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attackfishThe thing I hate about my favorite authors is that it always feels like it takes them forever to get a book out. I swear to God, it’s not just my imagination that Magan Whalen Turner takes longer than most. She’s also just about my favorite. Fate, I think.
With Hamiathes’ Gift destroyed, the king of Sounis has settled for marriage to a cousin of the queen of Eddis instead of the queen herself. Suddenly, the king’s nephew, Sophos, finds himself in the precarious position of waiting for the birth of the child who would make him no longer the heir to the throne. But as the king’s barons ferment rebellion, Sophos is still a valuable political pawn, and soon with the help of a false friend, the barons kill the unsuspecting Sophos’ family and kidnap him to make him a puppet king. Now he must win his way free to seak the aid his friend, Eugenides, now king of Attolia, and to the queen of Eddis, his beloved Helen. And if he can do all that, he must then win back his throne and learn how to be a king.
I believe I may have mentioned in my previous reviews of the other books in the Queen’s Thief series, that these are the books that I hope have made the biggest impact on my writing. This is probably a futile hope, but still.
It’s not just that Turner’s writing and characterization are superb; it’s that her novels focus on everything I want to focus on in mine. They’re so rife with political intrigue that there’s almost no room for anything else. The four main characters of A Conspiracy of Kings are all monarchs, and Turner explores exactly what that means. In The Thief, Gen and Sophos aren’t the rulers of anything yet. Gen isn’t even the heir to anything, and Sophos is only the heir to the throne because no one else is available. He never expects to actually rule anything. They’re out in the middle of nowhere, and Sophos has no idea Gen’s anything other than a street thief until the very end. When Gen delivers Hamiathes’ Gift and the heir to Sounis in what happens to be a pretty massive political coup, Sophos builds up a picture of the brilliant, smart-mouthed Gen as a sort of older brother/mentor figure. So it’s up to Gen to realize that they’re more than people. They represent their respective countries, and they can never talk to each other just as friends again, that every word they say to each other, or to anyone else, must be examined in that light. But they’re still both human beings and old friends, and Sophos feels betrayed. Turner meshes the personal and the political together so deftly it’s impossible to know where one ends and another begins. And she makes it plain that it’s that intertwined in the character’s reality as well. Gen grieves for the loss of his autonomy as he disappears behind his kingly mask.
Periodically, Turner teases loyal readers with glimpses of the old Gen, hanging out with Sophos in secret, sneaking around his own palace at night, bantering with Irene. These glimpses just make it all the more bitter for the reader as he becomes something he only showed flashes of before, bound by necessity and expedience rather than by choice. Instead of being able to draw Irene out of her shell now that he’s her co-ruler, he’s building the same sort of shell she had been forced to. The first three books in the Queen’s Thief series were about Gen triumphing. A Conspiracy of Kings, on the other hand, is about him subtly losing.
And it’s a worse loss than even that. The old Gen reveals himself most tellingly when he guides Sophos towards accepting his true responsibilities as a monarch and just what those responsibilities are. It would serve his purposes beautifully if instead he were able to keep Sophos as a complete dependent, but he can’t make himself do that. Thus he helps Sophos build his own royal shell, and so, Sophos, a kind, easily embarrassed, somewhat hapless young man, becomes much more like his mentor than he really wanted to.
Each of the books in the Queen’s Thief series has a different point of view, which Turner uses to great effect. In A Conspiracy of Kings, however, Turner doesn’t just stick to one point of view. She switches back and fourth between third person, when Sophos is at the Attolian court, and first person from Sophos’ perspective, telling the story to Helen, when he isn’t. Ordinarily, these sorts of point of view games would annoy me, but Turner makes them work, using the advantages inherent in both. When Sophos is telling the story, at first Turner uses him to provide context, comment on his hero worship of Gen, and to show by example Sophos’ slight pompousness and general uselessness. When she switches to third person, she uses it to reveal emotions Sophos would be too embarrassed to express to Helen, and also to indicate that Sophos is no longer entirely the star of the show. When she switches again to first person, she uses it to show how much Sophos has changed in his time at the Attolian court.
As I said before, Gen’s transformation, even while he’s winning in the political realm, gives A Conspiracy of Kings a decidedly tragic flavor. I’m left desperate to see what happens in the next book, whether the old Gen will emerge again, or will he continue on his current trajectory? Unfortunately, because this is Turner we’re talking about here, I’ll have to wait a few years to find out.
Also, will there be Mede butt kicking? There has to be Mede butt kicking.
What impresses me most about Turner as a writer is that every time I go back to pick apart what makes her books work so well, I end up getting sucked back into the story, and reading them just to read them.
With Hamiathes’ Gift destroyed, the king of Sounis has settled for marriage to a cousin of the queen of Eddis instead of the queen herself. Suddenly, the king’s nephew, Sophos, finds himself in the precarious position of waiting for the birth of the child who would make him no longer the heir to the throne. But as the king’s barons ferment rebellion, Sophos is still a valuable political pawn, and soon with the help of a false friend, the barons kill the unsuspecting Sophos’ family and kidnap him to make him a puppet king. Now he must win his way free to seak the aid his friend, Eugenides, now king of Attolia, and to the queen of Eddis, his beloved Helen. And if he can do all that, he must then win back his throne and learn how to be a king.
I believe I may have mentioned in my previous reviews of the other books in the Queen’s Thief series, that these are the books that I hope have made the biggest impact on my writing. This is probably a futile hope, but still.
It’s not just that Turner’s writing and characterization are superb; it’s that her novels focus on everything I want to focus on in mine. They’re so rife with political intrigue that there’s almost no room for anything else. The four main characters of A Conspiracy of Kings are all monarchs, and Turner explores exactly what that means. In The Thief, Gen and Sophos aren’t the rulers of anything yet. Gen isn’t even the heir to anything, and Sophos is only the heir to the throne because no one else is available. He never expects to actually rule anything. They’re out in the middle of nowhere, and Sophos has no idea Gen’s anything other than a street thief until the very end. When Gen delivers Hamiathes’ Gift and the heir to Sounis in what happens to be a pretty massive political coup, Sophos builds up a picture of the brilliant, smart-mouthed Gen as a sort of older brother/mentor figure. So it’s up to Gen to realize that they’re more than people. They represent their respective countries, and they can never talk to each other just as friends again, that every word they say to each other, or to anyone else, must be examined in that light. But they’re still both human beings and old friends, and Sophos feels betrayed. Turner meshes the personal and the political together so deftly it’s impossible to know where one ends and another begins. And she makes it plain that it’s that intertwined in the character’s reality as well. Gen grieves for the loss of his autonomy as he disappears behind his kingly mask.
Periodically, Turner teases loyal readers with glimpses of the old Gen, hanging out with Sophos in secret, sneaking around his own palace at night, bantering with Irene. These glimpses just make it all the more bitter for the reader as he becomes something he only showed flashes of before, bound by necessity and expedience rather than by choice. Instead of being able to draw Irene out of her shell now that he’s her co-ruler, he’s building the same sort of shell she had been forced to. The first three books in the Queen’s Thief series were about Gen triumphing. A Conspiracy of Kings, on the other hand, is about him subtly losing.
And it’s a worse loss than even that. The old Gen reveals himself most tellingly when he guides Sophos towards accepting his true responsibilities as a monarch and just what those responsibilities are. It would serve his purposes beautifully if instead he were able to keep Sophos as a complete dependent, but he can’t make himself do that. Thus he helps Sophos build his own royal shell, and so, Sophos, a kind, easily embarrassed, somewhat hapless young man, becomes much more like his mentor than he really wanted to.
Each of the books in the Queen’s Thief series has a different point of view, which Turner uses to great effect. In A Conspiracy of Kings, however, Turner doesn’t just stick to one point of view. She switches back and fourth between third person, when Sophos is at the Attolian court, and first person from Sophos’ perspective, telling the story to Helen, when he isn’t. Ordinarily, these sorts of point of view games would annoy me, but Turner makes them work, using the advantages inherent in both. When Sophos is telling the story, at first Turner uses him to provide context, comment on his hero worship of Gen, and to show by example Sophos’ slight pompousness and general uselessness. When she switches to third person, she uses it to reveal emotions Sophos would be too embarrassed to express to Helen, and also to indicate that Sophos is no longer entirely the star of the show. When she switches again to first person, she uses it to show how much Sophos has changed in his time at the Attolian court.
As I said before, Gen’s transformation, even while he’s winning in the political realm, gives A Conspiracy of Kings a decidedly tragic flavor. I’m left desperate to see what happens in the next book, whether the old Gen will emerge again, or will he continue on his current trajectory? Unfortunately, because this is Turner we’re talking about here, I’ll have to wait a few years to find out.
Also, will there be Mede butt kicking? There has to be Mede butt kicking.
What impresses me most about Turner as a writer is that every time I go back to pick apart what makes her books work so well, I end up getting sucked back into the story, and reading them just to read them.
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no subject
Date: 2010-06-10 08:17 pm (UTC)It's funny how you mention at the end getting sucked back into read the books all over again. I read the first two books from the library, before the King came out, and I loved them so much I had to go out and buy my own copies, something I normally wouldn't do for books that I'd already read.
There's just something special about this series that makes reading them a second and third time almost as pleasurable as the first.
no subject
Date: 2010-06-10 10:42 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-06-11 05:46 pm (UTC)The first three books in the Queen’s Thief series were about Gen triumphing. A Conspiracy of Kings, on the other hand, is about him subtly losing.
I, too, felt that some subtle seeds were sown in this book hinting that Gen had grown terribly vulnerable as his Kingly power increased. Regarding the overall tone, I like the way you phrased it best, "a decidedly tragic flavor." Not only do we have the hints that his health is failing, but his kingly mask, as you so-aptly put it, is causing him emotional pain as well.
Would you mind if I linked to your review over at
no subject
Date: 2010-06-11 07:24 pm (UTC)Not at all! I belong to
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Date: 2010-06-11 07:59 pm (UTC)Heh. I know what you mean. I was left with a pervasive feeling of disappointment, not in the quality of the writing or Ms. Turner's vision, but in the fact that I felt the characters themselves were so disappointed that they had found no other way for Sophos to succeed as King of Sounis without resorting to bloodshed. It really does make me wonder where our beloved characters are headed in the books to come...
Oh, how I hope we see some Mede butt kicking. :D
no subject
Date: 2010-06-11 08:15 pm (UTC)Yes, that is a necessary aspect of the final books in the series. Can't go without that.
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Date: 2010-06-11 10:18 pm (UTC)I'm reading the books right now to my 10-year-old son, who is showing an amazing patience for the long stretches of psychological and political drama (more than I ever expected, really -- I wasn't sure he'd even get through Thief, and we're nearly finished King). I think he'll like a lot about CoK because he likes and is interested in Sophos, but I almost feel like I'll need to apologize to him about how almost-depressing it is!
no subject
Date: 2010-06-11 11:11 pm (UTC)You're also making me think of why middle books in series are often less enjoyable. In the beginning books, the chracters get into trouble. In the middle books, they're *in* trouble. In the ending books, they get out of trouble.
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Date: 2010-06-12 01:32 am (UTC)I definately agree-I can't wait to see Gen steal elephants :)
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Date: 2010-06-12 02:59 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-06-12 03:09 am (UTC)Love your icon, by the way!
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Date: 2010-06-12 02:57 am (UTC)I first read the first two when I was twelve, and they cemented my deep love for fictional (and it turns out, real life) political maneuvering, so I suppose I should stop being impressed. I'm convinced however, that the publishers did these books a huge disservice making them MG instead of YA, and this mis-classification may have a lot to do with why they've never been all that well known outside their rabid fanbase.
no subject
Date: 2010-06-12 02:58 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-06-12 01:10 am (UTC)Well, enter Irene, and he gets himself tied up nicely. ;) But I think Gen is triumphing (was Irene not a triumph?) and will triumph still, as unexpectedly as ever. I have to remind myself that a large portion of CoK overlaps KoA, during the time when Gen was still (apparently) floundering around in his new Kingly shoes. But he got his court behind him by the end of KoA, and by the end of CoK he's got a pretty tight threesome going with Sounis, Eddis and Attolia. No mean feat, that. And expediently timed. (Still triumphing, see?) Next order of business: Mede butt-kicking.
no subject
Date: 2010-06-12 01:12 am (UTC)THOSE BOYS ARE UP TO SOMETHING
Date: 2010-06-12 01:35 am (UTC)Oh, they are. I can't wait to find out what it is. Didn't Megan say there was a part two to King of Attolia that she was writing?
no subject
Date: 2010-06-12 02:45 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-06-12 03:06 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-06-12 01:40 am (UTC)Instead of being able to draw Irene out of her shell now that he’s her co-ruler, he’s building the same sort of shell she had been forced to.
How true! I didn't even realize this the first time around. I suppose it's harder to be Irene Attolia than one thinks. I'm glad Sophos pushed him to the ground. He desperately needed that.
The first three books in the Queen’s Thief series were about Gen triumphing. A Conspiracy of Kings, on the other hand, is about him subtly losing.
Ahh..the subtlety
Thanks for the awesome review attackfish!
no subject
Date: 2010-06-12 03:17 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-06-13 05:05 am (UTC)If I remember right, Sophos's feelings of betrayal are in reaction to Gen sticking to what he believes is necessary for his kingly role, not to how Gen acts when he's taken the mask off (which happens after Sophos pushes him, and when they sneak out in the middle of the night).
I agree Gen's changed (we definitely get the feeling the role is weighing on him, hence the tragic tone which I, too, picked up on in the last scene. His sitting in the full glare of the sun (symbolizing being in the gaze of the Gods/public (as in Sophos's discussions with Moira) and being sick and vulnerable at the same time gave me a sense of some unnamed toll)... But while I agree Gen's changed, I wouldn't take his actions as King completely to heart as reflecting how Gen's changed, any more than I would take his apparent dislike of baths (apparent to his companions, anyway) in The Thief to reflect Eugenides. In a way, his mask as king is another way of being deceitful, which is actually very like him.
Maybe that's why he goes too far with Sophos, making himself play the part too much, and finding it hard to get around the mask (until Sophos saves the day by pushing him over, that is). He's gotten so used to lying he finds it hard to show himself truthfully? Again, this isn't exactly a new occurrence.
Maybe it's the first time the role he's decided to play has caused him to put a friendship in danger, and has therefore had a personal cost. Although, as Sophos teaches Gen, it is possible to circumnavigate that cost. I think Gen feels safer playing his role, even though he's frustrated when he fails to connect with his old friend. He hides behind the mask instead of making himself vulnerable by showing his true feelings. Yes, this is like Irene, but it's very like him, too. In QoA he does just this for most of the book (hiding his feelings for Irene), in KoA too (hiding his true opinion of Costis for Costis's own protection).
So yes, he's joined Irene behind a mask --but I really don't think that's all that new for his character. Sophos is the one who was always emotionally honest, and in this book I like how it's Gen who has to learn that from Sophos.
no subject
Date: 2010-06-13 09:20 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-06-12 07:41 pm (UTC)And poor Gen. He's bound to pretty scarred, permanently, by all that he's had to do in his new role as king. Sophos, too.
no subject
Date: 2010-06-12 08:52 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-06-13 02:02 am (UTC)My Reaction:
*stares*
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH.
I'm not kidding. I agree--soup for all of them! I would make them all some yummy soup if it would help with all their angst.
no subject
Date: 2010-06-13 03:17 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-06-13 05:16 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-06-13 03:57 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-06-13 05:13 am (UTC)I definitely got that whiff of tragedy in the final scene, even though I loved that scene. I especially loved and was saddened by Gen moving his feet over on the cushion for Sophos. Isn't there some mythology (Indian, perhaps?) where royal and godly status is signified by having one's feet raised off the ground (hence why Shiva always stands on this poor, babyish dwarf-like creature? It always looks like she's standing on a baby). One monarch making room for another monarch...
Gotta go read it again! :P
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Date: 2010-06-13 03:56 pm (UTC)Actually the dwarf's Apasmara, the allegorical representation of ignorance, and for some reason that as someone with a seizure disorder feel vaguely insulted by, epilepsy. In traditional representations of the Nataraja, Shiva as the lord of dance, he's crushing and killing Apasmara. Otherwise, there are all kinds of depictions of Hindu gods, Shiva and otherwise, with their feet on the ground. (Also, Shiva's a guy. Actually, since one of his representations is the Lingam, he's a particularly phallic male deity). I don't know of any mythologies with that as a concept, but I'm a mythology buff, not an expert. It's certainly an intriguing idea about Gen making room, very symbolic whether it's mythological based or not.
no subject
Date: 2010-06-13 07:42 pm (UTC)In terms of the cushion metaphor, I can say with more authority that cushions WERE used in Byzantine paintings to symbolize emperor-ship or kingliness (hence why Mary is often shown on a purple cushion, making her Queen of Heaven, or Jesus/various local saints sitting on a cushion, making him Divine Emperor).
I should probably have stuck to that example. :P
Don't know where the not-touching the ground idea comes in, but it seems a kingly sort of thing, anyway...
:)
no subject
Date: 2010-06-13 08:09 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-06-16 05:06 pm (UTC)Hi. Just popping back in with another comment. As I said before, I agree with your assessment of Gen's change in A Conspiracy of Kings. But today I ran across an interview (http://hipwritermama.blogspot.com/2009/11/wbbt-megan-whalen-turner.html) that Ms. Turner gave in April where she describes Conspiracy as being about Sophos and "also about Gen, who hasn't changed much at all, at least not in important ways. He frets. He sulks. He has the occasional temper tantrum, but comes through in the pinch."
Hmmmmm... I don't get it.
no subject
Date: 2010-06-16 05:08 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-06-16 05:09 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-06-16 08:35 pm (UTC)Awww, *pets the interview* I remember reading that, way back when, desperate for any hint as to the future activities of Gen et. al., and I remember thinking "oh yes, he does throw tantrums like a petulant child. He only gets away with his antics because he amuses. Also, be must be good in bed, or Irene would have done him in by now" which is both not entirely true, and horribly uncharitable, at least the part about Irene.
I'm starting to learn from experience just how much a manuscript can change in a year, even without an editor working as a semi-collaborator, which I hear happens for a lot of professional writers (the lucky ones). It's also true I could be seeing things in the text that either aren't there or weren't supposed to be there...