The Thief who pulled on Trouble's Braids (Amra Thetys 1) by Michael McClung

[Sakura]

Amra is a lucernian thief, a few steps above a pickpocket, as she says.

Her friend Corbin, another thief, comes to visit and asks her to safe-keep a figurine, left over from a trade gone wrong, he wants to use as leverage against his client.

But at the end of the night Corbin is dead and Amra in possession of a statue that a lot of powerful people want at all costs. But Amra is searching for revenge for her friend.

 

Amra's world is a vaguely late medieval Swords and Sorcery kind of place. While Swords, Daggers and Crossbows are the weapons of choice the first arabesques do exist. Magic plays a powerful part, but there are also seers called blood witches, demons and people who make pacts with them, necromancers, philosophers and gods. And it seems all those parties are taking an interest of one kind or the other in Amras Quest for vengeance.

 

Amra herself is as likeable a character as if rarely seen. She's a marked and scarred woman of distrustful and careful disposition with a clever, straight mind, but also loyal and brazen to a fault. She also has a dry and sarcastic humor that I like a lot.

A good counterpoint is her companion, the mage Holgren. He has a more easygoing, joking temper and a unconcerned 'It'll work out' mentality.

 

I like how the book managed it's information about the world. There are a lot of world-specific idioms used, that give the world more depth, but the book doesn't bog you down with a ton of unnecessary background information.

Amra as the first-person narrator explains everything necessary to get all the later plot points and understand the story in full, but the world still keeps a lot of secrets since very little is explained just for the fun of it.

At the end of the books there's a little dissertation on the history of the world, magic and gods, which is amusingly written and offers some new information.

I was reminded of Harry Dresden for most parts of the story. Amra is just a regular person without magic or power, but gets involved in things that should obviously be far outside the scope of her abilities. She gets battered and bruised by fate, but nevertheless in the end she perseveres. As Harry Dresden she has powerful allies as well as powerful enemies, and her solid plans and loose tongue help and hinder the alternating.

 

In short, I liked it a lot. It's not too long, well written and engaging, with a great female heroine. I actually red the two sequels shortly after, because I did not want to stop. :readingtwo:

(Spoiler: they are awesome too, but especially the second book is quite different)

[Little Pixie]

Sounds good ! Off to take a look at it.

[Hayley]

It does sound good! Also off to look at it