I have been wanting to read Thief With No Shadow for a while now but had trouble getting my hands on a copy.

Having finally read it I was a little disappointed, The cast of characters were limited and the romance was non existant- I was expecting a fast paced adventure with a head strong heroine, instead I got a very dark and sad story, which started off great with the heroine on the run but then it slowed with almost no action and a lot of angst, until near the end where it picked up again. />


( )

4.5 stars

I read this book a long time ago when I was out west on my (first of many) career course.

I very much in joyed this book. I often think about it and, why there was never a sequel or a novelle made. I really wanted there to be something more. I really want to know how Melke is doing after the whole ordeal.

There's a lot I don't remember about the novel as it was about 7 years ago I read it. But I remember liking it and recommending it to others.

I will probably read this book again and add to my review.

Give this book a chance, you may be surprised.

Until next time. >.


Keep dreaming

Emily ( )

Not nearly as good as I thought it would be. The random intervals that the heroine kept bursting into tears was really enough to ruin the enjoyment of the book. ( )

The plot was fairly simple but it worked. There weren't any huge surprises so, for me, this was all about the characters and how they interact.

I loved all of the different species in this novel - there was something almost mythical about it and it was fairly unique in that regard. One of the predominant themes of the book, in fact, was inter-species harmony and how the different creatures interact; in particular, the wraiths are spurned by society because they have the ability to become invisible. In typical fashion, the people of Theirry are frightened of the unknown and assume that wraiths will only use their abilities to steal, assassinate and generally do bad things. The ironic part of it all was that Melke was desperate to prove to the Sal Vere family that she was worth more that she's more than a 'thieving wraith', all while trying to make up for having stolen from them...Call it a self-fulfilling prophecy if you will...

The concept of family is a particularly strong one in this book which was good and well used to incorporate some moral questions along the 'what would you do to save a family member?' lines. Romantic love is less well used and almost seems a bit contrived towards the end (perhaps I'm becoming unromantic in old age...). Bravery and what it means to have courage and pride were major features too so thematically, this book is very strong.

While I always love the study of characters and the societies in which they live, it was a shame that more wasn't made of the fantasy aspects of this book. The mentions of the fantastical creatures were there but partially glossed over and really only used as an object of fear (inflicting some fairly horrific 'punishments' along the way...).

As a minor health warning, there are absolutely some "adult themes" in this book and I certainly wouldn't be giving it to even a young teen...I'm 24 and found some of it a tad disturbing! (Ok, so I'm a wimp when it comes to horror but I'm not squeamish as a rule...)

Overall: I find myself unsure of this book - I think I would recommend it to fans of the genre because it is unique. I definitely wouldn't recommend it to someone new to fantasy fiction because it uses some of the more usual elements in some unusual ways that might be off-putting. ( )

This book could have been better with more descriptions and a bit more fleshed out. It looks a bit out of the blue in the beginning and stays that way all the way to the end. A good book, but not a great one. ( )