The Write Thing

In Short

The Spirit Thief, by Rachel Aaron (Book 1 of The Legend of Eli Monpress)
Orbit Books, Fantasy, 310 pages, paperback edition.
My copy: Purchased.
Pros: Fast, elegant, Gentleman Thievery.
Cons: Some well-worn tropes and occasional exposition.
In a line: Master magician sets out to capture legendary rapscallion, hjinks ensue.
The Master of Security sighed. “He’s stolen the King.”
Score: 7/10

Gentleman Thief
I’m a big fan of the gentleman thief. Always have been. Always will be. Two years ago, I bought 25 copies of Scott Lynch’s The Lies of Locke Lamora and gave them away to bewildered friends and family. As a child, I used to dress up in a purple cape and mask and dash about my neighbourhood, terrifying small birds and mammals with dried-Hydrangea-stalk-swords. Emboldened by the inability of overfed, lazy mastiffs to do anything but blink bewilderedly at my passing, I would sneak into my grandparent’s house and try to sneak my way into their tin of delicious biscuits.

Unfortunately for me, my grandparents were cunning fiends, and so I learnt the most important lesson of gentleman-thievery early. Regardless of how clever one’s plan is, there will always be hiccups. So it has been, through every heist book, with every suave, intelligent thief, from Catwoman to Lamora, Irene Adler to Thomas Crown. I can’t resist any of them, and so when I saw a devilishly handsome, be-stubbled man smirking at me from the cover of Rachel Aaron’s The Spirit Thief, I was powerless to resist.

From the blurb:

Eli Monpress is talented. He’s charming. And he’s a thief.

But not just any thief. He’s the greatest thief of the age – and he’s a wizard. And with the help of his partners – a swordsman wit the most powerful magic sword in the world but no magical ability of his own, and a demonseed who can step through shadows and punch through walls – he’s going to put his plan into effect.

The first step is to increase the size of the bounty on his head, so he’ll need to steal some big things. But he’ll start small for now. He’ll just steal something that no one will miss – at least for a little while.

Something like a king.

What A Guy!
Eli Monpress certainly fills all our criteria for an excellent gentleman thief. He’s charming, and not just to the ladies. Actually, his capacity to charm seemingly inanimate objects – doors, trees, rocks, rivers – is what makes his thievery possible. In the world Aaron’s created, everything is possessed with spirit. Certain humans can interact with those spirits. Wizards don’t wield magic themselves, but cooperate with bound spirits for magical effects.

Eli is a wizard seemingly beyond compare. He can whisper dormant spirits out of deep sleeps, and his pleasant and convivial attitudes influence the world around him into cooperating with his schemes. Eli is also secretive, loyal to his companions, and never at his wit’s end. Entirely likeable, Eli is an excellent anti-hero who’s sure to prove popular with Fantasy readers.

Moustache Twirling
The villains in this book make no effort to hide themselves, announcing boldly to the world their intentions. This is a little crude, but also fits into Aaron’s boldly-let-us-adventure-forth motif which is so strong through the book. We know that there’s going to be fiery and bloody battles, and Aaron does a great job of letting us know in advance just how awesome they’re going to be.

There are a few backstabs and twisty-turns, but nothing that readers familiar with this sort of genre are going to be too surprised by. What plot twists exist are well executed, if a little by-the-numbers. There’s also a tad too much straight-out infodumping and expository dialogue. As a first novel, this is understandable, because Aaron has to build her world quickly and get us hooked in.

There is an element of moustache twirling to some of the opening scenes in The Spirit Thief. Some of the short chapters only serve to let us know how villainous people are. Happily, they fit in well with the overall tone of the book.

Kidnappings and mischief
The book opens with an amusing ruse, worth of the entertaining-crime genre. Monpress has set out to give himself a legendary cumulative bounty of a million gold pieces. In order to reach this heighty figure, he’s racked up an impressive record of thievery and other naughtiness.

In an audacious move, Monpress lets himself get caught and imprisoned, escapes, and takes a King with him. His intention is to hold the King to ransom. Unfortunately, his plan starts to unravel when the King’s brother returns from exile, and isn’t so keen to lose his newly-gained throne…

Into this volatile mixture strides one of our heroines, Miranda. Miranda is an emissary from the ruling body of magicians in Aaron’s world. Accompanied by a specifically-designed-to-be-disgustingly-endearing ghosthound (a horse-sized magical dog with attitude), Miranda is tasked with capturing Monpress. As the story unfolds, she is repeatedly forced to let Monpress slip through her fingers in order to combat actual evil, instead of mere rascalliness.

Spirits Within
Aaron has woven a world thick with spirits. To go into too much detail here will spoil revelations spilled early in the book, but let me clearly say that Aaron has done some masterful worldbuilding. I love the system she has in place. Everything makes sense once explained, her rules of reality lead to some entertaining situations, and she’s got a clever twist on the decades-old ‘possessed sword’ trope that will be familiar to experienced readers.

Aaron’s secondary protagonists – a master swordsman and an erratically powerful demonseed, a woman with a demon’s spirit trapped inside her – serve to further colour the story and provide depth to the narrative. Aaron lays heavy hints about Eli’s companions’ backstories, and I’d be surprised if the rest of the books in the series didn’t resolve many of the mysteries Aaron lays before us.

Light and easy
The Spirit Thief is a light, fun and easy to read book. This is not a criticism I’m levelling, but it may divide readers who are used to darker, more dense fantasy. Fanatical lovers of Richard Morgan and Joe Abercrombie may find Aaron’s characters too purely heroic and the adventuring a little PG-rated for their tastes.

I kept wishing I had someone to read The Spirit Thief aloud to. Not that this is a children’s book – far from it. Aaron has a witty, lyrical prose that is worthwhile narrating. Reading the book is easy and a visceral pleasure, and at barely 300 pages, can be easily done on a few train trips or a lazy afternoon.

Good times.
The Spirit Thief is a great first book. It’s not going to shatter the boundaries of any writing conventions, but that’s not a problem. The characters are fun and well-rounded, with enough backstory and intrigue in them to keep me keen on the next two books. Aaron has crafted an excellent world, of which we’ve only seen the smallest corner. Her magic system is well thought out and cohesive.

I enjoyed The Spirit Thief in a light, summery afternoon’s read, and if that’s what you’re in the mood for, you’re not going to be disappointed. Perfectly suited for younger readers, young adults, and those getting into Fantasy. Grizzled veterans may find the going a bit light, but there’s enough substance to satisfy.

I give The Spirit Thief 7 possessed swords.

Rachel Aaron’s other books in the Eli Monpress series, The Spirit Rebellion and The Spirit Eater, have also been reviewed. Rachel has also had an interview with Write-Thing, which you can read here.