The Thief who Pulled on Trouble's Braids

Are you reading these??!!

How many of you following me have read “The Thief that Pulled on Trouble’s Braids” by Michael McClung? 

If the answer is none of you then you are missing out one of the best fantasy series I’ve read in a long time. I came across the first book in this series by way of the a followers request. This first book was published in 2012 and there are currently 4 books in the series. 

The main protagonist Amra Thety’s is a very skilled thief who finds herself doing something she’d sworn to never do, avenger the death of her only friend. I really fell in love with Amra’s character for a lot of reasons but I’ll only list a few here:

1: She’s a female lead character whose wits and sneak thief abilities are touted more than her looks. The author never describes her as beautiful but as “looking like a boy” and “scarred”. She doesn’t rely on her looks to get the job done she relies on her wits and a strange code of ethics. 

2: She’s a loner and she’s ok with that. As a matter of fact it surprises her that there are people in her life that would actually consider her a friend and would help her out simply because they care about her. That makes her reactions throughout this first book feel completely real to me. She reacts like a person, like an average every day person, which makes her not only relatable but four dimensional as well.

3: She’s practical and logical and she has no time for what she considers fanciful lies. She has the most realistic reaction to the gods in her world that I’ve see written in a fantasy story so far..that reaction is downright fear and loathing. Which just goes to show she’s smarter than most of the characters in her world give her credit for. 

4: She’s realistic about her life and her situation. She talks often about the shady side of town (she’s a thief so she lives there) and she’s more surprised when people are kind and decent. That’s realistic if you grew up in an environment where you had to survive or die. The author doesn’t pretty that part up or make it sound heroic that she did survive. No he gives Amra whose character shows a very realistic example of how someone from the poverty level of her world would think and react in situations..this leads readers to either love her or hate her. There is no in between when it comes Amra Thety’s. 

Amra isn’t the only character that’s well written in this book..no Michael McClung goes all out in this series and he gives supporting, secondary, and even side characters that are so richly woven into the fabric of Amra’s story they themselves will stand out as real and relatable. 

Fantasy Checklist:

Shitty gods that screw with mortals, CHECK

Mages and magic that horribly awry or awfully well; CHECK

A shady, mysterious history of the protagonist; CHECK

The prospect of a wide world also with a shady history; CHECK

Terrible evil that threatens the balance of said world: CHECK

Bonus Fantasy Checklist:

Humor when you least expect it? CHECK

A fast paced adventure that leaves you breathless? CHECK

Astrophysical geekiness woven into the fabric of the story: CHECK

Terrifying monsters and Bloodwitches; CHECK and CHECK

What else are you doing with your time while you wait for the next S.J. Maas books? Go Read this series!!!