Archive for the ‘Rachel Aaron’ Category
The Spirit Thief, by Rachel Aaron
Posted on: April 30, 2013
The Spirit Thief, by Rachel Aaron
published in 2010
where I got it: the library
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The entire internet has been afire about Rachel Aaron’s Eli Monpress series for a while now, and it’s no secret I’ve a major weakness for thieves in fantasy environments, so how could I resist a story about the greatest thief ever? The first volume wasn’t exactly what I expected, but surprises are always a good thing, right?
The infamous thief (and wizard!) Eli Monpress is certainly the focus of the story, but we learn about the world through Spiritualist Miranda Lyonette. She’s been sent to the Kingdom of Mellinor to keep Eli from stealing an important artifact. Lucky for us, she’s rather unsuccessful in her mission, otherwise this would be a very short and rather un-fun book.
Upon her arrival at Mellinor, Miranda finds that Eli has completely ignored the artifact and has instead kidnapped King Henrith and is holding him for ransom. Out of the woodwork steps the King’s brother, Prince Renaud, who claims the throne for himself and convinces everyone that Miranda is secretly working for Eli and against the kingdom. As Miranda unravels what’s going on, she’ll have to choose which is more important: following the rules, or doing the right thing.
Miranda is a court-trained Spiritualist, which means she’s made binding agreements with the spirits she works with. She offers them physical protection and a portion of her own energy, and in turn she can use their magic upon request. It’s a very formal agreement, and she’d never think of using a spirit against its will, or hurting it in any way. Wizards who go against their training, who take advantage of the strength of spirits, are known as enslavers, and should be destroyed at all costs.
Eli’s relationship with spirits is completely different. He doesn’t offer protective contracts with them, but he doesn’t force them to do anything either. He just talks to them, almost as if they were just other people he was having a conversation with. He’s certainly not a spiritualist, nor is he an enslaver. The Spirit Court isn’t sure what to make of him. And that’s just one reason why there’s a huge bounty on his head. Eli Monpress, the man who steals everything that’s not nailed down, and when he wants something that’s nailed down, he convinces the nails to give him a hand.
the Little Red Reviewer 
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