TimMason reviewed The Thief Who Wasn't There by Michael McClung
Review of "The Thief Who Wasn't There" on 'Goodreads'
3 stars
I read the four books that have so far appeared in this series after it was recommended by Mark Lawrence. I will be reading book 5.
Readers have compared the books to Fritz Leiber's Grey Mouser series, and one can see the connection. However, while Leiber constructed a series of short stories held together mainly by the focus on the main characters, McClung has a story to tell; there is a progression from book to book. The heroine's character and her central dilemma - which centres on the extent to which she can exercise any degree of control over her own destiny - develop through the series, and her adversaries - or are they allies? - are bit by bit revealed.
Another difference with Leiber's approach is, I think, that Amra and her companion, Holgren, are much given to internal monologue and soul-searching in an endeavour to give them depth …
I read the four books that have so far appeared in this series after it was recommended by Mark Lawrence. I will be reading book 5.
Readers have compared the books to Fritz Leiber's Grey Mouser series, and one can see the connection. However, while Leiber constructed a series of short stories held together mainly by the focus on the main characters, McClung has a story to tell; there is a progression from book to book. The heroine's character and her central dilemma - which centres on the extent to which she can exercise any degree of control over her own destiny - develop through the series, and her adversaries - or are they allies? - are bit by bit revealed.
Another difference with Leiber's approach is, I think, that Amra and her companion, Holgren, are much given to internal monologue and soul-searching in an endeavour to give them depth of character, while the Grey Mouser and Fafhrd just got on with things (it's decades since I read them, and I may be mistaken about this, but I think not). I prefer Leiber's way.
The adventures pace out nicely, and the players blunder about in the usual way (Holgren is particularly numb-skulled, getting himself mixed up in city politics for which he has not the slightest talent). The author makes much use of the deus ex machina, but it's that kind of world (if Homer could do it, why not McClung?).
The series may be a long one, as Amra seems to need to make a collection of the eight knives of the Goddess of Ultimate Destruction. By the end of the fourth volume, she's only found two of them, so this one could run and run. I'm certainly up for at least another two episodes. After that, we'll see.
