Addendum: Goodreads informs me that there’s a fourth book in the works, from the point of view of Sophos, the heir to the throne of Sounis. A Conspiracy of Kings is due in May of 2010. Delicious.

So last week, I read The Thief, by Megan Whalen Turner. I had recently visited my friend Abby and her sisters, and when I got home, I remembered that I had borrowed her copy of this book. I went looking for it, because I needed to return it (after a year and a half, yes?) and couldn’t find it anywhere. So I stopped at my trusty used bookstore and picked up two copies for under $2 each, one for her, and one for me. (I have “your” book, Abs.)

Anyway. I started The Thief, and the beginning was a bit slow. I was puzzled by Turner’s strange anachronistic land that was a strange mix of Greece and Macedonia and Rome.  I was puzzled by the characters, by the strange cocky Thief, by the rulers without first names. I hit the halfway point, and I read the end in bed with my booklight, like I used to do when I was a kid. The end was good, but not completely satisfying.

The next day, I went to the library and picked up The Queen of Attolia, the second book in the series. Like The Thief, this book starts out in the middle of things, and snowballs into a huge, disturbing development in the first quarter of the book. While the rest of the book gets a little bogged down with wars and armies and troop movements, the last third of the book is a race to the finish, a satisfying romantic pursuit and a contented conclusion. Once again reached by reading with my book light, late in the evening.

I started the final book, The King of Attolia, almost immediately. Focused on Costis, a squad leader in the Queen’s Guard, instead of directly on the Queen’s Thief. (I’m trying here, really hard, not to ruin anything.) While I enjoyed the last two books, they have pulled me out of my book slump and I am grateful, they were nothing like this one, definitely the defining work of the series. I have read this one at a breathless pace, with almost as much obsession as the bamboo silk shrug I cast on last night. (I actually reached out while half asleep just to touch the softiness.) So. Good.

So I’m recommending them all, to early to mid teens, and even if the first one doesn’t stop you in your tracks, keep reading. It will be worth your time.

In the meantime, I’m going to head to my day of meetings, without my bamboo shrug, in an attempt to finish some of my easier on the mind Christmas knitting while previewing billing development. Wildly exciting. Maybe tonight, I’ll post some pictures of the recent work on the knitting blog – nakiruknits.wordpress.com.