Kevin Sands

This is a truly engrossing read that lives up to its billing as a juvenile heist. But it's more than that - magic, crime, suspense - the tale moves swiftly along as the five young misfits, while not quite trusting each other must learn to work together to steal a treasure from a powerful dangerous sorcerer.

Kevin Sands keeps the action moving while also skillfully characterizing the personalities (especially the narrator, Callan) as they reluctantly learn to trust each other at least as long show more as it takes to make the caper successful. Successful? Perhaps!

Sands doesn't make the mistake of talking down to his readers (middle school and older?). The language assumes a young but mature minded reader and the young criminals are not sweet and lovable - they are tough, independent and street smart. show less

I am genuinely so, SO SO sad to leave these kids and this world. Kevin Sands, you've done it again! and I don't even get more Blackthorn Key books now! :(
The long con, all this time!! I am in awe. But of course - what else could it be? This is exactly how it was meant to be. Mentally I'm lying on the floor trying to recover from all that. Cal and Meriel and Lachlan and Gareth and Foxtail and the Spirits ... see I'm of the opinion that this is still in a way unfinished. Meriel and her show more birthright! What about that?? me when I feel insane about middle grade fantasy novels like a normal person THE GAFF!!!! i love these kids so much it is absolutely wild to me that they are 14. this is like SoC in the whole Heist Con thing and also the fact that the characters read way older than they are to me but of course nothing like the Crows lolol
anyway i cannot BELIEVE the amount of insanity we got in the last like. 5% of the book like WHAT was going ON devious plots! i meant to go to bed an hour and a half ago but i realized i needed to finish reading this so once again i can blame my sleep deprivation on mg novels and also pure homework procrastination but it do be likeTHAT SOMETIMES aaaaaaa Kevin Sands

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(upon the original release of this book on goodreads) NO WAY

edited nov 8 23: this came out yesterday and ofc i was like HELLO! and went looking for it. fun fact: i have library cards to four libraries. unfortunately for me, i found this book in print at my home library, which i am 200 miles away from, and online at nypl except my card expired there and i cannot renew it because i am, in fact, 200 miles away. and not at any other library i actually have access to right now. -_-. resorting to emoticons i used as 12 year old to express my mild annoyance. i miss these kids man :( it's fine i'll just read it as fast as possible on thanksgiving show less

CHAMPIONS OF THE FOX is the third volume in a middle-grade series about thief Callan and his friends. Arriving in Sligach, the gang sets out immediately to run their most complicated gaff yet: releasing the Hollow Man from impenetrable prison. But what if they succeed?

The book starts off at a breakneck pace and could prove frustratingly difficult for any reader unfamiliar with the previous volumes. Over time, however, the characters and their quest, not to mention the mystery at the core of show more the plot, will hook most readers and drive them to the finish.

Readers who enjoy fantasy roleplaying games and books should love this series, particularly since it's told from the perspective of a thief and his loyal friends. But I would warn any prospective reader to start at the beginning of the series: the novel doesn't stand alone well. That said, the story is satisfying on many levels and will reward careful and repeated reading. show less

**Received from the publisher in a promotional deal.
Show me a classic heist story, but lower the age bracket and make it magical, and there you have this novel in a nutshell. That being said, the story is well-wrought enough that I was quickly caught up in the tale of Callen and co., a band of young thieves who are hired by a magician to steal a magical crystal from his rival. Each of the children on the crew has a unique set of skills, some with community connections while others are show more skilled at research, and while none of them are unique to the genre Sands is working in he writes them with enough detail and personality that they’re believable. What is maybe more unique is the world that he builds around them. It seems like a simple enough alt-mediaeval world, where magicians and thieves have their respective places in society, but where Sands builds above and beyond is in the world’s lore. The tale would have been a satisfying enough caper with the crew planning a complicated heist and escaping with their money, but the twist that has them stealing back the gem from their benefactor sets the groundwork for a much more unique story. Behind the events unfolding are the spirit creatures who the various societal groups play lipservice to, Fox and Bear, who are ancient rivals with an equally ancient vendetta. Their story seems, on the surface, to also be simple in terms of their rivalry, but the magical gemstone that they’re fighting over, which has a mind of its own, makes it clear that things are far more complicated than Callan and his crew signed up for. The finale of the book leaves the gemstone back with the crew, but also with one of the boys on the edge of death and Callan having made a bargain with the sentience in the gemstone, so we’re left with as stunning of a cliffhanger as many of the more adult fantasy novels of late. Annoyance (!), but well written, Sands. show less