Thief of Lives

tl;dr version: Better than book 1, fast easy read, still comes in a bit long, but good enough to keep me reading the series.

An improvement over the first book, certainly. I agree with the other reviewers, it dragged a little and could have been rather shorter, but it's a fast and lightweight read already. As per the first book, Leesil is much more appealing than Magiere, who comes across as angsty and self-absorbed.

There's something odd when many of the things supposed to be causing mystery and tension (ie, Welstiel) are blindingly obvious from the get go though. The elf background story is much more engaging and interesting than the dhampir one, but I do feel like this book added a great deal to the world building of the first one, it show more feels like a proper world now, with distinct countries and cultures - and I can see myself reading a couple more books yet to see if that worldbuilding is put to good use. show less

I've spent so much time reading modern urban fantasy lately that I had forgotten how much I enjoy a more traditional, dark fantasy novel. I can't believe that I reviewed the first book in this series, Dhampir, last December!

Magiere and Leesil are both very complex characters. Both of them are heavily influenced by their pasts which they have chosen to conceal from each other. This information comes out a little bit at a time and significantly impacts their relationship. While it is obvious that they would both like to get closer to each other, many events cause Magiere to pull away. Even their dog, Chap, has secrets which are revealed in this book.

It is clear from the beginning that someone is setting up Magiere and Leesil to test and show more train them. Although I suspected who it might be based on the first book, there were enough clues leading in other directions that I wasn't completely sure of what was going on until Magiere and Leesil were facing it. The overall agenda is still unknown but clearly there is a hand guiding Magiere and Leesil along their journey.

Thief of Lives is full of action and emotion. The characters want to complete their task quickly and return home but false clues and uncooperative citizens lead them down a complicated path. I am really enjoying this traditional fantasy series and will be reading the next book, Sister of the Dead, soon. show less

Magiere and her half-elf partner Leesil are summoned to the capital city of Bela to deal with an undead threat there. Reluctant to leave the tavern, they nevertheless feel duty-bound to earn money to rebuild their hometown. The two learn more about their pasts as they are caught in the webs of old foes and old friends who use them for their own purposes.

An excellent sequel to Dhampir, this explores Leesil's past. The tension between Leesil and Magiere remains strong as they struggle against the undead. Brain candy at its finest.

Thief of lives continues where Dhampir left off, Magiere, Leesil and Chap are now living in Miishka and running their own Tavern/Inn when a letter comes for Magiere. Seems the folks of Bela have been plagued with some undeads themselves, and some people have been getting killed. Bela needs help and has called upon Magiere and Leesil to eradicate the Noble Dead.

The writing style is the same, some good, witty quips some nice fighting scenes and plot twists. There was no downtime or lag that I came across, the story is engaging and characters intriguing. The new noble dead they face each have their own story and personalities (except for Sapphire who was just a major pain in the butt) we learn more about Leesils past, as well as some show more interesting tidbits about Chap.

How’s the romance? Well, nonexistent, and that is okay! I don’t like it when sappy romance or needless romance gums up my action. However, the end did make me smile and I am actually looking forward to the next book. show less

Hmm... I'm not sure what to say about this book. I can't really tell if I liked it better than the last book. I have a few small picky comments to make, such as the fact that I noticed that this book seemed to be poorly edited (lots of common typos), but that's not a reflection on the caliber of the story.

I think I can't really say much until I read the rest of the series (which I plan to do). I will say that so far this entire series seems to be about misunderstandings and poor communication. All of the characters are constantly misunderstanding each others' intentions, moods, actions, etc. It gets a little frustrating for me, as a reader.

Magiere the half-vampire and Leesil the half-elven assassin just want to settle in to running an inn, but find themselves manipulated into going to the nation's capital city to solve a problem with vampire murders. And it turns out that it's not just a coincidence that they met up; people have had plans for Magiere for quite a long time.

The relationships of the characters get more interesting as their various foibles come to the fore, and we learn more of the plans of a mysterious figure from the first book.

Sequel to Dhampir, and in the way all good series do, it didn't just repeat the same story, but rather expanded on it. Some nice emotional stuff between Magiere and Leesil, very realistic. Resolution of things left hanging from the previous book, new developments and intrigue, and some things left hanging for the next book. I couldn't ask for more.