The Occasional Diamond Thief

When I first started reading this book, I was figuring that I wasn't going to like it much. Not because of the description, but because it's written in first person present tense. I tend to avoid first person books in general because I have a hard time connecting to those characters. Not many writers can pull it off and have a character who doesn't come off as perfect or self-centered or just plain annoying, and adding present tense into the mix? It has the potential to be a disaster.

Well, I was wrong. Incredibly wrong. McLachlan pulls off this writing style with grace and skill and I immediately found myself entranced by the story. Kia is a well-rounded and developed character. Yes, she has moments where she acts a little "know it show more all", but it was entirely accurate for the character: she's sixteen. Kia acts like a teenager, but more than that, she acts like a real person. Another thing I notice in first person books is that the non-main characters tend to not get a lot of development. McLachlan avoided this, too! This story had a few secondary and tertiary type characters who aren't around long enough to get the depth of the main character, but they didn't feel flat. The other main character, Agatha, was just as developed as the POV character. I loved how she didn't fit quite in with the other Selects (priest/esses, essentially) and that even though her personality clashed with Kia's, they were able to work together in a way that was believable and interesting.

I was so afraid when the author introduced not one, but two fairly jerk-ish boy characters that this book was going to turn into one of *those* YA books where the female protagonist inevitably falls for the obnoxious male character who never seems to have any redeeming qualities. Well, I wasn't disappointed there, either! Two thumbs up for McLachlan and how she approached the character in the "love interest" role.

And the world building! I love a book with lots of world building and this one had that! Not one but three cultures were mentioned with a fair amount of depth and I found myself itching to know more about the planets and cultures. The information about the cultures was never dropped in obtrusively and blended well into the narrative. I loved that the plot went beyond the personal experiences of the main character to involve the politics of the different planets. I'm not even a huge fan of sci-fi (I prefer fantasy) and I loved this. Then again, it wasn't an excessive amount of science fiction. What was there peppered the culture Kia comes from with detail to pull you into the world. Later in the book she was on a planet with very little technology, so it read more like something modern than futuristic. Even the beginning of the book, though, is the kind of sci-fi I like: enough to give you some bearing as to the character's surroundings and the technology, but not so heavy that you're bogged down with techno-babble. Writing out this review, I'm realizing that McLachlan truly does have a good balance of everything in this book.

As an aside, I got a kick out of the bit at the end written by Kia. "Occasional" indeed.

This was a book I didn't want to put down. It had everything I could want in a book: developed characters, thought-out world building, enough action to keep things interesting without hurting the dialogue and character development... Five stars and two thumbs up from me, along with a "would recommend" and "will read the rest of the series". (Please tell me there will be more books!) show less

Brief Synopsis: “16-year-old Kia must learn the secret behind the magnificent diamond her father entrusted her with on his deathbed – without letting anyone know she has it.”

J. A. McLachlan has created a highly addictive, inspiring, and adventurous Young Adult/ Science fiction story with The Occasional Diamond Thief. The main character, Kia, is smart, stubborn, analytical; free willed, strong and 100% an independently thinking individual whom still exhibits truly the most moving moments of venerability as the result of an a strained relationship with her family, excluding her brother, Etin.

Despite all of this, the young, inquisitive minded teen still manages to make friends and gain a few trusted allies across the universe on a show more semi-technology backwards/basic planet called Malem, whose people openly reject and dis-trust foreigners. While unknowingly developing a truly heart-warming bond with a (unique) Select–Agatha—who fills the maternal absentness in Kia’s life she was not aware she needed.

Another thing I appreciated about this book was the fact that it not only revolves around a strong female protagonist of color, but that it equally balances differences in Culture/Languages, Social Standards and Religion with Morality, Identity, and Humanity without losing it’s comedic, adventurous and mystery elements. There are just so many quotable/memorable moments from this book that you can relive over and over again.

Itohan—his name means ‘mercy’. My father was Itohan Ugiagbe, I want to say to the Malemese hurrying about their business, ignoring me, a foreigner in their midst. He came here and suffered like you. I watched him die all the years of my childhood and I didn’t understand.

Every time I pass another death house, empty and boarded-up, I understand a little better my father’s long despair. What would he have been like if he hadn’t come to Malem? I never really knew him. Already his image is fading in my memory. I look around the dirty streets as I walk.

They stole him from me, but they might also be able to give a little of him back. If I can find out what happened to him here, I’ll know him in a way I never did. The Malemese diamond must be mixed up in it somehow.

“Tell me,” I whisper to the cold, gray streets. “Tell me who my father was.” –Excerpt From: J. A. McLachlan. “The Occasional Diamond Thief.” iBooks.

It is one of best YA books I have read in a really long time and I wish I could have read a book like this when I was younger. As I followed Kia through this book and read her learn not only more about her a strained father’s past but learn to have more confidence in herself and trust in others, I found that I too was learning with her.

Besides the fact that I am sad that the book ended at all, I give this book 4.5 stars because we were not able to see any resolution between Kia and her family when she finally left Malem. (Unless that’ll be in the next book? *crosses fingers*)

“But at some fundamental human level where the fear of not being understood touches us all, Central Ang ties the human universe together.”—Excerpt From: J. A. McLachlan. “The Occasional Diamond Thief.” iBooks.

As a person who finds comfort in my studies and in moments of solitude when being around my family or friends feels like I am an outsider or a stranger, I recommend this book to anyone who has ever felt like they didn’t belong.

If it were not for sleep, eating and work I do not think I would have taken breaks reading this book. It is a true page-turner. I was fortunate enough to win this as a free e-book from Librarything.com, but I’ve purchased a hard copy of this book also to have on my bookshelf forever! Ms. McLachlan, if you see this please, please bring Kia back for another adventure :-) . I will wrap this up with one last quote from the book:

“Malem isn’t on the cyber link.”

“God doesn’t need the cyber link.”

I let that one lie.

–Excerpt From: J. A. McLachlan. “The Occasional Diamond Thief.” iBooks.

Thanks for reading ^__^ show less

EDGE is fast becoming one of my favorite publishers to get books from during Early Review. They've consistently performed well and have a knack for picking interesting sci fi and fantasy from several perspectives. This one was absolutely the best offering I've seen from them so far.

Kia is fun to watch grow, the story covers several different worlds and lots of new and old culture. I'm very much excited to see more adventures of our Occasional Diamond Thief, which I hope we get to have.

My one complaint/critique is that Kia seemed extremely lost on Malam, which is interesting because she makes a point of saying that she studied the cultural aspects of the planets of origin for the language she learned. She either did so very poorly, the show more information was bad/not specific enough, or she wasn't as good at those cultural components as she claimed. This is possible, but unlikely.

B+ for a fun, truly enjoyable book. show less

It's great to have an addition to young adult science fiction, made all the better by having a female main character, and a black one at that. Kia is a language genius, and as a result becomes translator and language instructor accompanying an Adept to another planet to negotiate a trade agreement. However, all is not as it seems. Kia's own family is troubled; her father has recently died and her mother apparently despises her. The Adept, Agatha, seems to feel a special bond with Kia, and even enables her in her thievery, the robbing she does in order to afford independence from her family and then to assist her ailing mother. On the distant planet there is intrigue and danger, putting both Kia and Agatha at risk. Kia's personality was show more off-putting to me, as it seemed to be to several of the other characters in the book, though she is certainly admirable for her persistence and skill. In spite of her abrasive manner, though, she earns the loyalty of enough people to assist her in her mission. It seems quite likely that a sequel will follow. show less

I received this book in exchange for an honest review. I really enjoyed the book with all of the twist and turns and the main character searching for more info on her father. The story is well written and draws you into her world as she travels off world and finds out the real story about her father. Is she being used or is she being helped? Read it and see.

Although not usually a SF fan, I read this book with interest, looking forward to the authors descriptions of alternative universes. I liked the spirit of the main character, but I felt the most interesting part of her life - that as an interpreter - got lost in the tale.

On his deathbed, Kia's father, an interstellar space trader, entrusts to her a diamond from the planet Malem. The problem is that it is very illegal for any off-worlder to possess a Malemese diamond; the penalty is death. In order to get away from an unpleasant home life, Kia engages in the occasional theft to get money to pay for translator school.

Kia is caught by Agatha, part of the Order of Universal Benevolence; sort of like the religious police. Kia is sent to Malem, as Agatha's translator. Malem is a cold, wet planet, in great contrast to Kia's dry, arid home world. Malem recently got over a plague which may, or may not, have been started by Malem's planetary neighbor. Among the thousands of casualties was the Queen's young show more daughter. She blames Kia's father for not reaching the planet quickly enough with the necessary medicine.

Kia learns that she cannot, for instance, go into a local tavern and say that she found the diamond lying on the ground. Diamonds are passed down from one generation to another, with the recipient keeping it for their entire life. She has to find its rightful owner. A young child contracts the plague. The requirement is that she is quarantined, alone for seven days, in the Plague House, a stone house in the middle of a swamp. At the end of that time, she either walks out of the House cured, or someone goes in to get her dead body. Agatha volunteers to enter the Plague House to take care of the child, even though it means almost certain death. While she is in there, Kia begins to get the idea that the High Priest is using the Plague House, and what it represents, to mess with the facts, and keep the people on edge. It involves Agatha not leaving the Plague House alive. Does Kia find the diamond's rightful owner? Does Agatha survive the Plague House?

This one is really good. It's easy to read, and very well written. Having a main character of color certainly helps. This is recommended for teens, and adults. show less