The Thief by Megan Whalen Turner (unabridged audiobook read by Jeff Woodman; 7.25 hrs on 7 discs): Gen is a thief thrown in jail for stealing the King’s seal – and then bragging about it in a wine shop. His reputation precedes him, and the Magus (the king’s closest advisor) takes him out of prison and on a long journey to find an important relic long thought to be mere legend. Along the way we learn quite a lot about the Greek-like mythology of the land. It was, to be perfectly honest, kind of boring. Gen’s ceaseless complaining got old fast, the myths were okay but not especially interesting, and the journey lasted for most of the book without much actually happening. I was also unimpressed by the Surprise Ending. I understand this book won awards and is the beginning of a trilogy, but this book felt too aimless to inspire me to read more.
Random aside: I totally pictured the Magus as Jafar. I don’t know why.
A note on the audio: Woodman was good. I previously heard him read An Abundance of Katherines, so I tended to think of Gen as younger than he was supposed to be. I’m not entirely clear on how old he was meant to be, but I do know I was caught a little off guard at the mention of marriage.
Also posted on BookCrossing.