Prince Thief by David Tallerman : Review

(This is the 3rd book in a series. My review for book two, Crown Thief can be found here.)

Altapasaeda, capital of the Castoval, is about to be besieged by its own king – and where else would luckless, somewhat reformed thief Easie Damasco be but trapped within the city’s walls?  Faced with a war they can’t win and a populace too busy fighting amongst itself to even try, the Castovalian defenders are left with one desperate option.  Far in the northern lands of Shoan, rebels have set up the young prince Malekrin as a figurehead in their own quest to throw off the king’s tyrannical rule.  One way or another, the prince must be persuaded to join forces.

Once again, all hope lies with Damasco and his sticky-fingered approach to problem solving, along with his long suffering partner, the gentle giant Saltlick.  But this time it’s a human being that needs stealing, with his own desires and opinions, and events only grow more complicated as Damasco realises that he and the rebellious young prince have more in common that either would admit. 

Prince Thief (Book 3 from The Tales of Easie Damasco) by David Tallerman is an enjoyable and fast-paced read. Continuing off where he started in Giant Thief, and built upon in Crown Thief, we return to find Damasco, Alvantes, and Estrada once again in the midst of chaos.

One thing that stood out to me in particular is how much growth and development the characters have gone through. Prince Thief has a different feel to the earlier books in the series, it being a bit more serious in tone, with the city being on the brink of war, and Damasco having matured over the course of the series. On the other hand, and perhaps due to this, I didn’t find myself getting into the book as much as I had in Giant Thief. I’m not entirely sure why it was exactly, but it didn’t make for quite as engaging of a read as the earlier ones.

As well, with the series leading up to events in this book, I couldn’t help but feel it was a bit anti-climatic after the grand-scale event that it had been building up to be. Though, despite this, Tallerman did manage to wrap up loose-ends, and provide a satisfying conclusion.

While I know the review sounds like a bit of a mixed bag, I found Prince Thief to be enjoyable, intriguing and well-written. If you’re looking for an easy and fun read, I recommend picking up this series. With action, humour, adventures, and giants, The Tales of Easie Damasco is an enjoyable series which fans of fantasy and heist stories are sure to enjoy.

(Also, some words of wisdom: when I first read Crown Thief (book 2), I had made the mistake of not reading the first in the series, so there was a bit of confusion there for me. While I was still able to understand what was going on for the most part, I do recommend you start this series at the beginning to avoid any such confusion and to be able to appreciate Prince Thief more. ;) )

I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Prince Thief is set to be released September 24th.

Related articles

• Giant Thief (goodbooksinniceplaces.wordpress.com)
• British Genre Fiction Hitlist: Late September New Releases (tor.com)