Megan Whalen Turner delivers another solid novel in her The Queen’s Thief fantasy series. The King of Attolia picks up a few months after The Queen of Attolia with Eugenides married to Attolia, but reluctant to assume the king’s power or take authority from his wife. Unfortunately, just because Gen is reluctant does not mean others are squeamish about usurping power; all it does is make him look weak.
We see the action through Costis, a member of the Queen’s guard. The King of Attolia opens with Costis sitting in his room contemplating execution and disgrace after hitting King Eugenides in the face. Gen comes into see him and decides to make Costis his bodyguard instead of hanging him.
Costis then witnesses Gen’s approach: Gen lets his gentlemen/courtiers run over him; he never is seen seeking his wife’s bed; he seems bored and flighty during court; he does nothing when a noble composes a witty song about what (supposedly) didn’t happen on his wedding night. Despite Gen’s past escapades as the Thief of Eddis, the nobility and court believe him lightweight.
Over time Costis sees that Gen is in fact aware of every slight and we watch along with Costis as Gen is wounded fighting off an assassin team. One of my favorite episodes is when Gen tracks down a finance minister for a crash course on types of wheat, then hustles one of the wheat-growing nobles out of bed to confront him with tax evasion for reporting the wrong type of wheat. Of course no one believes that it was Gen who did the legwork; even the cheating noble thinks someone must have betrayed him.
Slowly, very slowly, Gen believes his wife when she asks him to take on his authority, and slowly he digs himself out of the hole he let the court push him into. Eventually Gen assumes his proper place as the King of Attolia.
Summary
I enjoyed all three books in The Queen’s Thief series. Turner gets the cultural and geographic settings just right and captures the feeling of menace and danger hanging over Gen. The court scenes are delightful as are the confrontations with various villainous wanna-bes. She built Gen into a real person and in this novel, also brings Costis to life. He’s a foil for Gen, but takes on a more solid character through the novel.
The King of Attolia is fantasy because everything takes place in Attolia, an imaginary country based on ancient Greece and because the gods are active now and then. There is no magic, no quest, no talisman to seek or to destroy. Using a fantasy setting without the heroic trimings lets author Turner spend her time on making the people and the setting and conflicts interesting and believable.
Libraries classify The King of Attolia as YA along with the previous two books, The Thief and The Queen of Attolia. The Thief is a bit lighthearted and has younger characters, fun for older teens. The Queen of Attolia is more sober, with more serious conflicts and character development, suitable for teens and adults. Likewise adults will enjoy The King of Attolia as will teens.
5 Stars
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