I loved this book! It's a fun journey from start to finish with interesting characters and unexpected surprises sure to thrill!

Original Title: Herr der Diebe

 

I think this novel might be aimed at children a bit younger still than the Inkworld-trilogy. But, if you can put aside the fact that it is completely unbelievable, it's a very enjoyable read.

 

It's about a bunch of kids in Venice, who have their own underground society. Their leader is a masked master thief.

 

It's a very original story, and the writing is nice as well. It reads quickly but the story perhaps is a bit childish (and that's something you either like or not).

 

Note: I read a Dutch translation of this book

I read this in 6th grade, and it was a very good book. It is enjoyable and interesting. Prosper and his younger brother Bo run away to Venice, escaping from their mean aunt and uncle. A gang of homeless street kids take them in, led by Scipio, or the Thief Lord. He is only thirteen, but he acts like an adult, and is a leader to the other kids. Hornet, the only girl in the group, is one of my favorite characters because she loves to read and is just really nice. The ending was surprising, but kind of disappointing because Barbarossa ruined everything. He originally was a minor, annoying character, but he became very important toward the end of the book. Other than him, the other characters were good, and overall, I really enjoyed this book. However, since it's not one of my favorites or anything, I don't want to give it any more than three stars. But I still recommend it. It's a very decent, good book and I enjoyed it. Hopefully you will too!

Okay, I actually liked this book a lot. It would have been 4 or even 4.5 stars to me, if not for the STUPID ENDING!

All right, got that off my chest, so, ahem. The book was nice. Charming, entertaining, interesting. I liked the characters, though I can't say I loved any of them--still good for me, since most authors can't seem to do kids with a single-digit age without making them a serious pain in the neck. Cornelia Funke has got that part down. The writing was clear and fine enough that I could get around the occasional Italian phrases that I had to look up.

But the ENDING. Oh, man, the ending seriously made me want to give it 1 or 2 stars. I read it a while ago, though, so looking back on it now, I think I feel a bit more objective. 3 stars to balance out a book that was 90% good.

Beware: there will be spoilers below.

They introduced the idea of the merry-go-round pretty late into the book, like the author realized she needed a core element for a plot and threw it in so she could end the book firmly. I was even okay with that. I kept thinking, "it isn't real magic, it's only a myth. They'll find that out, and then..." I was still interested. I kept reading. Even up to the point where they found the MGR, I kept thinking, "this is still good. I like the MGR. Good descriptions, good setting, what happens next?"

Next: they turn a dude I hated into a little kid, and the kid who was my favorite character--the thief lord, of course--gets turned into an A-D-U-L-T. And, while I was staring in indignation and horror and outright disgust, the entire thing falls apart and the book ends. Leaving Scipio stuck in an adult's body.

Now, I don't actually remember how old he was--somewhere between ten and fourteen, I think--but just imagine your kid, or your younger sibling, or your niece or nephew or whatever, suddenly getting more than half a decade older at that point. He/she would NOT be okay, would not just put on a hat and a trench-coat and get back to his life as if nothing had happened. The mentality of that plot twist is just unfathomable to me.

WHY did she introduce the stupid magic element in the first place, especially so late into a book that was good without it, and WHY did she not reverse the effects, or something?

I like Cornelia Funke. The Inkheart books are really, really good, and Dragon Rider is a great kid's book, bar the plane-flying rats. I expected better of her than this. I think that's why the betrayal hurts so badly.

I was not expecting the mature themes I found in the Thief Lord. I had thought to find more derring-do and adventure, and while there is some of that, the focus of this story is the not so easy life of a collection of orphans, how they carve a place in the world for themselves and how that world eventually changes. In short, this is a story about growing up and what that really means to both children and adults.

There is a lot of excitement and mystery in this novel and the story picks up and never really stops moving. Each chapter entices you to read more by showing you in detail the ophan's lives and the charming Thief Lord. Every time one riddle is solved, a new one takes its place, always backed by the one big question, "Just who is the Thief Lord?". I kept promising myself one more chapter and ended up finishing it one sitting. In all the adventure, romantic history and whimsy are some very real moments where the kids worry about starving, being slaves and getting captured. I was impressed with how the 'villains' were portrayed - as simply very flawed people and not 'bad' people. Many children have different reasons to want to "run away from home" at some time or another. Funke makes Thief Lord a kind of cautionary tale, not by being preachy, but by showing the realities of what happens when children are on their own in the world with no one to look after them. I do wish that some of the characters full histories were revealed; they weren't necessary to enjoy the story but there were quite a few teasing hints that are never followed up on. I also believe that Prosper is a saint. The amount of patience that boy has is astounding.

I know that I would have bawled my eyes out if I had read this as a kid. As it was (in my twenties) I was rather misty eyed from time to time but I also smiled often too.

Context Free Quote:
Riccio self-consciously hid his face between his soft toys. "From the Salute Church," he mumbled. "There are hundreds, probably thousands lying around there. So it doesn't really matter if I take a few every now and then. Why should we spend our precious money on candles? I swear," he grinned at Hornet, "I always blow a kiss for each one."