The Queen of Attolia

We all know that as the thief of Eddis, Eugenides is strong, clever and fast. But at times, his youth and intense passion lead him almost to his downfall. As his journey continues in The Queen of Attolia, he will let your jaws drop like asteroid, hearts pulse like horse hooves and hands grip the book like a lifeline due to his enthralling adventures. Though this book is packed with gripping scenes and heartrending twists and turns, in the end it offers a beautiful promise you should not fail to know.

She knew I was in the palace,” he said in a low voice, sounding very tired. “She knew where I was hiding, she knew how I’d get out of the city. She knew everything. I’m sorry.

In the kingdom of Attolia, Eugenides will see his future. The chase is on, and soon his destiny will unfold. Dawn is still far and he has to run for his life—or scamper between capture and execution, or face both. But before that, you will follow him through the vents of the Attolian palace as he tries his way out of danger. Little did he know that like the smog, filth and reek welding on him while crawling on the conduits, peril is with him all the time, like a leech sucking his blood. After the hot and grueling pursuit, Eugenides will face the Queen’s judgment. And, in her hands he will lose one of the most important things he possesses—the thing that makes him an efficient thief.

There was a huge wooden framework threaded with ropes and pulleys, oddments hanging on hooks on the walls that Eugenides didn’t want to see. And dragged out to the middle of the room, sitting cockeyed to the fire, covered with dust as if it had been stuck in an unused corner for a long, long time, was a chair with overlong arms and leather straps to keep a person in it.

He begs to no avail. He offers his loyalty in vain. Chance and option—and even the gods—forsake him at this point in his life and he has nothing to do but face the upshot of his failure. It is a tragedy that will forever linger on his mind as it leaves a constant reminder of how wrong he was to take a chance. On the other hand, it is a tragic event that will keep him alive and live the life of a true thief. And what lies ahead of him is far greater than what he longs to have.

“I was wrong to send him,” she said at last. The admission was as much concession as she could make to the horror she felt at her mistake. Eugenides had hinted that the risks would be greater if he returned to Attolia so soon after his last visit. She hadn’t listened. She needed the information only he could get, and the Thief had so easily outwitted his opponents in the past, Eddis had assumed he would do so again. She had sent him, and he hadn’t hesitated to go. She turned to her minister of war. It was his son who would die for her error in judgment.

In this second installment of the “The Queen’s Thief” series, author Megan Whalen Turner has successfully written an amazing reinforcement that preserves the thrill, pace and engrossing adventures of the first book. She perfectly captures life and love amid bickering kingdoms and creatively splices revenge, intrigue, inflexibility, judgment, persecution, war, family relationship, and romance into a riveting tour de force. For me, The Queen of Attolia vividly portrays life’s enigmas and realities that not only occur to people in places where king’s or queen’s word is law, but also in the everyday existence of an ordinary mortal in a dwelling he recognizes as real.