Megan Whalen Turner

I love the characters--both the amazingly gifted and probably equally annoying to live with, Gen, and the people who hate and love him. It's wonderful to experience their weaknesses and strengths and the way they are surprised by both. I love the story world and the way Turner makes us fall into it, even when you would think it would never work. [Who can quote fictional archaic epi poetry in the middle of a book and make me actually read it and enjoy it, instead of skipping over it? Okay, she doesn't do that in Return of the Thief.]

But if you want to appreciate twisty intricate plotting, complex and believeable character motivations and go away from this world for awhile, try this whole series. She's a master at work, so she makes it all look and feel so easy.

Readers of Jennifer A. Nielsen's smart and surprising series "The Ascendance" (begins with The False Prince) will enjoy these books too.

This series is young adult, both because the motivations of the characters require thoughtful puzzling out--one of the great pleasures of these books--and there is a violent, on-page scene in the second book that I can't tell you about, because it would be a spoiler. Of course, if you are reading this one now, you already know what that spoiler is. There are references to adult relationships, but again not on the page.

People often say that reading fiction "teaches" empathy. Without "teaching" at all, Megan Whalen Turner's books are like experiencing the world from all sides. I've read this three times at least, so it's about time I wrote a review! Books like these that I really like are hard to review. Mostly, I want to hand it to you and go away.… (mer)