On the value of re-reading

(peeks from under the piles of books read and not reviewed, and books not read, because I just got a lot of feelings and it appears I have something to say about that)

Ahh, re-reading books. I used to do it a lot more than I do now but then again, I used to read a lot more than I do now. I know people that don't do this and are surprised that I would a) re-read a book, and b) keep a book because I might want to re-read it in the future. But for most of my reading life, I've been re-reading books that I've enjoyed, although now I prioritise new reads over re-reads (gotta keep that TBR pile tamed).

Even so, the last book I re-read wasn't that long ago. As I finally read Thick as Thieves late last year, I realised that it had been too long since I had read the last two books of the series (the first two I had re-read a few years back). Too long meaning that there were details I couldn't remember very well. The broad strokes, yeah, those I had, but with any book by Megan Whalen Turner, you gonna need more than that (seriously, even if you have it committed to memory you'll be surprised and miss things. As they say, fool me once, shame on me, fool me 5, possibly 6 times, you must be Megan). So that brings us to one of the points on re-reading: our memory is not perfect, so if a series takes say, 10 years to produce a sequel, you'll need a refresher at some point (even if it takes less than that - my memory is not what it was). So, after I finished Thick as Thieves, realising there were some things I couldn't remember, I just picked The King of Attolia the next day. And what fun it was to be thrown back in that book, with a somewhat spotty knowledge of the Conspiracy of Kings and very fresh read of Thick as Thieves.

And that knowledge of what happens next brings us to point number two: hindsight is 20/20, and when you are re-reading you really appreciate the cleverness of an author, the details and the foreshadowing that are there that you missed the first time,. You pay attention to different aspects of the story, you may skip any parts you didn't particularly like and not miss the thread of the story (or read them anyway and have an 'Oh!' moment), and you may linger on the parts that you loved, reading them again and again. You are reading the same book you've already read, but the experience you are getting is a different one altogether.

The final points on the value of re-reading, and what lead me to want to write this down, come not from re-reading a book, but from listening to an adaptation of a beloved series, which I have not returned to in a very long time (especially not the first books). I'm talking about Earthsea, and the BBC radio series adaptation from 2015. A long time ago, I said I'd wished I could read these books again for the first time (along with some others by Ursula K. Le Guin). And while reading for the first time is a very specific experience, some of these books I haven't even re-read. This is due, mostly, to fear that the magic that I associate with these stories will be lost. I'm older, hopefully wiser, with more reading mileage and with a different understanding of the world than I had when I was 12 or 15 or 22 (the world itself is a very different place too). With these fears in mind (and also the terrible track record of Earthsea adaptations), I gave the radio series a try (previous BBC radio dramas have been very good, this one was shared by a friend whose opinion I trust, and since the metro was crowded it was easier to listen than to read my current book).

And it was like coming home. That's point number 3. Most of the times I've re-read books before have been because it is a comfort read. Reading something I love, because I'm in a streak of books that don't satisfy, because life is being troublesome, or just because I need something familiar. And being back at Earthsea was familiar. Ged and Tenar speaking to each other, as the stories are recounted, that was familiar. It wasn't familiar in the sense of 'oh I know these characters and these places and these stories'. No, it was familiar in the warmth you get when you are back at home after being away for so long, the one you get when you see a good friend. It was a very emotional response that I did not expect to have.

The final point, and that somehow connects to point number 2, is that books shape who we are. They make you see the world in a different and wider way. There might be moralities in them that will guide you or make you realise that they don't work for you, but hopefully they teach you to be better, and to understand yourself better. The Earthsea books are that from me. And listening to this story again, I could see some of the building blocks of the person I've become. But also that I have lost some lessons along the way (or that I had to re-learn them in some other way), while others only now make sense to me. A different (re-)read puts things in perspective, and so does being older and the different experiences we have through life. My experience of these stories now is obviously different from my experience then, and so are the lessons I learn. It’s not a new thing that books still can teach me how to be better and help me understand myself. It is a pleasant surprise when an old favourite still manages to do that almost 20 years later, both in the same ways that it did then and in completely new ways.

And while I've enjoyed the BBC radio drama very much, I still want to re-read these books (now slightly less afraid, because the magic clearly is still there). On a similar note, I have the radio drama for the Left Hand of Darkness, which I've yet to listen to (or re-read the book - it's only been like 15 years since I've read it) and I have exactly the same fears that I had with Earthsea.

A Conspiracy of Kings by Megan Whalen Turner

A Conspiracy of Kings

Warning: Spoilers for the previous books in the series (and probably for this one too)

A Conspiracy of Kings has a different tone from the rest of the series – the first person POV is back (although not completely), and Sophos is back, after all, this is his story.

In this book we get to know what happened to Sophos, whose fate has been mentioned and speculated in the previous book. And since it is Sophos himself who tells it, we see who he really is, not just the innocent blushing boy from The Thief. And since that book his life has not been easy. First his uncle, the King of Sounis, decides that the magus is not a suitable tutor (for his purposes, of course), then comes exile to island of Letnos and a whole string of tutors who are bad, drunk, silly, idiot or any combination of those.


But that is not the worse part, when Sounis dies, Sophos becomes king, and everyone knows he is spineless and gullible, so everyone wants to be the one pulling his strings. First comes abduction and betrayal, then Sophos manages to escape only to become a slave, and then he has to escape again, while trying to decide whether he actually wants to be king.

This book is divided in four parts, two of those narrated by Sophos (and it takes a while to become apparent to whom he is telling his story), and the other two, when the gang (as I call Gen, Attolia, Eddis and Sophos) is all together. Sophos's story is brilliant, poignant, and very true to his character. One cannot help but feel for him. But there is also his relationship with the other characters. Attolia, the one he has had less contact with was actually surprising – I could see the beginning of a friendship there. With Gen, it was heartbreaking, because he is no longer just a rowdy boy thief, he is king, of a rival country, one that is at war with his. And since this is Sophos story, we don't get much of Gen's inner feelings, only glimpses, and at first he comes across way too cold.

And then there is Eddis, who once proposed marriage to him, only now there are a lot more political trappings with that marriage. For once, I wished Megan Whalen Turner focused more on the love stories of her characters (a character in The King of Attolia says "the love of kings and queens is beyond the compass of us lesser mortals", and it's certainly true for this series). Even more, because in the light of the ending, Eddis's feelings don't sound as true as they could have (I know they are true, but still...).

Overall it was a very good book, mostly because of Sophos development (who, in my mind, already is Sounis), who is a great character, and thus making up for the fact that there is less Gen (and less than stellar Gen). But I expected more of the ending. It wasn't bad, but I was under the impression this was going to be the last book of the series (now I know there are plans for two more, yay!), and as such it lacked the grand finale vibe. Still, it was a decent ending, with a promise of more adventures to come.


Rating: 4 out of 5

Other Reviews: Books from Bleh to Basically Amazing

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The King of Attolia by Megan Whalen Turner

The King of Attolia

Warning: Spoilers for the previous books in the series (and probably for this one too)


The King of Attolia feels different than The Thief and The Queen of Attolia. That is not to say that it's bad, but after two superb books, this one seemed more laid back.

It is still the story of Gen, but this time we get to see it from someone else's eyes. And this someone else is a new character in the series – Costis. Costis is a royal guard, and very much loyal to his Queen. And since there is much speculation on whether she had any choice in marrying the King, it means he is not going out of his way to protect him.

But when he punches the King in face he knows he has gone too far. Actually he doesn't really understand how he got to that point, but since he is also a very honourable person, he awaits his punishment. He does get it, in a way, but not what he expected. He becomes the King's sparring partner, his guard, and sometimes his confident.

And through the eyes of Costis we get to see Gen, that now needs to be a bit more covert about his tricks, and who has to comes to terms that he is a king.

At first I wasn't sure if I was going to like The King of Attolia – it was too different comparing to the previous books. There didn't seem to be much of a plot at the beginning – no wars to fight, no jewels to steal. There is a plot, off course, but it's not action-centered, it's more of a coming to terms with responsibility. And also about loyalty.

There is also a small insight about the relationship of Attolia and Gen, but again, mostly through Costis eyes. It did work for me, because not only it allowed me to see into the relationship, but Costis was also learning something. And by the end of the book I had come to like Costis. He might not be as memorable as the other main characters, but he developed very well throughout the book, and his love-hate-incomprehension relationship with Gen was hilarious at times.

I did like The King of Attolia, but not as much as the first two. It was a fun read, with a peek into Attolia's court life, with some twists, and some laughs. What I found myself missing was Sophos, who hasn't appeared since book 1, but has been mentioned a lot. There is a bit of an intrigue with his disappearance that is not resolved (it is in the next book, though).

Rating: 4 out of 5

Other Reviews: Books from Bleh to Basically Amazing | Fantasy Cafe

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The Queen of Attolia by Megan Whalen Turner

The Queen of Attolia

When Eugenides, the Thief of Eddis, stole Hamiathes's Gift, the Queen of Attolia lost more than a mythical relic. She lost face. Everyone knew that Eugenides had outwitted and escaped her. To restore her reputation and reassert her power, the Queen of Attolia will go to any length and accept any help that is offered...she will risk her country to execute the perfect revenge.

Eugenides can steal anything. And he taunts the Queen of Attolia, moving through her strongholds seemingly at will. So Attolia waits, secure in the knowledge that the Thief will slip, that he will haunt her palace one too many times.

When Eugenides finds his small mountain country at war with Attolia, he must steal a man, he must steal a queen, he must steal peace. But his greatest triumph, and his greatest loss, comes in capturing something that the Queen of Attolia thought she had sacrificed long ago...

After loving The Thief so much, its sequel wasn't going stay long on both the wishlist and the TBR pile. I was expecting more adventures with Gen, more of his awesomeness, more of the mythos of Eddis, Attolia and Sounis, and, going by the name of this book, a lot more about the queen of Attolia.

What I was not expecting, though, was to like this one even more than the first.

The Thief was amazing, introducing Gen and his quirks and cunning and cleverness. But it was focused mostly on Gen. I am not complaining, but the rest of the characters of this series are quite good as well. In this book, the queens of Eddis and Attolia get more air-time, and they are quite different from Gen. They are complex and, being queens, there is a lot about them that has to do with how they rule. (Oh, and they rule!)

And if, to those two queens, we add one king, one pesky foreign ambassador and a whole bunch of disloyal barons and ministers, we get a lot of political intrigue. And I really like that. The expression that comes to mind about this book is "political machinations".

And to do yet another comparison with The Thief, in the first there was a lot of cunning on Gen's part, a lot of twists, and a lot of surprises. So this time around, I was on the lookout for those, having learnt to expect the less sensible course of action from Gen. But that doesn't mean that it didn't surprise me here and there (it did, and especially at the beginning that I was afraid of the direction the story was going), but there was nothing really major as on the first book. But I did spend a lot of the time trying to figure out how exactly Gen would get out of his troubles.

So, to summarize, I loved this book and will keep on reading (the next book is on its way!).


Rating: 5 out of 5

Other Reviews: Books from Bleh to Basically Amazing | Emily and Her Little Pink Notes | Fyrefly’s Book Blog

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The Thief by Megan Whalen Turner

The Thief

Gen, a thief that likes to brag about being able to steal everything, is stuck in prison, and it isn't a pleasant experience. But his luck changes when the king's magus comes to him with a task that will make all his troubles go away. The ultimate theft, the hardest of all, one that no one has been able to do. So of course Gen accepts the challenge.

This book incited some curiosity from me a long time ago. It was fantasy and with a thief, it seemed nice. But it wasn't until a friend pointed me to literary showdown of characters that I wanted to really read this one. Because, you see, Gen was the winner, and the final battle was against Howl! Who was this Gen that could be more awesome than Howl? So I set out to read this book to find out.

And I have to agree with all the voters. Gen is more awesome than Howl.

But let's get back to the book. It is fantasy, but there is a Greek influence, which was really nice. There are no clear references, but something about the plethora of gods and their stories, of mountains and hot weather, of old stones and temples, and the sheer amount of olive trees just screamed Greece to me.

The story kept me on my toes, reading page after page, chuckling a lot, and always wanting to know what would happen next. And I say chuckling because this book is also extremely funny. Gen is an amazing character, as I said before. Just because he was getting a ticket to walk out of jail, he didn't make the life of his rescuers/jailers any easier. He was obnoxious and impertinent and insufferable and an wise ass all the time. But it was an act, with him always thinking what else he could do to further annoy his companions.

His voice throughout the book (he tells the story) is amazing, and gives little away of what will happen next, or what the conclusion of the story will be. And concerning that, although the ending did not exactly surprising me, I didn't see it coming either. It made so much sense that it happened like that, that the only surprise was that I didn't notice it or figured it was going that way.

This is the beginning of a series, one that I'll keep on reading, for sure, but is a book of his own as well, not just an introduction. It ends with hints for the next book, but the thief's story is (more or less) finished (at least this first adventure is, I hope there are a lot more).

It's safe to say that I loved it.


Rating: 4.5 out of 5

Other Reviews: Books from Bleh to Basically Amazing | Fyrefly's Book Blog

Book recs for this book: Graceling, Poison Study, Crown Duel, Howl's Moving Castle

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