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Den of Thieves (2011)

por David Chandler

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2284117,174 (3.53)5
A brilliant thief that was raised in the depths of the Free City of Ness takes on a magician, a knight with an enchanted sword and an army of demons.
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Mostrando 4 de 4
This book was a strange experience. There were many things about the world and writing that I really liked, but many aspects that I really didn't like, and overall I'm not really sure I enjoyed it. I thought more than once about setting it aside, but didn't. I'm somewhat glad I finished it, but I have absolutely no desire to go on to the next book in the series.

The good: a gleefully dirty (and realistic) world, with all the little details of how life circa (say) Elizabethan England actually worked. Those details - such as a new pair of candles with the wicks still joined - delighted me, because I'm weird like that. There was also much about the magic system, and the implications for wider plot (the series-long prophecy-including level of fantasy plot, you know what I mean) that looked really fascinating.

The bad: but it never delved into that stuff, because we spent the entire book running around after the MacGuffin. Right about the point halfway through where I was hoping that it would lose its single focus and blossom into delicious complexity... it didn't, it just did a couple of switchbacks and powered on. It never developed the sort of big-scope multi-faceted stuff that I really love about fantasy, and I found it rather frustrating.

Plus, one of the main characters was that breed of irritating noble that needs to be very carefully handled. Benton Fraser manages it in Due South. The Middleman manages it. For a while, Sir Croy teetered on the brink of managing it, but by the time we got into the final third of the book, I was just plain bored with him and didn't really care.

The romantic storyline(s) were interestingly and complexly handled, though.

As a closing point, I will note that it came as no surprise at all to learn that the author usually writes horror. His gleeful and lurid details of demons and horrible illusions occasionally teetered towards the purple, which isn't really my cup of tea. But in general, his writing was enjoyable, and that's probably why I actually finished the thing.

Left me with such an urge to re-read Locke Lamora, though. ( )
  cupiscent | Aug 3, 2019 |
I needed something different after all the books with characters who suddenly find themselves all powerful and set out to save the world. This book is about Malden, a young thief without magic, who uses his wits to take on demons, warriors and the most powerful sorcerer in the city. He is not looking to save the world, only to save himself and somehow have a better future. He's not handsome or particularly strong, no one guides him, threats come from every side,yet with agility, brains and a little ghostly help, he overcomes tremendous odds.
The characters are well developed, the action constant and interesting and overall it was an enjoyable read. ( )
  florabundi | Oct 12, 2017 |
  Spurts | Oct 29, 2015 |
http://staffersmusings.blogspot.com/2011/08/den-of-thieves-david-chandler.html

If zombies and vampires are the flavor du jour in urban fantasy, then thieves and assassins are their mirror image in high fantasy. I suspect it all started with the massive success of Scott Lynch's The Lies of Locke Lamora in 2006. Since then the genre has seen The Night Angel Trilogy, Shadow's Son/Lure, The Riyria Revelations, Farlander, Among Thieves, and Mistborn, to name a few off the top of my head. Sure the thief/assassin sub genre owes fealty to the progenitors - Fritz Leiber, Steven Brust, and Robin Hobb - but I suspect today's out pouring has more to due with Lynch's success and publishers eagerness to fill a demand. So of course it came as no surprise to me when Voyager announced The Ancient Blades Trilogy by David Chandler to be released over three months starting with A Den of Thieves.

In the Free City of Ness, Malden became a thief by necessity. Under the thumb of Cutbill, lord of the underworld, he gets pulled into a plot to steal the coronet of the Burgrave on the promise of freedom. Joined by his not-so hand picked crew of conspirators, Malden must execute his heist flawlessly or the whole city will pay the consequences.

After reading my "blurb" someone might say, "oh that's just a simplification of the plot for brevity sake." It's really not, but that shouldn't be a bad thing. There's nothing wrong with a simple straight forward plot. Where the problem comes in is the pacing. At 400 pages, Den is about 100 pages too long for the plot it contains. Additionally, the heist doesn't come into play until two-thirds of the novel is gone. Most heist novels, of which this is one, are very reliant on the heist itself to be successful. Planning and executing the heist lay the foundation for everything else around it. It's problematic for the rest of the novel that Malden and his crew don't really get into the heist until around the 250 page mark. Once they get into it the whole thing really picks up and Chandler captures the fun that's usually associated with a good caper.

Those first 250 pages on the other hand are the elephant in the room. I initially thought Den was Chandler's debut novel. As it turns out he's written several published novels under the name David Wellington although this is his first under the HarperCollins umbrella. While Chandler writes a good sentence and has a knack for description, the novel's pacing is something I would normally expect in a debut author. Lengthy descriptions and scenes that don't really provide any growth for the plot or the characters weigh down the early parts of the novel and make it difficult to get immersed.

Speaking of Chandler's characters, they're a mixed bunch with nearly all of them coming across as flat, with the except of Sir Croy, the dim-witted knight in possession of a magic demon killing blade and Bikker, a brother in arms to Croy turned mercenary. Their history and layered motivations provided subtext that the others lacked. Croy in particular lacking common sense and sense of self preservation provides a great foil for the bland bunch around him. Given that the title of the trilogy is Ancient Blades I found it strange that Malden was such a prevalent character considering he never actually has a blade. I suspect this will become clearer in future novels.

In one of the more fun parts of the novel, Chandler embraces elves and dwarves which are so overrated, they've become underrated. So much of today's high fantasy totally rejects the notion of the elf and dwarf of Tolkein (and/or D&D). In fact, they've become so rare (relatively speaking) that when I see them it's a little nostalgic. Chandler has quite a few dwarves running around smithing this and that, hints at elves in the world, and even drops an ogre in toward the end. Equally nostalgic is his magic system - or lack of - which relies on components, pentagrams, incantations, and hand motions.

U.S. cover, really??
Clearly, Chandler isn't reinventing the wheel and that's more than a little charming. The novel has its flaws for sure, and I can't really recommend it, but I also can't totally denounce it. I very much enjoyed the novel's second half and Chandler is a fine writer if not the best "plotter". For someone looking for a fun read, with the patience to wade through the early parts, Den of Thieves is a nice fit.

Side notes:

The novel is a complete arc and stands entirely on its own. For a book that's going to have a sequel (A Thief in the Night) on the market in less than a months time, there isn't really a plot element I'm looking forward to learning more about (not necessarily a bad thing).

Awful awful U.S. Cover. Much better in the U.K. ( )
  JustaStaffer | Aug 4, 2011 |
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A brilliant thief that was raised in the depths of the Free City of Ness takes on a magician, a knight with an enchanted sword and an army of demons.

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