16. The Queen of Attolia by Megan Whalen Turner (Children’s Fantasy) 360 p.

The Thief is an excellent children’s fantasy novel; it’s sequel is very different, and far better. Longer and more sophisticated than the first book, The Queen of Attolia abandons the well-executed but still fairly standard quest plot of The Thief. Instead, we’re thrust straight into the middle of a robbery gone wrong.

Eugenides is captured in her palace by the Queen of Attolia. I don’t want to spoil the plot, but I was extraordinarily surprised by what happened, especially since this is, after all, a children’s book. Once he makes it back home, Eugenides becomes involved in the war that’s begun between Attolia, Sounis, and Eddis—a war which threatens to involved a powerful enemy, the Medes, who would like nothing better than to overrun all three countries.

This book had some lovely character development, particularly for the Queen of Attolia, but also for Eugenides. The plot was well-paced, with plenty of twists and turns. Once again, the treatment of some things seemed a bit simple, because I had to keep reminding myself that The Queen of Attolia is a children’s book.

Megan Whalen Turner was incredibly ambitious in choosing the subject matter she did for such a young audience, and I think The Queen of Attolia is wildly successful in that regard.

I’m also kind of in love with the way she treats her female characters; her two queens, while very different from each other, are both strong women without being Strong Women, if you know what I mean. I’m enjoying this trilogy far more than I expected (and my hopes were pretty high!)

Pages read: 4,963

Tags: 50 Book Challenge 2008, 888 Challenge, A ~ Z Reading Challenge, Cardathon Challenge, Megan Whelan Turner, The Thief Trilogy