Rachel Aaron
Books: Fantasy
The Legend of Eli Monpress: The Spirit Thief (2010), The Spirit Rebellion (2010), The Spirit Rebellion (2010)
The Spirit Thief (2010)
This was a fun, straight-up fantasy romp, something I haven't read in awhile, but I thoroughly enjoyed it.
Eli Monpress is a thief. As far as he's concerned, he's the best thief in the world, and his goal is for the bounty for his head to reach one million gold pieces.
In his journeys, Eli has two companions, Nico, a young waif who wears a strange and large coat, and Josef the swordsman. Josef's goal is to become the best swordsman in the world, so hanging around with Eli seems a good way to achieve that goal.
We also meet Miranda and her companion Gar. Miranda is a member of the Spirit Court, and her job is to make sure those who can speak to spirits are not abusing their powers.
If you enjoy stories about rogues, then you'll enjoy spending time with Eli Monpress.
Published by Orbit
Rating: 7/10
The Spirit Rebellion (2010)
This is the second book in The Legend of Eli Monpress.
Following the events of the last book: Nico needs a new coat, which sends Joseph, Nico, and Eli to the one man who could make another garment for her. Miranda returns home only to be put on trial for her actions. The Duke of Gaol (and the ally of the man behind Miranda's trial) has built an "impenetrable citadel" to draw in and attempt to capture Eli.
We meet several new characters, including some of Eli's allies, and catch glimpses of Eli's past.
It has a cliffhanger-ish ending, however, since I have all three books in a single series, it didn't bother me in the slightest.
It continues to be a fun series.
Published by Orbit (The Legend of Eli Monpress contains three books, starting with The Spirit Thief.)
Rating: 7/10
The Spirit Rebellion (2010)
This is the third book in The Legend of Eli Monpress.
The third book is much less about Eli, which is too bad, because Eli was the character I most liked. Instead, we see that those who are supposed to be watching over the world aren't doing their job particularly well.
We also see Nico's continued battle with her demonseed. And Miranda obsessively continues her quest to capture Eli, to the exclusion of almost everything else.
As much as I enjoyed the first book, at the end of the third I'm kinda… meh about the series. I enjoyed reading about Eli's capers, and I liked the other characters, but this book was primarily focused on the demon and the politics of the Spirit Court and so on and so forth, and that just… wasn't what I want to read.
There are other books in this series apparently, and the story didn't end particularly cleanly, but I think I'll leave it here.
Published by Orbit (The Legend of Eli Monpress contains three books, starting with The Spirit Thief.)
Rating: 6/10