An Illusion of Thieves, by Cate Glass
MacMillan Audio - 2019
Fantasy
Chimera - Book 1
Audiobook
Narrated by Saskia Maarleveld
Fantasy
Chimera - Book 1
Audiobook
Narrated by Saskia Maarleveld
9 Hours, 24 Minutes
A thrilling story that brings the magic of fantasy together with the edge of your seat tension of a heist style adventure-thriller.
In a land where magic is forbidden, and those who wield it (and often their family as well) put to death, Romy was born into poverty. Afraid that Romy would one day expose her magic she was sold off by her mother as a young girl and sent to the "Moon House" to be trained as courtesan to the local nobility and ruling elite. She became the favored companion to the Shadow Lord, and as such she lived a very comfortable life, with all the finer things, and not completely without love.
When her brother Neri commits and act of reckless greed, and thieving that jeopardizes their entire family, Romy is called upon and attempts to use her influence with the Shadow Lord to save them. While their lives are spared, the consequences are nonetheless steep. Her father takes the fall, and he and the rest of the family are evicted from the city, She is banished from the castle, but confined to the city and made responsible for her careless and impulsive brother Neri who is now on probation - and any wrong move on his part could cost them both their lives.
Despite the Shadow Lord's attempts to create a peaceful and prosperous life for all in the city of Castanga, there are those who plot to steal the his power and incite a civil war. A small act of kindness on Romy's part as she is being evicted from the castle returns to haunt her as she is called upon when the plot is discovered, and she is put in an unfair and seemingly impossible situation. Failure would mean the death of not only Romy and Neri, but thousands of others in the resulting war and unrest. Romy must put her wisdom and education to the test, and she must put her trust in a motley little group of other skilled people from Beggars Circle trying to live discretely and without notice.
This book a a fresh and welcome addition to the fantasy scene. One reason I found this book so exciting is that as a reader who has always tolerated the strong romantic sub plots prevalent in many fantasy stories but never particularly enjoyed them, I am thrilled to say that romance is not a significant part of this story. The second main reason is that the romance has been replaced with a taut and intricately orchestrated heist type adventure element. The lead in to the climax was slow, but not boring, and once the real action started it had me eagerly listening and hanging on to every word.
Narration was performed by Saskia Maarleveld who is a well respected audiobook narrator. She has a wonderful voice with a very good character range, as well as providing a good emotional scope to those characters. Her tone and cadence is on par with what you would expect from such an experienced and well respected narrator. She makes listening a pleasure and makes it easy to get lost in the story.
If you like magic, and you like a good heist adventure, you will probably enjoy An Illusion Of Thieves!
In a land where magic is forbidden, and those who wield it (and often their family as well) put to death, Romy was born into poverty. Afraid that Romy would one day expose her magic she was sold off by her mother as a young girl and sent to the "Moon House" to be trained as courtesan to the local nobility and ruling elite. She became the favored companion to the Shadow Lord, and as such she lived a very comfortable life, with all the finer things, and not completely without love.
When her brother Neri commits and act of reckless greed, and thieving that jeopardizes their entire family, Romy is called upon and attempts to use her influence with the Shadow Lord to save them. While their lives are spared, the consequences are nonetheless steep. Her father takes the fall, and he and the rest of the family are evicted from the city, She is banished from the castle, but confined to the city and made responsible for her careless and impulsive brother Neri who is now on probation - and any wrong move on his part could cost them both their lives.
Despite the Shadow Lord's attempts to create a peaceful and prosperous life for all in the city of Castanga, there are those who plot to steal the his power and incite a civil war. A small act of kindness on Romy's part as she is being evicted from the castle returns to haunt her as she is called upon when the plot is discovered, and she is put in an unfair and seemingly impossible situation. Failure would mean the death of not only Romy and Neri, but thousands of others in the resulting war and unrest. Romy must put her wisdom and education to the test, and she must put her trust in a motley little group of other skilled people from Beggars Circle trying to live discretely and without notice.
This book a a fresh and welcome addition to the fantasy scene. One reason I found this book so exciting is that as a reader who has always tolerated the strong romantic sub plots prevalent in many fantasy stories but never particularly enjoyed them, I am thrilled to say that romance is not a significant part of this story. The second main reason is that the romance has been replaced with a taut and intricately orchestrated heist type adventure element. The lead in to the climax was slow, but not boring, and once the real action started it had me eagerly listening and hanging on to every word.
Narration was performed by Saskia Maarleveld who is a well respected audiobook narrator. She has a wonderful voice with a very good character range, as well as providing a good emotional scope to those characters. Her tone and cadence is on par with what you would expect from such an experienced and well respected narrator. She makes listening a pleasure and makes it easy to get lost in the story.
If you like magic, and you like a good heist adventure, you will probably enjoy An Illusion Of Thieves!
Happy Reading,
Christine
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