This novel, a 1997 Newbery Honor Book, is the first in a trilogy about a semi-Grecian world. There isn’t a lot of magic, but there are gods, and it’s set in a time that never was, so it occupies that misty land between fantasy and children’s literary fiction. If you wanted, you could call it a genre-bending book; that may have contributed to its Newbery status. Whatever you’d like to call it, many more impressive people than me have called it a great read.

Gen is the thief of the title; as the book opens, he’s in prison and musing on his state. Shortly thereafter, the King’s Magus drags him out of prison and informs him that he’s going on a journey. There is an ‘ancient treasure’ (as the back of the book calls it) hidden, and although many people have tried to find it and died in the process, the magus is certain that not only he knows where it is, but that he can retrieve it as well. Naturally he needs Gen’s help, for the treasure must be stolen. This treasure — Hamiathes’s Gift — will bring peace, honor, and wealth to the kingdom. Quite naturally things go all pear-shaped; no one is quite who he seems to be, and several other countries get involved in the situation.

The book is in first-person narration, and it starts, like an ancient Greek epic, in medias res. We’re dropped straight into Gen’s mind, and although he does tell us how he came to be in the prison, his personal history, for most of the book, goes back no further than a few months. He also doesn’t give us very much background information on the places around him, except through stories. Occasionally the action will stop altogether as Gen or the magus recounts a legend from their culture, or as the magus (who is a teacher, not a magic-worker) lectures the students he brought with him on something as mundane as the major exports of Attolia. Somehow Turner manages to weave all that in as if it were — well, as if she were writing an opera, and these digressions are nothing so much as arias. No one ever complains when Carmen stops to sing about how love is a rebellious bird*, and I certainly enjoyed the legends in the same way.

Gen is a great narrator; he is rebellious, as a thief should be, but mostly not inclined to make things easy for the magus. He tries to escape many times; he refuses to travel for as long per day as the magus wants; he has no interest in going with short food rations. He’s quite observant, though, also as a thief should be. Certain details of the other members of his traveling group clue him in to truths about their lives, such as the one’s poverty and the other’s disagreements with his father. The other characters are also interesting; otherwise, with the vast majority of the book being five people (all male) traveling over land, things could get quite boring quite quickly. The magus, perhaps, is the least interesting of the group, but Useless One and Two (the magus’s students, actually named Ambiades and Sophos) and Pol (Sophos’s guard) are all quirky personalities, with their own mini-dramas. They start out the trip being decidedly cold to Gen, but the alliances, friendships, and preconceived notions shift quite a bit.

The setting, which is generally Mediterranean, is awfully well-described; Turner’s pantheon is also decidedly Greek-flavored, but on its ear a bit. The names are all obviously Grecian (’Gen’ is short for Eugenides), but the differences between actual Greece and Turner’s lands didn’t bother me. At least, it didn’t seem like she was trying to set something in ancient Greece but not do her homework. The world was built fairly completely, and unless someone is completely wedded to every possible detail of the ancient world, it shouldn’t be irksome. Besides, Turner also included such things as pocket watches and gunpowder, and both were invented well after the Golden Age.

In short, I have absolutely no qualms about recommending this book — and its surprising and satisfying ending — to anyone. There are two sequels; expect at least book 2 (The Queen of Attolia) to be reviewed in the not-too-distant future. I’d especially recommend it to people who like Greek mythology (with the caveat above) and people who are possibly looking for a fantasy set somewhere other than in medieval European times. 5/5 stars.

*”L’amour est un oiseau rebelle…” ‘La Habanera’, from Carmen. Just a little bonus of having a degree in music and a grandfather obsessed with opera.