The Magic Thief

The Magic Thief

Cover art for The Magic Thief by Sarah Prineas
Author Sarah Prineas
Cover artist Antonio Javier Caparo (illustrator)
Country United States
Language English
Series The Magic Thief trilogy (Book 1)
Genre Fantasy novel
Publisher HarperCollins (USA) and Quercus (UK)
Publication date
2008
Media type Print (hardback & paperback)
Pages 419
ISBN 978-0-06-137587-3 (USA hardcover edition)
OCLC 166872403
LC Class PZ7.P93646 St 2008
Preceded by NA
Followed by The Magic Thief: Lost

The Magic Thief is the first book in a children's fantasy trilogy[1] published by HarperCollins in June 2008.[2][3] Authored by American Sarah Prineas and illustrated by Antonio Javier Caparo, the novel follows the adventures of Connwaer, a thief, who is taken into apprenticeship by Nevery Flinglas, an old wizard.

The sequels The Magic Thief: Lost was published in June 2009, followed by The Magic Thief: Found in May 2010 and The Magic Thief: Home in September 2014. There is also a short e-story, A Proper Wizard, released before the fourth sequel.

Beginnings

Prineas wrote the first chapter of The Magic Thief for Cricket, a literary magazine for young adults, after a request for stories about wizards and serialized fiction.[4] When she felt the characters had more to tell, she expanded it into a novel, and then into a trilogy. She later published a stand-alone fourth book, and an e-story.

Overview

Connwaer, a pickpocket on the streets of the Twilight, one day picks the pocket of a powerful wizard named Nevery and steals his locus magicalicus, a special stone that helps wizards connect to the magical power of the city. It should kill Conn, but Nevery stops the process by saying a spell using Conn's name. It turns out that Nevery has just returned (or rather, snuck in) after a 20-year exile, to try to save the town from the leaching of its magic, upon which so much, including its economy, depends. Curious about the boy, Nevery takes him on as a servant and then later an apprentice. Although it is the wizard's job to stem the tide of the disappearing magic, he seems unable to do so. Conn believes he knows the answer, but his enemies are closing in.[5]

Characters

Conn could be any age from twelve to fourteen, and has unkempt black hair that usually obscures his large, bright blue eyes. He is quick-witted, curious, innovative and bold, completely unbound by the deep-rooted beliefs in magic. Several characters noted him for being quiet.
Conn likes reading and thinking about magic, and is a voracious eater. He could touch others' locus stones without dying and has never been ill. Growing up as a thief, Conn learns to be slippery, but he is completely honest (so instead of lying, which he could not do, he sometimes chooses not to reveal), and is sometimes stubborn and impetuous, heading into trouble without much planning beforehand. He wholeheartedly believes the magic must be protected, and that he is chosen to do so by it, and selflessly puts its safety before his own wellbeing. All this coupled with his strange ideas, he has a knack for attracting trouble.

Nevery lives in Heartsease, a mansion on one of the wizard islands in the Wellmet River. The house has been in his family for generations, and have once been grand, but was partially destroyed in Nevery's pyrotechnic experiment and abandoned for decades. Conn discovered his family chronicles and locus stone collection there, which contain records about Nevery's parents, his relatives, and a young girl who might have been his sister or daughter, all of whom long gone, but the cause of his whole family's demise remains unknown.

Though he seems formidable and hard on the outside, Benet has a tendency to understand, as well as notice something wrong with Conn that Nevery frequently overlook, and stood up to his master for his sometimes insensible nature.

Runic Messages

In "The Magic Thief" messages written in the Rune language by Conn are dotted throughout the book in Nevery's Journal. Altogether, there are 10. They are as follows:

Reviews

The Magic Thief has received positive reviews from both Kirkus and the School Library Journal[6] and Teens Read Too.com, claiming that it "stands out from the many fantasy novels on the shelves."[7] KUER-FM hosted a summer book listing, in which book expert Catherine Weller recommended The Magic Thief.[8]

Popular culture

References

External links

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