Emily Gee

Thief With No Shadow — (2007) Publisher: Melke is a wraith, which means she has the abilty to walk unseen. After being forced to steal a necklace, she is hunted down by the victim of the crime, Bastian sal Vere. He explains that the necklace was strung with tears, and that without it, Bastian cannot break the curse that is destroying his family. He orders Melke to regain the necklace, in exchange for her brother to be healed. But she had given the necklace to the salamanders, the fire breathing creatures that live underground. She must risk her own life. Meanwhile, Bastian becomes involved in solving a brutal murder of a young pregnant girl in thetown of Theirry. This is a strong character-based fantasy, full of romantic tension and gritty storylines.

Thief With No Shadow

Ah, Thief With No Shadow. Add this one to the ever growing list of books that leave me utterly baffled as to what the term "romantic fantasy" is supposed to mean. Whatever else it is, this delightful little romp of a fantasy tale is no romance novel.

Though Thief With No Shadow is of a serious nature, it has the benefit of not being extremely bogged down and dreary as seems to be the current fantasy trend. There's no hoards of starving peasants living in mud and dung and no evil overlords acting in ways that really ought to get them killed but don't due to contrivance. The book focuses more around its characters than its world-building, making for a delightfully light, easy read.

Thief With No Shadow centers mainly around Melke and Bastian, but also involves Melke's brother Hantje and Bastian's sister Lianna. Despite a little bit of melodrama and angst, the characters are mostly very sympathetic. In a longer novel they might seem a bit underdeveloped, but Thief With No Shadow, being standalone, leaves the reader with a sense of events before the setting of the book having developed the characters, and also a sense that they will go on developing after (or, you know, would if they were real). And though it may not be overwhelming with mysteries and twists, the plot is still very satisfying, leaving the reader with a feeling of closure that seems to be getting ever rarer in books.

Even her prose, though perfectly competent, is simple in a way that is mostly easy on the brain, pleasantly so in fact. I like when an author can write beautifully or poetically and pull it off, but Emily Gee's simpler style is also much appreciated.

The book isn't without problems, of course. Gee's lack of world building leads to a few issues. One of them is confusion as to why Bastian's hatred for wraiths (as Melke and Hantje are, due to the nature of their magic) is so intense. It seems a bit hypocritical of him to hate them for having magic when both he and his sister do as well. Eventually it's sort of alluded to that wraiths often use their magic for ill purposes, and eventually Bastian comes to understand Melke and why she did what she did. But for a lot of the novel I found him irritating and, when misfortune kept befalling him, I couldn't help feeling like he deserved it. Though while also a bit on the angsty side himself, even Bastian becomes likable by the end. Still, if the problem with wraiths had been explained better and sooner (and Bastian's own personal problems) it would've gone a long way for the character and the book as a whole.

The other thing was the explanations of the magical creatures and their behavior. Intriguing though some of it was, it was built on so little that it left me with some questions. Why, if these creatures have such power (particularly over humans) are they mostly content to leave them be? Saying "well they're just different than humans" doesn't quite cut it, especially when three of them are humanoid in nature. These things wouldn't stand up well in a trilogy or series, but are easy enough to push aside for a single book.

As to the "romantic" aspect of it...well, I suppose technically there is some eventually, but it's hardly a major facet of the novel. Thief With No Shadows is simply driven more by its characters than its world. —Beth   Comments

The Laurentine Spy — (2009) Publisher: Following on from the success of Emily's award nominated first novel, comes The Laurentine Spy. Two spies must work together to avoid being caught at whatever cost.

The Laurentine Spy: Deserves more than 5 stars

Saliel is in over her head. Masquerading as a noble lady in the fortress of Laureant’s greatest enemy, she sneaks into the old disused catacombs every other night to meet One, Two, and the Guardian, other Laurentine spies whose true identities she doesn't know.

After foiling an enemy plan to take over another fought-over land, Saliel learns that the Prince and his consort know there are spies in the fortress and have hired a notorious and feared spycatcher. Saliel and the other spies still have work to do however, and must stay one step ahead of him in order to accomplish their goal. All the time Saliel must play a part — a part she know she has no business playing — and longs to be back home in Laureant, independent and finally free from playing roles. And free from her past.

I could not put down The Laurentine Spy. From the first chapter, Gee pulled me into the Laurentine spy network. My heart was racing throughout the entire book and I often found myself murmuring advice to the characters in order to keep them one step ahead of the evil spycatcher who was all too real and incredibly scary.

Gee’s knack for creating suspense could rival Alfred Hitchcock’s. Gee also was able to do something that too many authors can't: she made me care about the characters from the very first chapter. I could relate to Saliel and shared in her fear and frustration throughout the entire book — she was an engaging character who I could wrap my head around. It was fantastic.

The Laurentine Spy was truly an engrossing novel. This is what good fantasy should be: edge of your seat, page-turning, late-night reading, heart-racing entertainment. I was captivated and I will definitely be reading more of Gee’s works.

My only complaint is that there was no map to refer to. I would have loved to have had a map of the world so I could gauge the distances. A map of the citadel would have also been very welcome. This was truly a minor thing however, definitely not a reason not to pick up The Laurentine Spy.

Props to Solaris for finding Emily Gee! —Julie   Comments