Return of the Thief by Megan Whalen Turner
Jun. 5th, 2021 05:38 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
iariaI enjoyed it. It was a good ending to the series.
+ I was pleased the book ended in such an openly happy place.
+ I admit I was disappointed when it became clear on the first page that this was going to be almost entirely from the POV of a new character but I had immediate sympathy towards Pheris and quickly grew to care about him. He was great and I liked seeing his POV on Gen and the situation around him.
+ I liked the relationship between Gen and Pheris and I loved how much they ended up genuinely loving each other. Attolia's line about how when Gen gives his heart he gives it completely hit hard. Gen refusing to let Lader's 'prophecy' turn him against Pheris was great. I loved Pheris following Gen after the explosion. I liked the little moments between them. That said I wish we could have had a little more. idk. More quiet moments just between them where they understand and are there for each other?
+ I loved how at the end Pheris saved Eugenides from himself by making sure he didn't overstep by crossing the river, and how reminiscent it was of the story told back in Conspiracy (?) of the king who saved a man, who then became his loyal companion and eventually saved him from himself.
+ I loved everything we got about the relationships between Gen, Irene, Helen and Sophos. One of my favourite scenes was Sophos getting Irene's permission and then dumping a jug of water on Gen, Gen running up the wall to pull Sophos through the window and then Helen and Irene jumping up to pull on Sophos. Such a fun little moment. I loved Gen telling Helen that he could not lose any of them, and that none of them were indispensable. I loved their unshakable loyalty towards Gen, and his in return. I loved the couple small scenes of Irene and Helen interacting.
+ I loved that it was Irene and Helen (with a bit of Sophos) who were running the war against the Mede.
+ Gen choosing to abdicate when pushed into the corner by the Barons and how that played out was great.
+ I loved the sequence when Gen was captured by the Medes and his escape.
+ I loved the few times the Gods directly interceded. Gen being healed overnight and especially the bolt of lightning that killed Erondites.
+ I was surprised but very happy that Eugenides survived. Between his reoccurring ill health and the talk about the different types of falls that could kill him, along with a number of other little things, I was absolutely expecting it.
+ I was pleased all around that there was so little death. I was expecting more characters to die, especially in the final battles. I was sad that so many of Gen's attendants died especially Philos and Hilarion. That said Philos death worked on an irony level. The minister of war dying was the saddest death but it made sense and worked for me. Sejanus's death was disappointing because after all the drama around him and the way Attolia manoeuvred the situation to force Gen to pardon him so for him to die in battle a couple pages later felt a little like it made it pointless? I did appreciate the Gen/Sejanus deathbed scene. I was very glad that Relius's death was a fake-out.
+ Even though he was barely in the book I was pleased that Ornon survived his stint in Mede and lived to continue to be annoyed by Gen.
+ Relius/Teleus being a thing was delightful.
+ I loved Gen deciding he wanted elephants of his own (and feeding them melons during the parley) and Attolia capturing three with their keepers at the end of the battle and her pleasure in getting them for him and his delight in reaction.
+ I liked Relius taking over as mentor to Pheris.
+ I liked the short story about Alyta at the end and the way it wrapped things up. The mystery of the minor goddess who was mentioned a couple times being answered was unexpected but I loved the answer. I liked the glimpse we got of child Gen.
+ The betrayal of Fordad and the Continental Powers did surprise me though when Fordad suggested that Gen go for a ride I was immediately suspicious. I kind of loved how scared/nervous the Continental Powers were revealed to be of Gen.
+ I was disappointed by how little Costis and Kamet were in the book. They basically only had cameos which made me sad.
+ I was pleased the book ended in such an openly happy place.
+ I admit I was disappointed when it became clear on the first page that this was going to be almost entirely from the POV of a new character but I had immediate sympathy towards Pheris and quickly grew to care about him. He was great and I liked seeing his POV on Gen and the situation around him.
+ I liked the relationship between Gen and Pheris and I loved how much they ended up genuinely loving each other. Attolia's line about how when Gen gives his heart he gives it completely hit hard. Gen refusing to let Lader's 'prophecy' turn him against Pheris was great. I loved Pheris following Gen after the explosion. I liked the little moments between them. That said I wish we could have had a little more. idk. More quiet moments just between them where they understand and are there for each other?
+ I loved how at the end Pheris saved Eugenides from himself by making sure he didn't overstep by crossing the river, and how reminiscent it was of the story told back in Conspiracy (?) of the king who saved a man, who then became his loyal companion and eventually saved him from himself.
+ I loved everything we got about the relationships between Gen, Irene, Helen and Sophos. One of my favourite scenes was Sophos getting Irene's permission and then dumping a jug of water on Gen, Gen running up the wall to pull Sophos through the window and then Helen and Irene jumping up to pull on Sophos. Such a fun little moment. I loved Gen telling Helen that he could not lose any of them, and that none of them were indispensable. I loved their unshakable loyalty towards Gen, and his in return. I loved the couple small scenes of Irene and Helen interacting.
+ I loved that it was Irene and Helen (with a bit of Sophos) who were running the war against the Mede.
+ Gen choosing to abdicate when pushed into the corner by the Barons and how that played out was great.
+ I loved the sequence when Gen was captured by the Medes and his escape.
+ I loved the few times the Gods directly interceded. Gen being healed overnight and especially the bolt of lightning that killed Erondites.
+ I was surprised but very happy that Eugenides survived. Between his reoccurring ill health and the talk about the different types of falls that could kill him, along with a number of other little things, I was absolutely expecting it.
+ I was pleased all around that there was so little death. I was expecting more characters to die, especially in the final battles. I was sad that so many of Gen's attendants died especially Philos and Hilarion. That said Philos death worked on an irony level. The minister of war dying was the saddest death but it made sense and worked for me. Sejanus's death was disappointing because after all the drama around him and the way Attolia manoeuvred the situation to force Gen to pardon him so for him to die in battle a couple pages later felt a little like it made it pointless? I did appreciate the Gen/Sejanus deathbed scene. I was very glad that Relius's death was a fake-out.
+ Even though he was barely in the book I was pleased that Ornon survived his stint in Mede and lived to continue to be annoyed by Gen.
+ Relius/Teleus being a thing was delightful.
+ I loved Gen deciding he wanted elephants of his own (and feeding them melons during the parley) and Attolia capturing three with their keepers at the end of the battle and her pleasure in getting them for him and his delight in reaction.
+ I liked Relius taking over as mentor to Pheris.
+ I liked the short story about Alyta at the end and the way it wrapped things up. The mystery of the minor goddess who was mentioned a couple times being answered was unexpected but I loved the answer. I liked the glimpse we got of child Gen.
+ The betrayal of Fordad and the Continental Powers did surprise me though when Fordad suggested that Gen go for a ride I was immediately suspicious. I kind of loved how scared/nervous the Continental Powers were revealed to be of Gen.
+ I was disappointed by how little Costis and Kamet were in the book. They basically only had cameos which made me sad.
