knew they were going to be miracolously saved. This was the first time I read a book were the Writer just went through with it. Roller coaster of emotions - yeah, thats the only way to describe it. I remember actually thinking he was lying when I first read the proposal scene, like, this is Gen, this is just another one of his tricks right?
Some people said they were seriously worried for Gen at the end, call me naive, call me crazy, I loved the romance. I thought, "this is the most beautiful and un-cheesy lovestory I have ever read" after I finished the book. It was just so completely different. In the hands of any less skilled writer, it would'nt have worked, but MWT just ... made it work.
Again, sorry this is late, feel free to ignore it. I just wanted to say all this for so long, that is all.

[freenarnian.livejournal.com]

You have great taste in books! :) Welcome, welcome!

[laserpe.livejournal.com]

Thank you!

[eachase.livejournal.com]

LaSerpe, welcome! It's nice to have someone new join the crew. (I lurked for a long time before finally joining in the lead up to TaT, so I'm not an old-timer.)

I also like The Count of Monte Cristo and want to re-read it. It's been years. Have you read Scavenge the Stars by Tara Sim? It's a fantasy, gender-swapped retelling of Count. But, fair warning, it's the first half of a duology and the second title hasn't been released yet. (In case you don't need more unfinished series in your life.)

Have you noticed that Megan uses the phrase, "As you wish" twice in QoA? I asked her about that. She said it was "probably" an allusion to The Princess Bride. And, she prefers the book to the movie.

[laserpe.livejournal.com]

Thank you! Its so nice to hear that someone else is a Monte-Christo-fan too! A couple of months ago, I finally read the unabridged version. I did find it a bit longwinded, but there where so many great character moments I never would have gotten otherwise.
And "scavenge the stars" sounds exactly like my taste, but maybe I'll wait until the second book is out. I've heard of other retellings, the one by Stephen Fry and a scifi one called the stars my destination, I believe, but they all sounded a bit weird and not in the good way.
I never noticed the "as you wish" thing before! But thats probably because all my books are translated versions save for TaT, so it probably got lost in translation. I really like both the novel PB and the movie, I think its miles above most book-to-screen adaptations.

[freenarnian.livejournal.com]

It's been years since I read The Count of Monte Cristo but I remember thinking, "this is kind of slow and boring, why is it a classic...?" and then as I got closer and closer to the end I was all, "Oh! Oooh, I get it now!" I've been a fan ever since. :)

[whataliethatwas.livejournal.com]

Monte Cristo was my self-proclaimed favorite book as a young adult, specifically the unabridged version (I have two different versions because I like the information the different appendices offer, so there's my nerd admission). It makes me happy to hear of others enjoying the book. The author very definitely seems to revel in descriptors and wordiness and exploring different ideas that tickle their fancy, but I love the overall plot and character development and the meaning and message I personally found in the story.

[whataliethatwas.livejournal.com]

I keep trying to sign up to get email alerts for all posts but seem to have missed the last 5 or so. Welcome to Sounis! It's always so fun to see new fans here and discuss all the things.

A friend recommended The Thief to me when I was a teen and it was a stand-alone book. It wasn't until years later we realized there was a sequel, and that there were going to be more. One of the biggest things that draws me to a book is its reread-ability, and a series that only releases new books every few years and constantly has sentences pointing to future events and contains regular nods to other authors has definitely checked that box for me. I reread the series probably at least once a year, sometimes more often if I want something I know I'll enjoy reading.