The king of Attolia

Review by Booklist Review

Gr. 8-11. Fans of the irascible Thief of Eddis will recall that Gen and his frosty nemesis, Attolia, exchanged vows of love in The Queen of Attolia (2000). This second follow-up to Turner's 1997 Newbery Honor Book, The Thief, follows the turbulent months just after their union, primarily from the perspective of Gen's reluctant personal assistant, Costis, who despises the goat-footed throne-stealing interloper as much as the rest of Attolia's insubordinate court. Gradually, though, Costis gleans that there is more to King Gen than his oafish, irascible behavior would suggest. Turner's wide-ranging, third-person narrative tantalizingly limits readers' access to Gen, leaving readers to sift truth from Gen-masterminded subterfuge and to weigh his detractors' prejudices undiluted. The challenge of internalizing so many new characters may halt some readers, and many will mourn the replacement of concrete, action-oriented exploits with this situation's more subtle courtly and diplomatic stratagems. Staunch fans of Turner's roguish hero, particularly those who enjoyed the middle-grade-friendly Thief several years ago and whose reading capabilities have ripened , will reap the greatest rewards here. --Jennifer Mattson Copyright 2006 Booklist

From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.

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Review by Publisher's Weekly Review

In this book of "political intrigue, hidden motives, ploys and counterploys," Eugenides (first introduced in The Thief), now king of Attolia, "consolidates his power while solidifying his marriage to Irene." Ages 10-up. (June) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

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Review by School Library Journal Review

Gr 7 Up-In Megan Whalen Turner's sequel (Greenwillow, 2006) to The Thief (Greenwillow, 1996) and The Queen of Attolia (Greenwillow, 2000), the clever Eugenides is triumphant in his marriage to the Queen. The Attolians are resentful of the usurper who now calls himself their king, and try to thwart him at every turn without risking outright rebellion. Though Gen's buffoonish behavior has everyone convinced that he will never make a proper king, his new lieutenant, Costis, slowly realizes that there is method to Gen's madness. We see the story mostly through Costis's eyes. This third tale, though a departure from the earlier novels, is a masterpiece of suspense and dramatic tension. Jeff Woodman does an excellent job of conveying the intense, yet closely guarded emotions of a myriad of characters who are trying to manipulate each other. He is particularly good at the banter between Gen and the Queen-a nice mix of passion and animosity delivered in a calculated and understated way. Unfortunately, there isn't much dramatic action to narrate in this tale of political intrigue, court machinations, and power struggles. The plot is so complex that readers often need to flip back through some of the dialogue to discern the hidden meaning in some of the conversations-an ability lacking in the audio format. Happily, the CD features tracks every three minutes for easy bookmarking. Fans of Whelan's previous two books would be wise to refresh their memories before listening to the third book. Fans of the series will be well-rewarded.-Alison Kastner, Multnomah County Library, Portland, OR (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

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Review by Horn Book Review

(Middle School, High School) Turner (The Thief, The Queen of Attolia) has outdone herself here: The King of Attolia is one of the most fascinating and original children's fantasies to appear in years. It is remarkable for its impeccably realized setting in a pseudo-classical world, but even more so for the depth and subtlety of its characters and plot. Maddening, tricky Eugenides, former Thief of Eddis, now reluctant King of Attolia, is back; this time we see him from the point of view of Costis, a young soldier who has succumbed to temptation and socked the annoying king. As punishment, Costis is assigned to be Eugenides's personal lieutenant in a court that despises its king. But Eugenides has his own elaborate agenda, one that requires him to foster popular distaste. Grudgingly, Costis views the many facets of a man who is vulnerable, calculating, petulant, brave, in love, and, always, maneuvering to win the greatest challenge of his life -- overcoming his unwillingness to be king. Turner's plot is triumphantly clever, with plenty of action and suspense; most impressively, it pivots on the razor-sharp reading of character. Rarely does one see a hero as psychologically knowing and irresistibly attractive as Turner's Thief; let us fervently hope a sequel is in the works. (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. All rights reserved.

(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

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Review by Kirkus Book Review

Like all loyal soldiers of Attolia, Costis hates Eugenides, his new king. Eugenides was an enemy until he forced the Queen of Attolia into marriage, and the oafish conqueror doesn't even have the grace to behave with majesty. But when Costis is ordered to guard Eugenides directly, he gains an unexpected sympathy for the young king. Through Costis's naïve eyes, Eugenides appears weak, bumbling and a too-pathetic target for the pranks aimed at him. A knowledgeable reader of the series, however, will know that Eugenides is more than he appears, and can follow with delight as the king's clever schemes slowly become apparent to Costis. Ultimately, this unreliable narrator sees Eugenides transform from fool to larger-than-life hero, and never realizes that both are true at once. Well-constructed puzzles and intrigues keep this offering moving through Turner's characteristic secrets and subtle revelations to a wholly satisfying conclusion, while a few loose ends hint at more entries in this compelling series. Less emotionally powerful than Eugenides's earlier adventures, but still a winner. (Fiction. 12-15) Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

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The King of Attolia Chapter One Costis sat in his room. On the table in front of him was a piece of paper meant to hold a report on the squad of men he directed. He'd scratched out the first few lines of the report and written underneath the beginnings of a letter to his father. It began, "Sir, I must explain my actions," and then stopped. Costis couldn't explain his actions. He rubbed his face with his hands and tried again to compose his anguished thoughts into cold words and orderly sentences. He looked over the mess in his quarters. His small trunk of clothes was tipped out onto the floor. The tray that had sat in the top of it to hold his sleeve links and buttons and pins was thrown down by the bed. The links, the spare buttons, and the small image of his god were scattered everywhere. His books were gone. He'd had three. So, he assumed, was his wallet with what money he kept in his room. That was a pity. He would have given the money to his friend Aristogiton. His sword was gone from its rack on the wall. He would have given that to Aris as well. The two soldiers who'd brought him back from the training ground, almost dragging him along by their grip at his elbows, had taken every sharp thing out of the room. They were veterans, who'd served in the Guard for most of their lives. They'd searched his small trunk and dragged the thin mattress, as well as the blanket, off the narrow bed frame. One had pulled down Costis's sword and swept up his knife from the windowsill while the other had collected his papers, crumpling them together in his fist. Without looking at him again, they'd gone. Costis had turned the stool upright on its three legs. They had left his cloak pins, his plain everyday one and his fancy one with the amber bead. He had been a little surprised. His good pin was fibula-shaped with a shaft four inches long and as thick as a cornstalk. It would be as effective as a sword, if Costis chose to use it. Even the smaller pin would do; two inches in the right place was all it took. As Costis had considered, without any real motivation, the possibilities of the cloak pins, the curtain across his doorway had swept back and one of the soldiers had returned to kick his feet briskly through the detritus on the floor, quickly locating the cloak pins. After scooping them up, he had checked the floor again to see if there were more. He had seen the sandal straps and taken those. He'd looked Costis over once and shaken his head in contempt as he left. Costis looked back at the letter in front of him. It was almost the only paper they'd left him. He shouldn't waste it, but he didn't know how he could explain his actions to his father when he couldn't explain them to himself. He'd broken a sacred oath, had destroyed his career, his life, and perhaps his family in one moment. It was unnatural to look back at events and be unable to believe that what you remembered could actually have happened. It was afternoon. He'd made no progress on his letter since morning, when the sun had been slanting into the narrow window and filling the small room with light. The sun had climbed over the roof of the barracks and the room was grown dim, lit only indirectly by the sunlight falling into the narrow courtyard between barracks. Costis was waiting for the queen. She had left the palace for the first time since her marriage and had gone hunting. She was to eat at midday at one of the lodges and return sometime in the afternoon. Costis got up from his stool and paced for the hundredth, the thousandth time across the room. He would be sentenced when she returned, almost certainly to death. Even worse than death would come if she thought that he had acted as part of a conspiracy or that even one member of his family had known of his actions in advance. If that happened, his family would have to leave the farm outside Pomea in the Gede Valley. Every single one of them, not just his father and his sister, but uncles, aunts, and cousins. Their property would be forfeit to the crown and they would be no longer members of the landowning class, but would be okloi -- merchants if they were lucky, beggars if they were not. Of course, even he had had no foreknowledge of what was going to happen. He would never have guessed that he could so compound calamity with disaster, but the truth hardly mattered now. Costis thought of the papers they had taken away and tried to remember exactly what was in them that could be mistaken for plans of treason. The Secretary of the Archives could see treason in a single word. One hint of a plan and Costis would be put to torture instead of hanging in the morning. He knew that when torture began, Truth, which had mattered very little to begin with, soon mattered not at all. He stepped to the window and looked out at the shadows falling on the barracks across from him. The midafternoon trumpets would be sounding soon and the watches would be changing. He was supposed to be on the palace walls. Behind him he heard the curtain rings sliding on the rod across his doorway. He turned to face the men who would take him to the palace. There were no guards. Standing alone in the doorway was the king. The ruler, anointed by priests and priestesses, of all the lands of Attolia, the official father of the people, the lord of the barons who'd one by one sworn him their oaths of obedience, the undisputed, uncontested, and absolute sovereign of the land. The swollen discoloration by his mouth closely matched the elaborate purple embroidery on his collar. The King of Attolia . Copyright © by Megan Turner . Reprinted by permission of HarperCollins Publishers, Inc. All rights reserved. Available now wherever books are sold. Excerpted from The King of Attolia by Megan Whalen Turner, Megan W. Turner All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.

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