The Thief Lord Review

Hi readers, 

The Thief Lord (Not to be confused with The Book Thief) is a 2000 children's novel by German writer Cornelia Funke, the author of the Ink Heart trilogy in 2004, which she is more famously known for. If you haven't read any of her books and/or you've not read this one, no matter what your age, I would highly recommend you add it to you reading list. 

Being aimed at children doesn't mean the narrative or plot of a novel needs to be dull. Funke really proves that writing within the children's novel rules, it's possible to create a fantasy style plot and a gripping narrative. Yes, the book is toned down, but the adventure and peril is very visible. The characters, who are mostly children, are developed and still appear complex. Also, Funke has cleverly incorporated basic Italy words in the narrative and dialogue.    

The Thief Lord is set in Venice, Italy, which is wonderfully described and seen from the children's view as being magical. The main plot follows brothers Proper and and Bo, who have run away to escape their aunt and uncle adopting them. They are taken in by a group of runaway children, lead by The Thief Lord, who is also known as Scipio. They are all sent on a mission to steal a wooden wing and in the process they learn about a magic merry-go-round, that has the power to turn children into adults and adults into children.

The subplot involves the adults on the trail of the children. The novel opens with the detective, Victor, who loves disguises and has a collection of beards. He is asked to search for the brothers by their relatives, however, he soon gets tangled up in the mission and ends up helping the children. The aunt and uncle don't have much to do with the plot and at first it seems that they want the brothers for a sinister reason, but this turns out not to be true. Perhaps, their story would have been more interesting if that was the case. Lastly, there is Ida, the owner of the wooden wing. She gives the children the information they need and helps them. There are four other adults who appear and they are mostly used to help more the plot along, but they come across as full characters

I really enjoyed this book, especially the contrast between the real world and the magic one that the children see. The characters were very easy to get along with and they had enough background to make them realistic. I would also like to find out if the merry-go-round (below) has historical/other story connections, because it would be interesting to see if the idea was original to Funke. My only small issue is with the ending. I felt it switched paces between being too fast and too slow. Yes, it does tie everything off, but I didn't think it needed to drag on as long as it did. 

Overall though, I really would recommend this book to anyone, especially children as they would really enjoy it.  

Images from:

http://childrensbooksguide.com/100-best-childrens-chapter-books-of-all-time

http://www.listal.com/viewimage/4174665