What do you think?
Rate this book
The Thief's Apprentice: Volume One of the Bookbinder Series
"Nip" is a skinny, dirty, underfed, poorly clothed thirteen-year-old girl who also happens to be an exceptional thief. One summer day while stealing a book as part of her initiation in the thieves' guild, she is caught by a Judge. Sentenced to a year's hard labor by the harsh court system in the city of Dom, Nip is rescued by an unexpected benefactor: Luyten Pardalis, the man and bookseller she stole from. Given the alternative sentence of working for Luyten for two years, she is contacted by her guild master, Old Diob, who orders her to stay with the bookseller.
Frightened at first, Nip comes to love the much-older Luyten, who shows her the only kindness she has known in her short life. As Luyten takes Nip on his long journey home through the three seas that carve through the center of their world, Nip is torn between her girlish infatuation and her duty to Old Diob. Diob has a particularly strong hold on Nip: her younger sister, Lummi, whom Diob regularly threatens to sell into slavery if Nip does not steal a valuable item from Luyten.
Nip's circumstances become even more difficult when she reaches the island nation of Siluca, Luyten's home. There she meets Luyten's wife, Mèdie, a beautiful, mecurial and highly intelligent princess from the kingdon of Insus, far to the east. Mèdie takes it upon herself to teach Nip how to be a proper young lady, and pushes the young thief to the breaking point with her exacting standards.
Complicating things further is the political situation on Siluca. Nip learns that the Pardalis family once ruled the island as kings, a power that Luyten's ancestors surrendered only at the point of revolution. There are forces at work that would return the Pardalis family to the throne, and the family has been ripped apart by the machinations of the old nobility.
Nip discovers Luyten's true profession; he is not simply a bookseller, but a book-binder, someone who makes Buchs. Buchs are tomes of immense power and exceedingly dangerous if misused. Some are used for medicine and can cure nearly any disease. Others power the great sailing ships of the Middle Seas. Still others can be used as dreadful weapons. It is one of these Buchs that Nip is to steal, a special Buch hidden in the great library of Luyten's home of La Caille.
Nip is caught between the political forces of Siluca, her love for Luyten, her loathing for Mèdie, and her fear for her sister's safety. How she chooses will affect not just the Pardalis family or the island of Siluca, but potentially the entire world; the particular Buch she is to steal harbors powers that none of them can comprehend and that could threaten the whole of existence.
Frightened at first, Nip comes to love the much-older Luyten, who shows her the only kindness she has known in her short life. As Luyten takes Nip on his long journey home through the three seas that carve through the center of their world, Nip is torn between her girlish infatuation and her duty to Old Diob. Diob has a particularly strong hold on Nip: her younger sister, Lummi, whom Diob regularly threatens to sell into slavery if Nip does not steal a valuable item from Luyten.
Nip's circumstances become even more difficult when she reaches the island nation of Siluca, Luyten's home. There she meets Luyten's wife, Mèdie, a beautiful, mecurial and highly intelligent princess from the kingdon of Insus, far to the east. Mèdie takes it upon herself to teach Nip how to be a proper young lady, and pushes the young thief to the breaking point with her exacting standards.
Complicating things further is the political situation on Siluca. Nip learns that the Pardalis family once ruled the island as kings, a power that Luyten's ancestors surrendered only at the point of revolution. There are forces at work that would return the Pardalis family to the throne, and the family has been ripped apart by the machinations of the old nobility.
Nip discovers Luyten's true profession; he is not simply a bookseller, but a book-binder, someone who makes Buchs. Buchs are tomes of immense power and exceedingly dangerous if misused. Some are used for medicine and can cure nearly any disease. Others power the great sailing ships of the Middle Seas. Still others can be used as dreadful weapons. It is one of these Buchs that Nip is to steal, a special Buch hidden in the great library of Luyten's home of La Caille.
Nip is caught between the political forces of Siluca, her love for Luyten, her loathing for Mèdie, and her fear for her sister's safety. How she chooses will affect not just the Pardalis family or the island of Siluca, but potentially the entire world; the particular Buch she is to steal harbors powers that none of them can comprehend and that could threaten the whole of existence.
253 pages, Kindle Edition
First published July 30, 2014
20 people are currently reading
4 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 of 1 review
November 24, 2020
A very odd yet interesting and entertaining book. I don’t quite know what to make of it beyond that. I would be willing to read the second in this series just to see where it goes.
Displaying 1 of 1 review