Among Thieves

I was very excited to receive Among Thieves as part of the Librarything Early Reviewers program. I was not disappointed.

Among Thieves is an action-packed romp through a fantasy city known as Ildrecca. The main character, Drothe, is a rogue, gathering information for his crime lord and collecting relics as a sort of hobby. Then a particular relic enters his life and turns it upside down. He has to choose between promises and friendship, doing the right thing or the easy thing.

One of the biggest strengths of Hulick's writing are his battle scenes. The timing of each sword stroke, each move by the combatants, seems real beyond most other writers' abilities. Nor is the fun bogged down by unnecessary details; the history of the world and show more just enough setting detail integrates seamlessly into the story.

One of the questions I ended up asking myself, though, was whether or not I liked the main character. I found him believable certainly. Clever in his own right, concerned for his people, and honorable almost to a fault. I didn't feel the connection I wanted to feel to him, though. I had fun with him, but I don't feel like I learned anything new from him.

Over all, I think Hulick's first try is fairly successful. I am definitely going to pick up the next book when it comes out. I want to find out what happens to the empire, to Drothe and all the Kin. show less

I loved, loved, loved this book. The story was fast-paced, the anti-hero was actually likable, the settings were well-drawn and quite real, and, as others have said, the fight scenes were very well done. While the majority of the bad guys (pretty much everyone in the book) were definitely not very nice, this story is full of shades of grey. No one seems to have truly good or evil motives. This adds an overall depth to the story that I quite enjoyed.

The only negative I have for this book is that there aren't already more in what I hope is going to be a series.

Among Thieves was an impulse buy one day when I was at Borders looking for some other books. I'd seen it on the "New Sci/Fi-Fantasy" shelf, and was intrigued by the cover. A quick read of the back enticed my curiosity further, but I still wasn't sold yet. Juggling this book along with the books I'd originally been looking for, I sat down in a corner and began my usual process of elimination. When I'm in the market for a new book, I usually have three or four in mind. I compare them against each other, weighing such details as cost, length, writing style, and genre. In this case, Among Thieves was competing with three heavy-hitters: Two books from a favorite author of mine, and one based on my much-loved topic of pirates.

But upon reading show more the first thirteen pages, I was struck by how awesome the story was. With little effort it seemed, Douglas Hulick established a great protagonist, Drothe, and a fascinating setting, Ildrecca. The language feels authentic, and has an almost "noir" quality to it that you don't often find in a fantasy adventure. There's magic, there's sword fighting, there's intrigue, there's true grit...Really, what doesn't this story have?

To briefly summarize things, Drothe is a Nose--a name for a man who "noses" up delicate information and tricky artifacts--who is looking for a particular relic of value. The story literally opens up on a torture scene, though Drothe isn't the one doing the torturing. (He doesn't like it, but seems to have found himself needing to hire an "Agony Man" for this particular job.) Drothe is one of the Kin, an underworld of thieves, assassins, and other shady professionals. They are widespread throughout Ildrecca, a large and dangerous city under the rule of an emperor whose soul is split into three and has reincarnated perpetually for centuries. Any imperial relics from any of the emperor's past incarnations is worth quite a bit on the street, and that's what Drothe is trying to hunt down. Only things didn't go as planned, thus where we come in.

Athel the Grinner, the man being tortured, eventually lets slip a single name, "Ioclaudia." Drothe is confused by the name, but goes looking for answers, and what he finds instead leads to a struggle for his life and the fate of the Kin--possibly the entire empire.

There's enough twists and turns in this book to keep your interest up throughout, and as I've stated, the characters and the setting are all superb. The action keeps an even pace, there's the occasional humor, and plenty of suspense and drama. Yet it's all well-balanced, all well-timed, and you are never made disappointed by the ride.

Though the book ended on a well-rounded note, it appears this is a part of a series (the series itself being called "Tales of the Kin"). I haven't heard of a new book from Hulick, nor am I entirely certain if the series is meant to be continuing the adventures of Drothe, or if it's a collection of loosely related adventures with different protagonists based in more or less the same setting. Either way, I wouldn't mind more.

So...my verdict?

If you like fantasy adventures, noir crime stories, and conspiracy tales, then PLEASE read this book. Just read it. Now. show less

Among Thieves by Douglas Hulick is a fun and fast adventure with a scoundrel named Drothe who is a bit too honorable for his profession, set in a rich fantasy world, and filled with delightful plot twists. As a fan of Lies of Locke Lamora, I definitely have a soft spot in my heart for all anti-heroes who spend their days thieving and scheming and Drothe is now my second favorite thief (no one can replace Locke, let’s be real here, hehe). If you also swoon at main characters who steal from the rich and are too clever for their own good, you have to check out Among Thieves!
Note: I received Among Thieves from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
This book has adult content.



4.5 Stars
Among Thieves by Douglas Hulick (Tales of the show more Kin #1)
Published by Roc on April 1st, 2011
Genres: Adult, Fantasy
Length: 414 pages
How I got my copy: Publisher

Drothe has been a member of the Kin for years, rubbing elbows with thieves and murderers in the employ of a crime lord while smuggling relics on the side. But when an ancient book falls into his hands, Drothe finds himself in possession of a relic capable of bringing down emperors-a relic everyone in the underworld would kill to obtain.

Strengths:
Among Thieves has a couple of major and awesome plot twists that are sure to delight. I was ridiculously impressed with one in particular given the fact that the narration is in first person. Drothe, you clever bastard! Given how much I love trying to figure out how things are going to play out, when I stop and have to excitedly tell my boyfriend about a plot twist, you know it’s good.
There are so many cool and intriguing things in the world of Among Thieves. The emperor has three reincarnations that cycle and have been for hundreds of years. The religion is based around Angels that are apparently the heirs of the dead gods. Then of course there is all the typical political scheming between groups both within the underworld and the nobility!
I love love love that there are several tough female secondary characters that show up in Among Thieves. This is a great example of how to accurately represent the sexes in a story: it isn’t a big deal that there is a woman leading a bodyguard organization or scheming in political matters, any of the women could have easily have been men and the story would have worked fine. However, the world and story are richer and more realistic for having those characters be female.
Even though Among Thieves is 400 pages, I read it in a couple of days. The writing is incredibly readable, the action scenes flow well, there is always another piece of intrigue to add stakes and tension before anything drags.

Weaknesses:
There is a fair amount of info-dumping at points when something about the world needs to be explained. I was actually mostly okay with those moments since I was intrigued about the history of the world, but it was a little clunky.
Despite those info-dumps, I feel like I don’t have enough knowledge about the world yet. I want more details about what is going on in the rest of the world, what is up with these Angels, how the nobility work, how the Emperor’s reincarnations work, etc. Obviously all of this can be answered in subsequent stories, but I wasn’t satisfied with how much we got in Among Thieves.
The ending wraps up rather nicely despite Drothe being a bit thick at times. I realize it’s a story, but when I have to raise my eyebrow at just how lucky some things end up, it’s a bit disappointing.

Summary:
As you can tell from my rating, I really freaking enjoyed Among Thieves. I was reading it on a roadtrip and at first thought it was a bad idea to have brought such a thick book along to read. However, I am so so thrilled that I did since it meant I could gobble up this story in two sittings! Among Thieves is one of those books that is just too much fun. While it isn’t quite as funny as Lies of Locke Lamora, I do definitely recommend Among Thieves for fans of Scott Lynch for the fun thieving and intriguing fantasy world aspects! show less

It is too bad that this book is coming out so soon, otherwise the publisher might have time to make the most important change they could: changing the cover. When this book arrived in the mail from the publisher, my immediate reaction upon seeing it was to roll my eyes and think, "dear god, I have to read THAT?!" The reaction was because of the cover: it's terrible! This cover is unlikely to attract any but adolescent male readers, and that's seriously a shame because its a pretty good book. I wouldn't even glance at this book in a bookstore, and I'd be missing out because of the unfortunate aesthetic tastes of a publisher.

Drothe is a "nose" - paid by elements of the criminal underworld of Ildrecca to sniff out, vet, and report back on show more the various rumors floating around the city. In his spare time, he moves valuable ancient relics on the city's black market, and it is this side job which finds him embroiled in underworld politics which are way above his pay grade. Soon Drothe and his friend Bronze Degan find themselves in the middle of a gang war and fighting for their lives.

I was really pleasantly surprised by this book. Although the writing style and setting sometimes seem a little naive, the story is original and unpredictable. It is a far cry from high fantasy - there is no sophisticated metaphysics, and the story-line is strictly linear, with only one POV character. But the plot is well-thought and well-delivered. The fact that my biggest complaint relates to the cover art should say something.

I did think there were some parts of the story that were needless, and cheapened it a bit - most of all, the mysterious "night vision" of the protagonist. It didn't add anything to the plot, and in many cases detracted from it. Despite my wise crack about adolescent male readers, I would actually say that this would be a good book for young adult fantasy fans, as well as for adults. There is a moderate amount of explicit violence, but the plot is straightforward enough that younger readers should not struggle. This is the first Early Reviewers book I've received that I can say this about: if I saw the sequel on a shelf at the bookstore, I would buy it. show less

I have to admit, I almost didn't make it past the torture scene on the first few pages -- I was afraid that this book would be like those torture-porn novels that drove me away from the fantasy genre for a little over a decade. Fortunately, while there are plenty of street fight scenes and occasional other violence, the sadism is pretty much limited to the first chapter.

Drothe, as is established when he participates in the above-mentioned torture scene, is not a hero full of sweetness and light. He's actually more of an anti-hero, not quite to the degree of Moorcock's Elric, but I could see him going there. Despite this, he has a lot of charisma and is more sympathetic as the story goes on than I had expected.

I enjoyed the characters: show more no one is completely good, but neither are they completely evil. I also appreciated that Drothe (so far) has not followed the fantasy clichés of: being the hidden orphaned child of a king, possessing secret super-magical skills, or having a prophecy based on some coming ascension to power. He also usually does not fall into the annoying trope of having impulse control problems that his special powers protect him from the consequences of. (Although the pattern of not sleeping for 36-72 hours would explain why he's not as quick on the uptake as one would expect for a spy of his caliber -- and I'll be highly disappointed if this characteristic is present in the next book; it got annoying fast.)

The writing is very skilled. While the story is a bit darker than I normally read, the author's control of language and skill in interweaving action scenes with expositionary world-building made this a very engaging read.

Depending on how the next book in the series goes, I could see Hulick becoming a big name in the genre.

This review is based on an ARC received via LibraryThing's Early Reviewers program. show less

This was, quite simply, one hell of a lot of fun. Fans of Brust's Vlad books and Glen Cook's Garrett PI are likely to find this streetwise, swashbuckling fantasy right up their (narrow, crooked, dangerous) alley.