Lost (Magic Thief Series #2)

Reviewed by Lynn Crow for TeensReadToo.com

Conn was just hoping for a few coins to buy food when he picked the pocket of the wizard who passed his alleyway. What he gets is an adventure far bigger than he could have imagined. The wizard, Nevery, takes an interest in Conn, and takes him in as a servant and then an apprentice. With regular meals, blankets to sleep under, and enough magical objects and lessons to keep Conn's eager mind occupied, the once-homeless boy couldn't be happier.

Unfortunately for Conn, nothing is as simple as it seems. Before he can truly become an apprentice, he must find his locus magicalicus (the stone which will focus his magical power) in a most unlikely place, convince Nevery that one of his fellow wizards is consorting with the city's cruel Underlord, and figure out why the city's magic is fading away--and how to save it--before the city dies from the lack of it. It's a terribly large task for a boy who has only just started learning his letters, but Conn is nothing if not resourceful.

THE MAGIC THIEF will pull readers in so completely that they'll have trouble setting the book aside. The details of the Victorian-esque world are so vividly drawn that readers will feel the chill of the icy winds and taste the buttery goodness of Conn's favorite biscuits. What makes the book particularly special is Conn himself. His voice is lively, with exactly the sort of street-smart practicality and frankness you'd expect from a boy who has spent most of his life on the streets. Despite his criminal background, Conn is good-hearted, and simply longs for a place where he can make something of himself.

Readers will sympathize with his struggle to prove himself to Nevery and the city's authorities, and appreciate his clear-headed thinking amid all the secrecy and scheming of the adults around him. The novel's conclusion is quite satisfying, while leaving lots open for the second book in the trilogy, which many will be clamoring to get as soon as they have finished this one. An all-round enjoyable read that easily stands out from the many fantasy novels on the shelves.

4 out of 5 people found this review helpful.

Great book

Loved this book and the rest of the trilogy too.

2 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

Reviewed by Lynn Crow for TeensReadToo.com

Ever since wizard apprentice and former thief Conn destroyed his locus magicalicus saving the city of Wellmet's magic, he's been banned from lessons and shunned by all the wizards except his master, Nevery.

No one believes his theory that the magic is a living being. As shadowy beings stalk Wellmet and attack its residents, Conn becomes desperate to communicate with the magic again. But his experiments with pyrotechnics cause a disaster so great he is exiled from Wellmet.

Outside the city, Conn steals a place on a envoyage to a distant city he suspects may be involved in Wellmet's troubles. Along the way he makes new friends and new enemies, and discovers a threat far greater than he ever imagined. Even Conn's great skills of stealth and thievery may not be enough this time.

Fans of THE MAGIC THIEF will love returning to Conn's world and joining him on his continuing adventures. Conn comes off at times more subdued than in the first book, but overall he has the same straight-forwardly charming voice. Minor characters from the first book have their roles expanded, making up for the fact that the wonderful Nevery and Benet are left behind for many chapters.

It's a delight seeing the world further explored and learning all the new and intriguing details about how it works. The enemy Conn faces is truly frightening and unexpected, and the stage is well set for the trilogy's concluding book.

Recommended for all fantasy readers - though of course it's most enjoyable if you've read the first book already.

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

Conn on the run

I loved the story and the action in The Magic Thief. I just couldn't put it down once Conn was sneaking in to the palace. And I just about bit my nails off when he got captured by the Underlord Crowe's right hand man Pettivox and almost strangeled by the misery ells. Overall it was a great book.

2 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

AQW

Who else came here because of AQW.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Done with the book

The book is an amazing book! I would recommend this book to any person who likes the Percy Jackson series.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Great book

Almost done with the first book in 1 1/2 days!!!! Really good book got in trouble for reading it and not paying attention in class!!!! ;)

1 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

The magic theif

The magic thief is very interesting and i love mystery and adventure bcooks. I read this book in 4 days. I can read the second book in 3 days.

1 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

Amazing!!!

I absolutely love this book! It is well written, cool and a great page turner for all ages! One of my favs.!

1 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

The magic thief

This book is full of surprises and is fantastic

1 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

Good book

At first it was confusing with made up words but then it got interesting and i found i couldn't put it down.

1 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

One of the greatist most magical book ive ever read!!! I loved every moment i spent reading it.

1 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

amazing

It is one of my favorite books and i'll read it time and time again it is soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo goooooooooooooooooooooopooooooooooooooooooooooood thank you good night and incase I don't see you again good morning

1 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

Awsome

Get this now

1 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

Awesome

This book is the best book ever! I love it!

1 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

:)

Good. Reccommended

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

one of my favorite books!!!!!

this is such a good book!!!!!!! i recomend this for all people who love fiction and excitement.

1 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

great book

i read this and i could not stop! i finished it in a day flat!

1 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

"The lizards are watching."

"The lizards are watching."

Written in Wellmet's Runic Alphabet, author Sarah Prineas penned this coded message beneath her signature of my signed copy of THE MAGIC THIEF - LOST, the second in the series. This is but one example of the creative, personal touches readers will find throughout her novels: From her unique writing style, to the recipes in the back for Benet's Biscuits.

Enter a world where wizards rely on a living-magic power source and locus magicalicus stones to cast their spells and protect their cities. Connwaer, a wizard's apprentice, thief, and master lock picker, needs a new locus stone (having lost his in book one) to speak to the magic. Until then, he uses pyrotechnics to hear the magic murmur, despite Master Nevery's warnings. With each explosion the magic warns of a threat to Wellmet, and all he holds dear. THE MAGIC THIEF - LOST takes Connwaer out of the only place he's known, to the city of Desh where he must use his wits and will to save the people and the city he loves.

Sarah mixes a pinch of the familiar with equal parts original and extraordinary, creating this wonderful story of magic, belonging, adventure, and friendship. Nothing simply moves, it: jink-clink-kajink, tap-taps, shuffs, or scritch-scritches. The main character, Conn, so consistently honest, even when it is to his disadvantage, breaths freshness and humor into this story.


But it was the number of twists, dangers, and precarious situations Conn finds himself in that had my mouth dropping with each turn of the page. I thought, this has to be the low point for Conn, surely things will start to turn around for him, right? Not so. Again and again, trouble threatens to bury Conn until, honestly, I had no idea how he would ever get himself out from under. This, in combination with the vivid images of darkness, shadows, and the "dreaded magic" makes this tale one any lover of fantasy will stay up all night reading.

1 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

Definitely Worth Reading After the First One!

"The Magic Thief: Lost," by Sarah Prineas is the second installment in Harper Collins' sensational "Magic Thief" series. While it is happy and humorous in some parts, it is also sad and scary in others, making it impossible to put down! This book is definitely worth reading after the first one and will not disappoint anyone who reads it, from the first sentence to the last!
I received this book two months before it came out and completely for free because Harper Collins, this book's publishing company, has a great program called First Look, which allows readers to get books for free and before they come out, just if they are willing to write a review for it after they are done reading it! If their review is good enough, it could be posted in the Harper Collin's email newsletter!

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.