The Spirit Thief – Rachel Aaron (The Legend of Eli Monpress #1)
Hachette Orbit, 2010
352 pages
RRP: AU$19.99
ISBN: 9780356500102

Reviewed by Kate Smith

After having read some novels recently that either disappointed me in their lack of creativity or required me to drag my way through their pages, I picked up The Spirit Thief hoping that the tale would live up to the blurb on the back cover.  If it didn’t, I could at least know that it would be short.  However, after rapidly devouring the book I looked hopefully around for the next and was disappointed to find it not close to hand.  I would recommend readers have Rachel Aaron’s next books close by in order to continue the story – while Aaron does not leave the story on a cliff hanger, she does leave a number of questions unanswered, a curiosity to know more and the knowledge that the story just completed is only the start of something much larger.

In The Spirit Thief, Aaron takes some standard fantasy devices – wizards and apparent magic, the thief and the warrior, a small group of comrades, the authority of grand councils – and approaches them in a manner different enough to initially grab the attention of the reader.  However Aaron weaves them together in a thoroughly interesting way and with a manner of expression that rapidly engages the reader further in the story.  Her writing style allows her to explain her world quickly and effectively meaning the story is able to flow smoothly while not sacrificing detail or explanation.  Any matter than needs to be explained is not so with a minimum of fuss or unnecessary detail.  There are a number of benefits to this style.  The The Spirit Thief is a very easy novel to read, one in which the language works with the reader rather than being overworked.  The other is that The Spirit Thief positively bounces along from the first line to the last.

Aaron’s characters, while she does not have time to really develop them in great detail, feel unique.  As mentioned already, they are not, in essence, difference from standard fantasy fare; however she quickly builds not just interesting characters, but an interesting dynamic between the central players that does not conform to the ‘usual’ group relationships in much of fantasy genre writing.  There is also much potential for development in the characters and so much that needs still to be learned about them.  I am hoping that Miranda, ‘the good guy’, develops equally as interestingly as in The Spirit Thief she was the most uninspiring of the group.

The Spirit Thief is a fun read with much promise for the following books in the series.  In a world where reality can be tiring and where some novels are just too much hard work, The Spirit Thief is well worth a few hours on a sun lounge with a glass of something cold to hand.