Crown Thief by David Tallerman : Review

Meet Easie Damasco: Thief, swindler and lately, reluctant hero.

But whatever good intentions Damasco may have are about to be tested to their limits, as the most valuable – and dangerous – object in the land comes within his light-fingered grasp.  Add in some suicidally stubborn giants, an old enemy with dreams of empire and the deadliest killers in two kingdoms on his heels, and Damasco’s chances of staying honest – or even just surviving – are getting slimmer by the hour.

First off, before beginning the review of this novel I want to say a couple of things. One, I made a bit of a mistake when getting this book to review as I didn’t realize it was a sequel — so some of what I say may not be entirely correct. Second, there is a possibility for there to be spoilers in this review. So, just a bit of a warning for anyone who hasn’t read the first book (Giant Thief by David Tallerman)

Tallerman’s Crown Thief is an engaging, fast paced and riveting tale. Jumping right into the story where the first book left off, Crown Thief follows the story of Easie Damasco and his travels with the Guard Captain Alvantes, briefly accompanied by mayor Estrada and Saltlick, an amiable giant and friend to Damasco.

With Damasco and Alvantes continuously being thrown into perilous situations, the story is action packed and rarely has a dull moment. With its easy to read style, interesting and enthralling characters who go through a considerable amount of character development react realistically to their changes of circumstance and the flow of events, to the point of even being able to form an uneasy camaraderie in their time of need, Tallerman has created an interesting fantasy adventure.

There were a couple of points which while I didn’t entirely like they didn’t completely subtract from the story. One of which was that there seemed to be a overbearingly repetitive nature in the way that Easie would moan on about how boring travel is whenever the opportunity presented itself, especially when revisiting locations they had been to before. Also, while not so much of a deal, things seemed a bit too convenient for Easie where he’d get injured in a manner that’d kill most people, or at least break a few bones but he would walk away with a few bruises at most.

Besides for that however, the giants were an interesting addition to the story, as they’re rarely seen in literature these days (from what I’ve noticed). While being a subdued and gentle race, they proved themselves to be great assets and not just an unnecessary addition to the story.

Overall, I enjoyed Crown Thief by David Tallerman very much. It was an interesting read, very quick and easy to get through. Ending with a bit of a cliffhanger, it leaves you wanting for more.

Crown Thief is set to be released September 25th.

Thank you to Netgalley and Angry Robot for sending me a copy of this novel in exchange for a review.

David’s website: http://davidtallerman.net/