Fandom/Canon Name: The Queen's Thief series by Megan Whalen Turner The series has five books: The Thief,The Queen of Attolia,The King of Attolia,A Conspiracy of Kings, and Thick As Thieves. What's awesome about it: Do you like fantasy novels? Convoluted plots and unreliable narrators? What about meticulous world-building and in-universe mythology? Well, have I got the series for you. The Queen's Thief is the story of a diverse cast of characters who live in a fantasy world very much like Ancient Greece. Their countries are constantly warring against each other, the people have complex motives and a few tricks up their sleeves, and you never know what's going to happen if somebody offends the gods. Each book features wry humor, myths from a pantheon created by the author, and more foreshadowing than you can shake a stick at. The main players are a snarky teenage thief with a knack for trouble and a formidable queen who's fought for years to defend her throne but is on the brink of losing it. Other important characters include a stubborn, straightforward palace guard who is suddenly thrown into a dangerous plot; a battle-hardened, kind-hearted queen, who makes a life-changing decision to save her people; a naive, bookish youth who has to learn how to play the political game; and a proud, enslaved scribe who tells himself he doesn't want freedom, until a disaster befalls his master. Recurring themes include begrudging road trips, enemies-to-friends, seemingly-superficial characters being more than they appear, and the thief never getting a chance to eat his godsdamned breakfast. The books are interconnected, and you'll get more out of the series if you read all of them, but you certainly don't have to. Thick As Thieves, especially, is almost a stand-alone, and you could be well-informed enough to write fic even if you'd only read that one book. Where to find: On Amazon as Kindle books or paper books. Also available on thriftbooks.com for cheaper, and pretty widely available in libraries.
The Queen's Thief
The series has five books: The Thief, The Queen of Attolia, The King of Attolia, A Conspiracy of Kings, and Thick As Thieves.
What's awesome about it: Do you like fantasy novels? Convoluted plots and unreliable narrators? What about meticulous world-building and in-universe mythology?
Well, have I got the series for you. The Queen's Thief is the story of a diverse cast of characters who live in a fantasy world very much like Ancient Greece. Their countries are constantly warring against each other, the people have complex motives and a few tricks up their sleeves, and you never know what's going to happen if somebody offends the gods. Each book features wry humor, myths from a pantheon created by the author, and more foreshadowing than you can shake a stick at.
The main players are a snarky teenage thief with a knack for trouble and a formidable queen who's fought for years to defend her throne but is on the brink of losing it. Other important characters include a stubborn, straightforward palace guard who is suddenly thrown into a dangerous plot; a battle-hardened, kind-hearted queen, who makes a life-changing decision to save her people; a naive, bookish youth who has to learn how to play the political game; and a proud, enslaved scribe who tells himself he doesn't want freedom, until a disaster befalls his master.
Recurring themes include begrudging road trips, enemies-to-friends, seemingly-superficial characters being more than they appear, and the thief never getting a chance to eat his godsdamned breakfast.
The books are interconnected, and you'll get more out of the series if you read all of them, but you certainly don't have to. Thick As Thieves, especially, is almost a stand-alone, and you could be well-informed enough to write fic even if you'd only read that one book.
Where to find: On Amazon as Kindle books or paper books. Also available on thriftbooks.com for cheaper, and pretty widely available in libraries.