The Magic Thief: Lost by Sarah Prineas - Revision history

Sue at 14:27, 26 September 2020

2020-09-26T14:27:47Z

Sue at 14:27, 26 September 2020

2020-09-26T14:27:32Z

Jill at 15:06, 17 March 2018

2018-03-17T15:06:10Z

Sue at 12:39, 18 November 2014

2014-11-18T12:39:05Z

Sue at 13:46, 8 November 2012

2012-11-08T13:46:08Z

Keith at 23:16, 3 February 2010

2010-02-03T23:16:15Z

Keith: 1 revision

2009-10-24T17:31:47Z

1 revision

Sue at 17:04, 11 May 2009

2009-05-11T17:04:01Z

New review

{{infoboxsort
|title=The Magic Thief: Lost
|author=Sarah Prineas
|reviewer=Stefan Bachmann
|genre=Teens
|summary=The second book in ''The Magic Thief'' trilogy improves upon its predecessor in just about every aspect. Highly enjoyable, highly entertaining and highly recommended.
|rating=5
|buy=Yes
|borrow=Yes
|format=Hardback
|pages=432
|publisher= Quercus
|date=May 2009
|isbn=978-1847248541
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1847248543</amazonuk>
|amazonus=<amazonus>0061375896</amazonus>
|sort= Magic Thief: Lost
}}

Conn, having narrowly escaped [[The Magic Thief by Sarah Prineas|book one]] of ''The Magic Thief'' with his life, is back for a sequel and he's in more trouble than ever. The street-urchin-turned-wizard's-apprentice is on the verge of being thrown back into the gutters from whence he came. His notion that magic is a living, sentient being rather than a mindless force as is commonly accepted, has not gone down well with the senior wizards. Conn's master, Nevery, is being pressured to annul Conn's apprenticeship. It isn't helping at all that Conn is experimenting with pyrotechnics in order to attract the magic's attention, and that his tinkering has a tendency of going violently awry.

Anyone who though the first book was too similar to [[Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone by J K Rowling|Harry Potter]] mustn't worry about any such thing when beginning ''The Magic Thief: Lost''. It's more individual and daring than its predecessor was, and yet at the same time it retains everything that made the first book such an entertaining read to begin with.

The most intriguing change we get is one of scenery. At about the halfway mark, action shifts from dark and dreary Wellmet, the city wherein all of the first book took place, to the scorching sands of Desh. Not only is this desert city mysterious and well-realised, the change of setting also gives the second book some welcome scope and even a bit of an epic feel, something book one didn't really have.

Then there's the writing: it's even better than in the first book, more visual, with some vivid descriptive passages. The handful of excitingly dynamic action scenes keep the narrative rolling along smoothly, as do some cleverly presented plot-points that are far too good for me to spoil for you here.

As for the characters, it is in this installment that Conn completes his transformation into a fully three-dimensional human being. He's much more nuanced here, and apart from being a little crook (more on that later), makes an appealing protagonist. The wizard Nevery is simply the million-and-one-th clone of Gandalf, but he's a well-written clone so I won't hold it against him. By far the most interesting character is Nevery's bodyguard, Bennet. When he's not speaking in gruff, one-word sentences and pummeling people into the ground, then he's knitting Conn sweaters and being a good friend and protector to him. Very nice.

It also bears mention that ''The Magic Thief: Lost'' does not suffer from the middle-book-in-the-trilogy syndrome so common to fantasy. It has a solid beginning and a solid end. It's still not a standalone, however, and I don't think it would make an easy introduction to the series.

The one problem I did have with the book (and this might be a substantial problem for parents especially) was that Conn is a thief any way you look at him. Now, there's nothing wrong with flawed characters. Far from it. But this character doesn't have so much as a twinge of guilt about taking things that don't belong to him. In fact, he's proud of it, and picking locks and pockets is portrayed as a handy skill to have. Sure, it's always for the 'greater good', but do the noble ends justify the criminal means? In this book they certainly do.

All that aside, book two of ''The Magic Thief'' is even more wonderful than the first, which, incidentally, was also given a perfect score by Bookbag. It has more excitement, more originality, more action... Just a whole lot more fun all round.

Thank you, Quercus, for sending Bookbag a copy!

''The Magic Thief: Lost'' reminded me a lot of [[The Well Between the Worlds (Monsters of Lyonesse) by Sam Llewellyn|The Well Between the Worlds]] by Sam Llewellyn. ''Well'' is a bit more unique, almost as enjoyable, and written in very similar, feather-light prose.

{{amazontext|amazon=1847248543}} {{waterstonestext|waterstones=6470667}}

{{interviewtext|author=Sarah Prineas}}

{{commenthead}}

← Older revision		Revision as of 14:27, 26 September 2020
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	''The Magic Thief: Lost'' reminded me a lot of [[The Well Between the Worlds (Monsters of Lyonesse) by Sam Llewellyn\|The Well Between the Worlds]] by Sam Llewellyn. ''Well'' is a bit more unique, almost as enjoyable, and written in very similar, feather-light prose.		''The Magic Thief: Lost'' reminded me a lot of [[The Well Between the Worlds (Monsters of Lyonesse) by Sam Llewellyn\|The Well Between the Worlds]] by Sam Llewellyn. ''Well'' is a bit more unique, almost as enjoyable, and written in very similar, feather-light prose.
		+
		+	[[Sarah Prineas' Magic Thief Books in Chronological Order]]

	{{amazontext\|amazon=184916181X}}		{{amazontext\|amazon=184916181X}}

@@ Line 35: / Line 35: @@
 All that aside, book two of ''The Magic Thief'' is even more wonderful than the first, which, incidentally, was also given a perfect score by Bookbag. It has more excitement, more originality, more action... Just a whole lot more fun all round.
-Thank you, Quercus, for sending Bookbag a copy!
+Thank you, Quercus, for sending Bookbag a copy!  We also have a review of Prineas's [[The Magic Thief: Found by Sarah Prineas|Found]], the next book in the series.
 ''The Magic Thief: Lost'' reminded me a lot of [[The Well Between the Worlds (Monsters of Lyonesse) by Sam Llewellyn|The Well Between the Worlds]] by Sam Llewellyn. ''Well'' is a bit more unique, almost as enjoyable, and written in very similar, feather-light prose.

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-{{infoboxsort
+{{infobox2
 |title=The Magic Thief: Lost
 |author=Sarah Prineas
@@ Line 12: / Line 12: @@
 |date=May 2009
 |isbn=978-1847248541
-|amazonuk=<amazonuk>184916181X</amazonuk>
+|aznuk=184916181X
-|amazonus=<amazonus>0061375896</amazonus>
+|aznus=0061375896
 |sort= Magic Thief: Lost
 |website=http://sarah-prineas.livejournal.com/

@@ Line 8: / Line 8: @@
 |buy=Yes
 |borrow=Yes
 |pages=432
 |publisher= Quercus
@@ Line 42: / Line 38: @@
 ''The Magic Thief: Lost'' reminded me a lot of [[The Well Between the Worlds (Monsters of Lyonesse) by Sam Llewellyn|The Well Between the Worlds]] by Sam Llewellyn. ''Well'' is a bit more unique, almost as enjoyable, and written in very similar, feather-light prose.
-{{amazontext|amazon=184916181X}} {{waterstonestext|waterstones=6470667}}
+{{amazontext|amazon=184916181X}}
 {{interviewtext|author=Sarah Prineas}}
 {{commenthead}}

← Older revision	Revision as of 17:31, 24 October 2009
(No difference)