D.B. Jackson
MacMillan/Tor
July 2, 2013
Thieve's Quarry by D.B. Jackson is a worthy follow-up to last year's Thieftaker. Jackson takes us back to Boston in 1768, where revolutionary politics coexist uneasily with magic. Ethan Kaille is a thieftaker and "speller" or conjurer. Even though the events in Salem took place nearly a hundred years earlier, he tries to keep his spelling quiet as much as possible. Business has been pretty steady since the events of Thieftaker, despite run-ins with Sephira Pryce, the chief thieftaker in Boston, and her band of thugs. But when Ethan is awakened one morning by a massive wave of magic, he knows that problems are coming his way. An occupying force of British warships is in Boston Harbor and on one of them the full complement of men- nearly 100- are found dead. The Crown hires Ethan to find out the identity of the rogue speller and threatens to hang Ethan and every other conjurer in Boston if he does not succeed in five day's time.
Thieve's Quarry is a fine merging of historical fact and fiction. It is true that the British occupied Boston in 1768 and such figures as Samuel Adams and John Hancock make appearances. Ethan himself is a royalist but I think we will see changes in his beliefs- he along with the rest of Boston does not like the occupation. The Thieftaker Chronicles are great adventure tales packed with period detail, mystery and vivid characters. I highly recommend them to fans of urban fantasy and historical fiction.
RATING 4.5 Tricorns
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