Magic of Thieves by C. Greenwood

Plot:

“In a province where magic is forbidden and its possessors are murdered by the cruel Praetor, young Ilan, born with the powerful gift of her ancestors, has only one hope for survival. Concealment. In the shadow of Dimmingwood, she finds temporary protection with a band of forest brigands led by the infamous outlaw Rideon the Red Hand.

But as Ilan matures, learns the skills of survival, and struggles to master the inherent magic of her dying race, danger is always close behind. When old enemies reappear and new friendships lead to betrayal, will her discovery of an enchanted bow prove to be Ilan’s final salvation or her ultimate downfall? ”

Thoughts:

The book is written in first person from the point of view of Ilan.

The description of the book is a little misleading. Ilan doesn’t really struggle to master her magic because it seems to work intuitively. Her magic doesn’t cause her any danger other than having to keep it a secret because she doesn’t know how those around her will react.

She does discover a bow at the end of the book but she doesn’t use it. It’ll probably be used in later books.

I like that it’s not a big sprawling epic fantasy. It focuses on Ilan’s life in the forest and not much else.

There are a few plot holes and things that don’t add up. For example at the beginning Ilan is given into the care of this man to get her out of the country and into safety. They are in a horse and cart but when they see the brigands the driver races forward instead of turning around at the wide part of the road. Then he refuses to hand his money over and gets killed instead. What did he think was going to happen? They warned him they would kill him.

Another example is of how Ilan gets back to the camp when they dump her in a nearby town. She’s young and she makes it through the woods on a two day journey and everyone’s surprised. But she can’t remember how she got back to the camp.

We’re also told too much instead of shown. A few things could have easily been shown in a scene instead of Ilan telling us in dialogue.

Characters

Ilan is not very likable. She’s quite selfish and does some very random things. For example when she goes to ambush some travelers and  one of her friends is shot with a crossbow bolt she’s more concerned with the boy they’ve found rather than her friend.

Throughout the book she is horrible to the boy even though she saved him and fought for him to be allowed to live. She beats him up and almost gets him killed.

The boy’s name is Terrac and he was a priest before he was captured by the band.

All I can say about him is he’s annoying. He’s preachy and he’s lived in the woods for years but still can’t find his  way in them needing Ilan to show him around.

He also acts too old for his age but that’s not just a problem with him. Ilan acts older than she is too. When it mentioned their ages I was surprised because I thought they were a few years older.

It’s not just the way they act it’s the way they talk as well. Ilan knows way too many big words for someone that has had no education and can’t read or write.

The other characters don’t really do a lot. There’s Brig who’s Ilan’s guardian. He’s the one who stopped Rideon from killing her when they found her. Ilan is mean to him for no reason.

There’s also a healer Javen and the guy who got shot with the cross bow bolt, Dradac who is really tall and teaches her how to fight. But that’s only one scene.

None of the other characters are memorable or have any personality. Not enough time is spent with any of them because not a lot happens.

Fantasy elements

There’s not enough magic in the book. We know nothing about how it works because it isn’t explained. Ilan has no idea so neither do we.

There’s only one character who knew anything about magic and he was only in one scene. He’ll probably be in the sequel.

The title of the book is really misleading. None of the thieves have magic apart from Ilan and she barely uses it or knows how to use it.

Conclusion

I got through this book fairly quickly and it was an easy read. There wasn’t a lot of magic or anything else fantasy related. I didn’t like the main characters most of the time but I was curious enough to finish it.

I like the idea of character centered stories but more needs to happen or there needs to be some sort of antagonist.

I will read the sequels because I want to see where this goes. I think this might be another one of those first in a series books that’s free and not as good as the rest of the series.

The book kept me entertained and wanting to know what would happen. So I recommend it.

Download Magic of Thieves: Legends of Dimmingwood, Book I

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