***The Starry-Eyed Revue***: midnight thief

Title: Midnight Thief
Author: Livia Blackburne
Series: Midnight Thief, book #1
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Publication Date: July 8, 2014
Source: ARC received from publisher
Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble

Growing up on Forge’s streets has taught Kyra how to stretch a coin. And when that’s not enough, her uncanny ability to scale walls and bypass guards helps her take what she needs.

But when the leader of the Assassins Guild offers Kyra a lucrative job, she hesitates. She knows how to get by on her own, and she’s not sure she wants to play by his rules. But he’s persistent—and darkly attractive—and Kyra can’t quite resist his pull.

Tristam of Brancel is a young Palace knight on a mission. After his best friend is brutally murdered by Demon Riders, a clan of vicious warriors who ride bloodthirsty wildcats, Tristam vows to take them down. But as his investigation deepens, he finds his efforts thwarted by a talented thief, one who sneaks past Palace defenses with uncanny ease.

When a fateful raid throws Kyra and Tristam together, the two enemies realize that their best chance at survival—and vengeance—might be to join forces. And as their loyalties are tested to the breaking point, they learn a startling secret about Kyra’s past that threatens to reshape both their lives.

Midnight Thief was full of surprises. It would have been a great novel to use for my "Review in a GIFfy" feature, if only to use a lot of GIFs with shocked faces. I read the novella last fall after the author graciously sent me a copy, and I think she did so to throw me for a loop once I got to Midnight Thief. Poison Dance is a prequel to this novel and provides the backstory for a very significant character in Midnight Thief, one that seems very much changed...or maybe affected is a better word choice. If you decide to read that story prior to this full-length novel, I recommend keeping in mind that the author wrote the prequel because she had lingering questions about one of her characters.

The characters in Midnight Thief were nothing like I was expecting, especially after reading the prequel story. They were so much more, and I'm actually pretty satisfied with the direction the author took with each of their stories, even if it did take a bit of deliberation to get to that point. I won't make any justifications for any of the characters, but I feel like their actions -- and what led them to them -- were fitting. Kyra is a very talented thief, one with cat-like grace who can circumvent palace guards and deadly assassins alike. But she isn't a skilled fighter. Her successes have all come from her need to survive and look out for the few people who depend on her. Tristam is a privileged knight, dead-set on avenging his friend's death at the hands of the Demon Riders. The story is told from both of their perspectives through alternating chapters, and when I got to nearly half-way through the novel, I started to wonder if the two main characters would ever meet. But meet they did, and what an encounter that was!

I really enjoyed the writing in this story. It's not high fantasy with crazy names for people and places, or one where I needed a map at the start of the book to get some sense of the land, but there is a seriously fantastical element having to do with the Demon Riders that I wasn't expecting at the onset of the novel, and that more than made up for the slightly slower pacing in the first quarter or so and kept the story from feeling generic. I did find that it was fairly easy to guess the nature of the "startling secret" mentioned in the summary, but it didn't detract from the story. In fact, I think knowing that made it easier for my brain to take a break and ignore clues to other goings on that might have made parts of the ending less astonishing. What I mean to say is, though some aspects of this novel may seem slightly predictable, the novel as a whole lends itself to an air of unpredictability, much to my delight. I'm horrible about trying to guess every secret a story holds, and I love a book all the more if it can keep me guessing, as Midnight Thief did.

I've found lately that a lot of summaries for fantasy novels like to mention assassins in the story and then not a whole lot of assassinating actually happens. Kyra is NOT an assassin, nor does she wish to become one. Honestly, there isn't much in the way of assassinations in this novel, but there is plenty of intrigue, death and betrayal, and I don't think that's too far off. Also, I appreciate that this summary makes little to no mention of a romance because this was most certainly not a swooning, fall into his arms kind of story. There are a few moments, and they were spectacularly handled -- both by the characters and the author -- but romance is definitely not where the author's focus lies in this first book. I loved where the author left things, with questions and uncertainties for both of the characters but no one's life is left hanging in the balance. Though there are definitely some major changes coming for some of the characters.

Midnight Thief is an excellent fantasy story that is sure to keep you on your toes. This novel will surely appeal to readers looking for a fast-paced story, full of danger and intrigue and just a hint of romance. It was riveting and damn-near unputdownable, and I hate that I now have to wait another year for more of this story. If you're contemplating reading this story or still unsure, I highly suggest picking up the novella, which is free for Kindle and Nook right now.

GIF it to me straight:

About the author:

I was a neuroscience graduate student at MIT, conducting research on the neural correlates of reading, where I took the analytical approach I used for my experiments and applied it towards the process of writing and publishing. After earning my doctorate, I've switched to full time writing. My debut YA fantasy novel MIDNIGHT THIEF will be coming out with Disney-Hyperion in 2014. The goal of this blog remains the same though: study pieces of writing, break it down into component pieces, and try to see what makes it work.

Find Livia:

Website | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads

Labels: assassins, disney hyperion, fantasy, favorites, livia blackburne, midnight thief, reviews

Short stories are awesome. They give us in-depth insight into characters, providing anecdotal proof of why some characters are they way they are. They entertain by creating a certain mood or focusing on a singular effect...some instance in a previous body of work (or one to follow) that might have been glossed over or ignored completely in a longer novel.

And so I would like to highlight some short stories and novellas set in worlds I've already come to love and learn a little more about some of the secondary characters in my favorite novels. In addition to offering up a mini review of these short works of fiction, I'll be underscoring some of my favorite aspects.

This week I'm featuring a prequel story from Livia Blackburne's Midnight Thief series:

Title: Poison Dance
Author: Livia Blackburne
Series: Midnight Thief, book #0.5
Publisher: Lion's Quill Press
Publication Date: September 12, 2013
Source: from author for review
Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble

James is skilled, efficient, and deadly; a hired blade navigating the shifting alliances of a deteriorating Assassin’s Guild. Then he meets Thalia, an alluring but troubled dancing girl who offers him a way out—if he’ll help her kill a powerful nobleman. With the Guild falling apart, it just might be worth the risk. But when you live, breathe, and love in a world that’s forever flirting with death, the slightest misstep can be poison.

Poison dance is approximately 14,000 words, or 54 printed pages.

This. This is what I was hoping for from the last couple of "fantasy" novels I've read. Unfortunately -- or fortunately for this short story -- this novella packs more of a punch than either of the last two fantasy novels I finished, and it only comes in at a whopping 54 pages!

Okay, maybe I'm a bit biased because I do have an affinity for stories that focus on assassins. Still not sure what that says about me, but there it is. At any rate, there wasn't all that much assassining to be had in this book, but even so, the author captured the world of the assassins -- the betrayal, the mutiny, the upheaval -- in a way that almost glorified the role James played in the Assassin's Guild.

In her pitch to me, the author stated that "I'd classify it more as upper YA or New Adult, while Midnight Thief is mid YA", but honestly, I felt no need to make the distinction. I don't want to compare it to Throne of Glass based on the content because even though assassins are pertinent to the storyline in each book, the actual premise is very different in each story. However, based on maturity level, I'd say this prequel story is comparable. Which means the author's full-length novel will be perfect for everyone! Yay!

Basically, in a few short chapters, the author managed to engage my fantasy-side and keep me glued to the pages, wondering how this story will play into Midnight Thief and Kyra's story when that full-length novel is released next year. I'm looking forward to that book even more now, and I'm so glad I had a chance to try out the author's writing with this prequel story.

If you, too, are curious about Midnight Thief and the events that lead up to it, you can check out Poison Dance for a mere $0.99, but the sale ends today, so be quick about it!

GIF it to me straight:

Ryan and I both approve...assassins are my weakness!

About the author:

I was a neuroscience graduate student at MIT, conducting research on the neural correlates of reading, where I took the analytical approach I used for my experiments and applied it towards the process of writing and publishing. After earning my doctorate, I've switched to full time writing. My debut YA fantasy novel MIDNIGHT THIEF will be coming out with Disney-Hyperion in 2014. The goal of this blog remains the same though: study pieces of writing, break it down into component pieces, and try to see what makes it work.

Find Livia:

Website | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads