Among Thieves (Tales of Thamorr)

So impressed!
OKAY, I am going to lead off by saying that I was SO impressed by this book!! There is so, so much to love here. If you are a fan of Six of crows, found families, morally grey characters, LGBTQ rep, fast paced adventures, bands of misfits, multiple perspectives, and a unique and interesting magic/fantasy world, you need to add this to your TBR like, yesterday. This book does all of these things, and it does them well.Ryia is known as the Butcher of Carrowick, the most notorious assassin and member of local gang, the Saints. She has a dark past, that leads the most powerful man in the realm to have been hunting her for her whole life. Now, she and her crew get a job that could turn the tides of the realm, and dramatically shift the power structure. Her crew doesn’t know that she has an ulterior motive, one that she is willing to betray them all for. Too bad for her to at every one of them has their own motivations, too.This book starts out strong right out the gate, painting the most badass picture of our leading assassin while giving us a taste of the action that is to come. The world is interesting (but is there going to be a map I’m the final published edition? There should be, a visual aid would really have helped my experience here!) and the power structure is unique as is the magic system. There is tons of action, but not so much so that the plot or world building suffers for it. This is a very, very easy book to absolutely blow through.This was so, so close to a five star read for me. The only thing that holds me back is wanting a bit more background on the characters. We get some from Ryia, but still not as much as I would like. The rest of the characters get vague nods to their life before the Saints, and that is even as you are reading their perspectives. It seems like this is going to be a series, so I assume that this will be developed upon in the next book. However, I believe the story could have benefitted from a bit more of this sooner rather than later. What with how easy this book is to read, I don’t think an added 100 pages or so would have hindered it. I found myself wanting something similar about the different kingdoms of Thamorr, as the names are thrown around frequently without much description to separate one from the next.All in all, I’m giving this a solid 4.5/5 stars. I anticipate the sequel to have picked up at least some of the threads I wanted more follow through from. I absolutely CANNOT wait to get my hands on the sequel, and I can see this book being incredibly successful!Thank you Gallery Books/Saga press, MJ Kuhn and NetGalley for this eArc!

4.5Among Thieves is MJ Kuhn’s debut novel, and what a rocking debut it is!Among Thieves has all that fun stuff I like in a heist story- starting with a misfit collection of characters banding together. Each has a personal reason or secret, for being a part of this job and each of them would throw the other to the wolves to see it succeed.Callus Clem is the mastermind behind the plan to steal the Quill: an artifact originally belonging to a famous traitor and adept. No one is sure exactly what the quill does, and even if they did know, that information wouldn’t change their motivations, other than to make sure that whoever ends up with it, would also have a use for their own skillsets as well.What they do know, is that if Asher, the leader of the Kestrel Crowns wants it, then, The Quill has to be worth something more than just historical value, and in turn- that value means freedom in one way or another for each of our players.Ryia- The butcher of Carrowwick has some big secrets and some surprising talents that have kept her alive longer than most would be while on the run from disciples. Ryia has a pretty good idea what the Quill is, and does, and for her, it means a chance to quit running.I genuinely liked all the characters by the end of this story, though Ryia, was the one that took me the longest to warm to. I have read so many stories with the tough-chick type of characters and when she started speaking to her weapons like they were her cats I was little eye-rolly about it. But she really grew on me as the story progressed and I liked her more and more.A lot of my change of heart about her, had to do with her interactions with the other characters, but especially Evelyn (my favourite) just because they’re so opposite, and they each had something to teach the other. I like when a character grows and especially when a character grows because of another character’s influence – whether it’s because they want to be better for that person or just realize they can be better for themselves.Evelyn is the youngest needle guard captain, but was stripped of title after the Butcher got away. She has a strong sense of duty, and a big ball of anger in her heart over losing all her hard work, and plans to regain her position by making Ryia pay for her crimes. She’s occasionally quite naïve to the motivations of the seedier side of people but she is learning that lesson quickly. She’s so cute. As I said she was my favourite.Tristan is a card dealer/thief/hustler with a large bounty on his head and a huge debt. Tristan owes Callus Clem (the head honcho gang leader). Which means Clem owns him body and soul.He was another favourite. I like characters with big secrets and he fit the bill with a doozy of one. Plus, he has that multifaceted quality that hovers somewhere between outrageous confidence, and boyish charm- the kind that makes you want to pat his head.Ivan- Is the master of disguises. He has a brother in prison that he is trying to save.Nash- She’s a scary person and works closely with Calum. Unfortunately, I kept getting her character mixed up with Tanya’s which screwed me up a few times.A lot of the fun with the story, was in the interactions of the crew. Some don’t like each other much, and others are used to doing things on their own, but all know they have to trust each other to do their part…at least up until the point when the Quill is retrieved. After that it’s anyone’s game. The sniping between them is entertaining, sometimes laugh out loud funny but never overboard or exhausting- also we learn some interesting tidbits about the world though their spats.Among Thieves is a character-centered heist story with multiple pov’s, its smaller word count and large character count, means there isn’t a lot of padding in this story and a lot of the world, magic, and character building, is done through conversations and in bits and pieces here and there.The story does spend a bit of time setting up the board, introducing and letting us get a feel for the world and the characters but after that it’s a tense fast-paced, twisty-race to the end.I’m just a big sucker for heist stories and misfit characters and this hit all those buttons with me. I had a great time with this book.

Have you ever wondered what Oceans Eleven would look like if you crossed it with Arcane: League Of Legends? The answer is Among Thieves. It’s a fantasy heist that’s witty, charming, emotionally resonant, character-driven, and an absolute blast of a novel.Ryia is a hatchet-wielding force of nature who quips as hard as she punches. I wouldn’t survive two seconds against her hatchets, or her sick burns. The book takes a multi-POV approach, but if there’s a protagonist among them, it’s Ryia.Criminals make for fascinating reading. And this is no exception. Among Thieves is a perfect title because you really do feel as if you’re in the middle of a rogue’s gallery, rooting for these scoundrels, thinking like them, empathising with them. There’s an accessibility about this underworld which makes you believe some characters deserve to win, while others deserve to lose, so there are always stakes. There’s always conflict. There’s always a betrayal or someone stabbing someone else in the back right when you least expect it, and you’ll either cheer or boo when it happens. The genius of this story is in letting you decide which characters you want to win, and then giving you room to react before plunging you into the next conundrum. Every piece of the puzzle has twists and turns, but the one thing you can guarantee is that double-crossing is going to abound, and there isn’t so much as a sniff of honour among these characters you’ve come to love (yet another reason why it has the perfect title).It can be so easy for a multi-POV book to become unbalanced, spending too much time in one head and not enough in others, especially if it’s a debut novel. MJ Kuhn has mastered the balance first time around. Each character is strong. All of them are scheming to their own ends. And the plot moves blisteringly as events are seen through different eyes. It makes for compelling, propulsive reading, and the heist aspects flow beautifully against the fantasy backdrop. Simply put, it’s a masterpiece of how to write an ensemble of characters.The world of Thamorr is gritty and realistic. MJ Kuhn’s worldbuilding is so natural, woven into every sentence, that it has a cinematic element to it. It’s so easy to imagine, and your mind fills in the blanks so there’s a visceral quality about the writing that’s understated, but a total triumph.Thamorr has a touch of the medieval, which makes things all the more juicy. The heist itself is to retrieve an artefact from an impregnable island, but the thieves don’t have the challenge of security cameras to overcome — they’re contending with superhumanly strong beings who possess the power to sense threats! And they don’t have the police to worry about in terms of getaways, just people who can move things with their minds. No big deal, right?!In terms of what you might expect from a traditional fantasy, you won’t find a thousand pages of lore, or a detailed account of a magic system with reams of exposition here. There’s no glossary of terms. The writing is fast-paced, and it flows brilliantly, so it’ll appeal to all kinds of readers. You don’t have to be a Tolkien super-fan to enjoy it. There is, however, a map in the front. And it rocks.In short, expect banter. Lots of banter.Among Thieves is a clever, carefully constructed carnival of duplicity that plays with your head as much as your heart and keeps you guessing to the very end. It’ll make you laugh, cry, hiss, boo, cheer, and then laugh again. If you’re a fan of buddy-cop-style jibes, then you’re in for a serious treat. Come for the hatchets, stay for the fun. A riotous breeze of a novel that never fails to entertain and is guaranteed to put a smile on your face.

It’s pretty hard to connect with the characters and I simply stopped reading. The world building is confusing even when it looks like an average medieval fantasy world, nothing new. I was excited to read this one thanks to tiktok but at the end I didn’t feel the pull to this world.Maybe I will give it a chance again in a long gone future.