3.5/5 stars. I liked this very much. I liked the tension between who the main character pretends to be and who she actually is. I liked that she fell so well into her role and enjoyed it so much, yet still embraced her mission, even if completing one would mean the ending of the other. I liked the world this was set in, the friends she had, and every vivid, well fleshed-out moment of it. ( )

Beth Bernobich's latest book, actually novella, in her River of Souls series is Thief of War. It serves to tell one of the back stories her readers have been begging for. This is the tale of how the the three fabled jewels of Lir were first stolen. But, as usual for Ms. Bernobich's work, it is so very much more. It is, primarily, the story of a woman, Arbija, who has vowed to do anything within her power, which is pretty formidable, to keep her lands from being conquered. Arbija undertakes years of intense training, changes her face, and becomes someone else, someone who can gain access to where she will need to be to fulfill her task. It is also, along the way, the story of a woman who learns who she really is underneath all the training and subterfuge.

An excellent story and the only failing I could find is that I wish it had been a novel; I would have loved to have the chance to read more about Arbija and her world. ( )