Book Review: The Thief Who Pulled on Trouble's Braids

Amra is a thief, and a very talented one at that. She has a small pool of acquaintances, and an even smaller collection of friends. When one of those friends winds up dead, after giving Amra something for safekeeping, she takes it personally. Armed with an expansive wit and an admirable armory of knives, Amra begins a quest for revenge that will lead her into temples, brothels, pawn shops, and manors, with a little bit of prison thrown in to keep things interesting. She finds that her friend got himself into something dark and dangerous, and that if she sin't careful, she will likely end up just as dead as he is.

There are so many wonderful things about this book that I'm angry with myself for letting it sit on my to-be-read shelf for so long. Let's start with the characters. First of all, Amra is female, and a bad ass. More amazingly, there is no lovey-dovey subplot to mire down her badassery. It was refreshing and very welcome to read such a strong female character. Kudos to you, McClung, for making Amra so incredible. However, the supporting characters are all just as well-written. Holgren is a mage with a million secrets and a soft spot for slobbery dogs. Bosch is steampunk cyborg warlock necromancer that oozes villainy. The list of memorable characters could go on to include them all. Seriously, they're all amazing.

Lucernis. The place where everything goes down. The world building is so subtle it's hard to even notice that the details are there. McClung doesn't give a single info-dump paragraph to give readers a sense of setting. It's all done as the story moves forward. He creates an utterly believable, gritty world where magic exists, though the world doesn't revolve around it. There's even a handy appendix in the back for any details you might miss as you read through.

I always feel like I'm taking a huge gamble when I buy something that has been self-published, but this story blew me away. I was left feeling unfulfilled because I wasn't ready to leave that world, where the gods are not as dead as they are supposed to be and trouble is looming beneath the surface, ready to emerge at any moment. I've already bought the second book, and will most likely be rearranging my reading list to make sure it rockets to the top. Do yourself a favor, and buy this book. Absolutely five out of five stars.