Among Thieves: A Tale of the Kin (Tale of the Kin 1) Book

Among Thieves Review

Fantasy has taken a drastic turn from its roots, heros that are whiter than white and always fight for a noble cause are gone. The clear morality scale where good and evil are spelled so simply you'd think the reader were a two year old have vanished. With the emergence of authors like Brent Weeks & Brandon Sanderson onto the fantasy scene the genre has turned to a more complex, darker and grittier nature, where heroes are no longer so black and white; which in my opinion is a change for the better after far too many cliche & predictable narratives. Hulick's Among Thieves falls firmly into this new category, with the start throwing you into the action with a graphic torture scene and not stopping throughout the entire book. 

The story revolves around Drothe: a nose in the underworld of the city of Ildrecca, part of the "Kin" the nickname for the criminal organisation throughout the land; hence the series' name "a tale of Kin." He reports information about the shiftiest characters of the underworld to his boss: an "upright man" in the underworld. Drothe's work is often unpleasant involving torture, sword fights and magical battles. Understandably Drothe is not very popular in the underworld, having to hire a group of mercenaries to protect his flat above the apothecary where he lives. However he has managed to obtain a network of informants and has managed a feat that few do: to survive.

Drothe is sent back into the poorest and most degraded part of the city: Ten Ways. Someone has been making moves against Drothe's boss' territory and so he has has been sent to investigate. This soon leads him down a path that shows conspiracies and someone trying to make a move to destroy all the crime bosses in the Kin and take control for themselves. However last time there was a war in the criminal underworld the Empire waded in and murdered all those responsible brutally, so what could be a possible motive? Drothe delves deeper into this mystery which quickly turns into quite possibly his last...

The language used throughout is varied and complex, providing an intellectually satisfying read. The grammar on the whole is good and the fast pacing is excellent, with such a rich world of fantasy to dive into that is described so well giving such a real feeling to the world a few grammatical errors can be forgiven. Hulick's fencing experience is very clear throughout with the accurate and intense description of sword play, this further enhances the realism of the novel and improves it's quality. 

The book is a stupendously good read, the action is non-stop and all is provided from a fresh first person perspective allowing a much deeper insight into the character of Drothe. Through magical duels using various forms of "glimmer" or shaking down an informant. Drothe is witty & original, and being so provides another layer to the novel that makes it an even better read and brings a newer lighter element to this darker grittier genre of fantasy. Despite him performing acts of torture violence and clearly acting like one of the cliche "bad guys" he inevitably has the reader rooting for him, it is an interesting juxtaposition to the traditional fantasy perspective.

With a scruffy, dual-wielding looking character cover art and an introduction from Brent Weeks, the reader could be excused for thinking this is your average teenage escapism - roguish heroism with a sarcastic but likeable protagonist. However Among Thieves is more Locke Lamora than Night Angel. It is a cunning and well-scripted action-adventure with a surprisingly complex character at its heart. I expected guilty pleasure and found genuine entertainment.

There is no honour among thieves . . . Ildrecca is a dangerous city, if you don't know what you're doing. It takes a canny hand and a wary eye to run these streets and survive. Fortunately, Drothe has both. He has been a member of the Kin for years, rubbing elbows with thieves and murderers from the dirtiest of alleys to the finest of neighbourhoods. Working for a crime lord, he finds and takes care of trouble inside his boss's organization - whilse smuggling relics on the side. But when his boss orders Drothe to track down whoever is leaning on his organization's people, he stumbles upon a much bigger mystery. There's a book, a relic any number of deadly people seem to be looking for - a book that just might bring down emperors and shatter the criminal underworld. A book now conveniently in Drothe's hands . . .