The Thief's Gamble is a great traditional fantasy, of the kind that made me fall in love with the genre when I was fourteen years old. Which shouldn't have been a big surprise as the book was actually first published in 1999, which was in the same decade as when I first discovered fantasy. It's epic and fun – none of that modern gritty stuff here – and very much a part of a series. Of course 'modern' fantasy often is part of a trilogy or series as well, but it seems as if these days more of an effort is made to make books more readable on their own, to have their story be somewhat self-contained. Not so The Thief's Gamble; this is clearly the first book of a series, introducing us to our main characters, giving us an idea of the world we're moving into and setting up the overarching story arc, i.e. who is/are the baddie(s) and what's the problem that threatens the world as we know it? And you know what? I loved it!Our main character Livak, the titular thief, is a wonderfully self-reliant and strong female lead. We meet her as she's hanging around, waiting for her companion to arrive and she learns of a nice 'business' opportunity. As said business opportunity also provides a way to get revenge on the man who tried to rape her years ago, Livak decides to take advantage and lands herself in far more trouble than she expected. But she never expects anyone but herself to get her out of this trouble, which I really liked. Another factor I loved is that there is no sweeping romance in the book, she'll take her pleasure, but Livak doesn't need a man! Ms McKenna doesn't need her protagonist to be a-sexual or the tomboy type to be strong and independent in her own right and it was very good to discover another such character, as I think you can't have enough of those in print.Through Livak we meet most of our main characters; those she doesn't introduce have their own viewpoint, specifically the Archmage and Casuel. I liked how Ms McKenna played with the narrative voice for the different viewpoints, keeping all but Livak's in third person and hers in first. This lends an immediacy and intimacy to the pages spent with Livak, that is less present in the other passages. Unsurprisingly, this also led to Livak being my favourite character, closely followed by Ryshad, Shiv and Planir, the Archmage. Another character whose development I'm interested in following through the other books, that is if she returns, is Allin. Her growth through this story was fun to watch, moving as she did from a shy, diffident and insecure young girl away from home for the first time to a young woman still unsure of her place in the world, but far more assertive and present in the foreground than she had been. I especially liked the scenes where she didn't let Casuel bully her any more; those had me cheering for her in my head.The plot was quite interesting – even though at times it moved a bit slowly – with a very creepy evil overlord and interesting societies, both the Elietimm and Tormalin. The Elietimm were a mixture of berserker warrior and a strange docility. They are a mysterious people and I look forward to finding out more about them. The same is true for the Tormalin. They are equally mysterious, though somewhat less so, due to the presence of modern Tormalin descendants, such as Messire D'Olbriot and Casuel. And while they seem equally warlike to the Elietimm, there doesn't seem to be much docility in the Tormalin character. Another thing I liked, were the opposing magic systems. On the one hand there are the elemental magics, which seem completely aptitude based and on the other hand there aetheric magic, which seems accessible to all who know the spells and how to chant them. I found it interesting that the elemental magics, which would logically be harder to attain as they need an innate affinity is the form that has survived, while the aetheric magics have been mostly lost in the time the book takes place.The Thief's Gambit is a strong start to the Tales of Einarinn. I originally picked this book up at Amanda's suggestion during our London book shopping spree and I'm glad she put it on my pile, as I really loved this book. At the same time, she's made it so I have at least twelve more books to buy and read to catch up on Ms McKenna's backlist. I don't whether to hug her or curse her for that! But it is also a clear indication of how much I enjoyed The Thief's Gambit. If you like your old-school epic fantasy, Ms McKenna's first outing is definitely worth your time. Me, I'm looking forward to getting my hands on the other books of the Tales of Einarinn, as I really want to return to Livak's story and see where adventure will take her.
A fantastic debut and a wonderful piece of fantasy. The chracters are vividly formed, and story is engaging and duel-perspective is refreshing, switching from the first person of the main character to the third person of other major characters in a distant location.I really enjoyed the main character, who was brought to life by a female author, able to both use her own femanininity as experiance to call on, and as a badge of authority, able to paint a female character in ways a male author might not feel allowed to. The concept was very much in tune with a favoured character of my own I'd used in many roleplay games, which helped to form a very special bond. But, it was refreshing to see a proper female rogue come to life on page, especially as the main.The setting was a perfect pitch at low fantasy, keeping magic low-key, and setting ancient mysteries in the past that are slowly revealed to the characters, and the reader. At the start of each chapter, McKenna treats the reader to an extract of one book or another, fleshing out history and culture of the world, placing each appropriately for the coming length of story.The feeling I got from this novel was akin to what I fealt reading my first David Gemmel series some years ago. Although they may be contemporaries, there are great differences between the two authors, bridged by a similar sense of heroic fantasy.I shall certainly be continuing this series at the next available opportunity.
What do You think about The Thief's Gamble (1999)?
Did Not Finish - made it to page 234I tried folks, I really did. This is an oldie - 1999 to be precise - and side from a female protagonist and a primary male character who casually admits to having a boyfriend (progressive for the year, to be sure) there just isn't much here here. I have trouble keeping characters apart. The book has a tendency to jump POV in a single chapter (with each chapter being rather long and divisions of time, rather than narrator) made the more confusing when Livak's story is told in first person, and everyone else is told in the third person. There's no good reason for that division either, at least not from a narrative point of view. I have to wonder if it was a short-cut way to try and draw the reader in? Dunno.For epic fantasy, the quest is pretty tame and the magic is woefully underdeveloped for a story about wizards and practically not used beyond some parlor tricks - it almost seems more theoretical than real.Ultimately, this book is worse than bad: it's boring and doesn't have enough story to justify the almost 500 pages that it fills, making it impossible to recommend. There are too many other, better, traditional fantasies out there to recommend in its place.
—Carrie Mansfield
I have owned this book for donkey's years and found it in a box of books in the garage. I could not recall it so have done a re read.It is a tale about Livak, a gambler and thief who gets involved with a small of group of wizards and soldiers. They try to recover old artefacts for the school of wizardry and end up getting caught up in the beginning of a war with a war like race from overseas.It is traditional fantasy fare. The main female character is unusual for the time it was written and the story is darker than was the norm. Livak sleeps with whom she wants and has no moral compass. (Also as in all these genre of books, she never get's pregnant or suffers periods!)Overall it is good fun and the backstory has the potential to develop. Some of it is a bit clunky but it is not bad for a first book.I do intend to read the other's in the set.
—Bev
Meh. Didn't feel it. Normally I'm all into fantasy/thief/magic/awesomeness but reading this book felt like a chore. Sure there was excitement here and there. Wizards from afar, agents of the Arch-Mage(hyphen or no hyphen?), and master thieves. But it just went on and on! Man I was sitting there eating some Takis waiting for the book to get somewhere and when it did? Dude, like boring! I dunno whatever. A decent enough book I guess. Maybe I'll finish the series some dark night when boredom hits. Maybe.
—Manfred Cruz
