Take a Thief by Mercedes Lackey

Title: Take a Thief

Author: Mercedes Lackey (American, 1950- )
Originally published: 2001
Page count: 435


Dates read: 4/27/2020-5/10/2020
2020 book goal progress: 15 out of 20
Reading category: TBR Shelf - Valdemar Universe



Read my other book reviews for my 2020 goal HERE.



Description on back of book:
For as long as Skif could remember he had worked as a drudge in his Uncle Londer's dreary inn in the slums of Haven. It was an easy decision for him to abandon his former life and throw his lot in with Bazie's crew. Bazie was more than just the head of a band of young thieves - Bazie cared about the boys. Uncle Londer barely cared whether Skif was alive or dead. By the time Skif was twelve, he was an accomplished cat burglar and one of the leaders of Bazie's gang. But it wasn't until he decided to steal a white horse, that this young thief discovered that the tables could be turned on him.

First sentence:
"Skif's dreams shattered, leaving him with vague fragments of being somewhere warm and cozy, and sweet-scented."

CAWPILE Rating: Overall - 8.7 - ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Characters      - 9
Atmosphere   - 10
Writing Style - 9
Plot                - 9
Intrigue          - 8
Logic             - 7
Enjoyment     - 9
What is a CAWPILE Rating?

Review:

This gives the background of Herald Trainee Skif, who is - you guessed it - a thief. It isn't until over halfway through the book that Skif is actually chosen by a Companion. I liked having more of a background of the 'slums' in Haven since most of the books are all by the palace - where the Heralds are trained. I enjoyed the world-building in this story, but everyone spoke English poorly. That made it hard to read and sometimes hard to understand.

This was an emotion-charged story and I felt for Skif the whole way through. Despite being written before Exile's Honor and Exile's Valor (Alberich's background) BUT being chronologically after those books, Take a Theif fits in well and all three made sense together. This one did seem a little simplistic sometimes, but, unlike when Alberich was chosen (as an adult), Skif was chosen as a child - and so, I think the book leaned more towards a children's story then Alberich's books did. Overall, I really liked it and I hope others read books from the Valdemar universe.

Now I'm off to read another book... but since a review should be more about the author of the book than about the writer of the blog, I will let Mercedes Lackey have the last words:

"They's old thieves, an' they's bold thieves, but they ain't no old, bold thieves."

"He had a chance that wasn't given to most people - to help make things better. Not right; the job of making everything right was too big for one person, for a group of people like the Heralds, even - but better."