A Conspiracy of Kings

Locations
Call Number: Teen Fiction
On Shelf At: Downtown Library

Location & Checkout Length	Call Number	Checkout Length	Item Status
Downtown Teen, 1st Floor 4-week checkout	Teen Fiction	4-week checkout	On Shelf

Book 4.
Kidnapped and sold into slavery, Sophos, an unwilling prince, tries to save his country from being destroyed by rebellion and exploited by the conniving Mede empire.

COMMUNITY REVIEWS

Great Addition submitted by marshd on December 13, 2010, 6:02pm A great addition to the Queen's Thief series. As always, Turner finds a way to throw in a few sidesteps and trails that will lead you off--and back onto--the track of the story. I think I have a place in my heart for stories where the main character is sold into slavery and actually plays the part for a while.

Title?! submitted by laughterxatxdawn on July 27, 2012, 10:01pm If you've read the other books in the series, this one is totally worth the wait.

sophos submitted by unknown on July 29, 2013, 6:12pm I enjoyed this book a lot. Turner continues to demonstrate her ability to construct beautiful sentences, moving descriptions of places, events and people, and elegant turns of phrase. There are the (for Turner) typical shining moments when characters reveal themselves, sometimes even to themselves. The reader learns more about Gen's world, its geography and history (the archipelago off the coast of Attolia and the impending all out war with the Medes suggests a future book in which the islands will play a prominent role and the possibility of a Salamis style naval battle with the Medes - I hope). We are reminded that Gen is 1) very young, 2) very very smart, 3) very very gifted, 4) willing to bear the burdens of both kingship and of those he loves, and 5) in need of a male friend to whom he can talk to and love more or less as an equal. We're also reminded that the gods work in subtle ways and that this is a world where violence is taken for granted even when regretted.

One reviewer asked why Gen was so "greedy". This seems a misreading of his motives which have to do with events foretold for Eddis and the impending conflict between the Medes and Eddis/Sounis/Attolia. Another reviewer found the epistolary style of the early part of the book off putting. I thought so too for the first few pages until the character to whom Sophos was writing became clear. One reviewer thought there was too little Gen. Gen isn't "onstage" in every scene, but I felt his presence continually in the actions and dialogue of the other characters. He remains the linchpin of the story. One reviewer questioned Sophos's intelligence and whether he was an interesting character. I read him as a very interesting character and quite smart, just not in a subtle and guarded "Gen" sort of way. One thing that struck me about Sophos as a character was that Turner was able to portray him as "royal" but in a very different way than Gen or Irene or Helen. By the end of _A Conspiracy of Kings_ I had a much better sense as to what made each of the rulers of Souris, Eddis, and Attolia uniquely suited to rule. This is in part to the different ways in which each has been introduced to the reader. One of the great things about this series is the way that Turner varies the point of view and other elements of the narrative structure while continuing the development of the characters, the plot and the setting. The density of the storytelling (which achieves a kind of paradoxical simplicity)contributes to the density of the story. The last scene of the book is utterly charming.

There are a number of fantasy writers whose books I look forward to reading but few writers whose books I look forward to rereading: Diana Wynne Jones, Patricia McKillip, C.J. Cherryh (for the most part), and Megan Whalen Turner.

Amazing series! submitted by thesrays on June 30, 2020, 9:37pm When I meet someone who has read and loves Megan Whalen Turner, I find a friend. This series, with its well-constructed characters and believable plot twists makes the reader mourn the end of the ride. Highly recommend it and have bought more than one copy of this series as a gift for reading friends!