The Thief

     The Thief by Megan Whalen Turner is a fantasy book about a young thief who is thrown into prison because he stole the King's seal. He is given a chance for freedom, but only if he steals something that may not even exist. So the thief must travel to distant lands in order to try and steal what has never been stolen before and may just only be a myth. The book is all fantasy, with made-up gods and goddesses, and is set in an unknown land, in an unknown time. The plot of this book is just so complex and well-thought out that it was very enjoyable to read. The novel is very well-written, and it also has instances of humor, which makes it even better to read. This is an example of one incident of humor in The Thief.

     "In the city I had wanted to hug the sunlight and wrap it around myself like a blanket. I'd turned my body in the saddle in order to expose as much of my skin as possible to direct light. It was pleasant at first, but by the time the city was a single lump of gold stone behind us, I felt as if I were wearing a coat of dirt and dried sweat that had shrunk to be two sizes too small...The smells of prison floated down the road with me, and I think that even the horse underneath me objected. I noticed that as the sun got hotter, the two riders on either side of me moved farther and farther away" (Turner 28).
     The thief in the novel, whose name is Gen, has many qualities and layers of personality which make him a very dynamic character. He is very sarcastic, yet sensitive to what other people think of him, as you can see from the quote, when he notices that the other travelers can smell him. He also has a very humorous side to him, for example he notes that he's so dirty that probably even the horse was objecting to his smell. Gen wants to be respected for who he is: a master thief, not just some dirty prisoner. Another reason why Gen is a dynamic character, and therefore the protagonist, is he goes through a dramatic change during the story. In the beginning he is very distrustful of everyone and only thinks about escaping and himself. But as the story goes on and he starts to understand what is really happening in their world, he becomes a true hero and saves his nation. Without him, the story would have no meaning whatsoever. The book is actually part of a series, and while I have not yet read the other books of the series, I am looking forward to the day I can.