I received this book for free from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Thief's Magic by Trudi Canavan
Series: Millennium’s Rule #1
Published by Orbit on May 13, 2014
Genres: Fantasy, Fiction, Young Adult
Pages: 553
Format: E-Arc
Source: Netgalley
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In a world where an industrial revolution is powered by magic, Tyen, a student of archaeology, unearths a sentient book called Vella. Once a young sorcerer-bookbinder, Vella was transformed into a useful tool by one of the greatest sorcerers of history. Since then she has been collecting information, including a vital clue to the disaster Tyen's world faces.
Elsewhere, in an land ruled by the priests, Rielle the dyer's daughter has been taught that to use magic is to steal from the Angels. Yet she knows she has a talent for it, and that there is a corrupter in the city willing to teach her how to use it -- should she dare to risk the Angels' wrath.
But not everything is as Tyen and Rielle have been raised to believe. Not the nature of magic, nor the laws of their lands... and not even the people they trust.

Having been a huge fan of Trudi Canavan’s (and read her other books multiple times!) I was excited to see Thief’s Magic on Netgalley. When I received Thief’s Magic I wanted to stop what I was doing, grab a cup of tea and read.

Thief’s Magic is cleverly titled. Theft of magic is prominent in all worlds. Tyen steals his magic from the local vicinity. While Rielle believes that  any magic she uses will be stolen from the Angels. Also Vella had her life magically stolen from her by being turned into a book and  her ability to feel taken from her. She in turn steals information from a persons touch through magic.

The narrative is split evenly between Tyen and Rielle. This provides an excellent narrative structure that allows the reader to feel suspense for the character. Also there is archaeology mentioned (yay!), which obviously makes the book so much better…

I couldn’t decide which story I preferred, as both Tyen and Rielle have completely personalities. Tyen is easily swayed by his friends and his morals get him in a pickle; also he is quite an ambitious young man. Whereas Rielle has more humble ambitions. She just wants to paint and be with the man she loves rather than have marry someone who her parents deem acceptable. Both live in different worlds. In Tyen’s it is normal to use magic for everyday use. Whereas in Rielle’s world magic is restricted for the use of the priests – the male priests.

Getting to the end of either Tyen’s or Rielle’s sections was frustrating as I wanted to know what the outcome of the current situation would be. However, within reading the next few lines of the next section I became absorbed with that character’s storyline and had completely forgotten that there was another plot. Until the end of the section… sigh…

The wide cast of supporting characters were believable and helped the story along. My particular favourite was Vella the book/woman, which could be a bit uncomfortable as Vella feels no emotions, so should be hard to identify with? Vella was a woman who is now a book and stores a wealth of information just by touching you. Will Tyen ever be able to help her? However I hope that Canavan will bring back Veroo, Sezee and Izare, as they bring out the best of Tyen and Rielle. Also despite them being minor characters I wanted to know more about them. I would have been happy if the story had been expanded to divulge more details about these characters. Otherwise my love for the characters will diminish as they will feel more like plot devices rather than an essential part to the story.

Will Tyen and Rielle ever be able to return home? And can they increase the little magic in their worlds? Can’t wait for the rest of the series to be published, so much more to come.

Having finished Thief’s Magic it is clear that this is the start of a series. The prologue – while there is action and adventure some readers may feel that this is a long introduction to the main event, pleasant, but not what they were quite expecting. Overall, this was a thoroughly enjoyable book. One that will keep you up until the very early hours (one more chapter syndrome…) that is on a par (and something which could be even better than) Canavan’s The Magician’s Guild Series.

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