It's quite possible that one could enter the world that Megan Whalen Turner first created in The Thief (a 1997 Newbery Honor book) via A Conspiracy of Kings and still have a wholly satisfying experience. The author's finely honed gifts for character development, circuitous routes (both geographically and plotwise), dialogue and narrative voice (plus her sense of pacing and humor) make this book a page-turning experience in its own right. But to start there would be to miss the benefit of cumulative jokes and the building of layers of relationships among the characters in the kingdoms of Attolia, Eddis and Sounis (with interlopers from outlying Mede and elsewhere). Why not steal a few hours and start with The Thief?
This is the story of Sophos, first met in The Thief as heir to the king of Sounis, and apprenticed to the king's magus, or scholar. The prologue places two shabbily dressed men in the country of Attolia among a crowd of spectators who await a procession of their king and queen. The older man hands the younger man a tube. The younger man shoots a pea through the tube and hits the king of Attolia squarely on the cheek. And that is how Sophos, now king of Sounis, and his magus land in a prison cell but also gain an audience with the king of Attolia, whom they first knew as Gen (short for Eugenides), the Thief of Eddis. The first 12 chapters, narrated by Sophos, describe how he came to be in Attolia, shabbily dressed with a scarred lip and broken nose. As the action continues from there, the narrative shifts to third-person, back to Sophos's narration, and once again to third-person--each switch remarkably unobtrusive to the flow of the story and essential to the tale's revelations. With the barons of Sounis looking out only for their self-interests, the country is in peril and ripe for possession by Mede or Melenze--countries looking for a strategic stronghold near Attolia and Eddis. Sophos needs Attolia as an ally, but after making his case to the king and queen, he thinks, "It was impossible to know whose influence would prevail and if Gen would grow more like his wife, or his wife more like her king." Learning whom he can trust, both in the royal courts and also among his own countrymen, forms the crux of Sophos's journey—which comes to a gratifying close.
Those who started with Eugenides in The Thief, where he joins with Sophos and the magus to attempt their mission, will see that Turner lays much of the groundwork for the books to follow. She explains the topography and geography of the area and how they influence the politics (one of the magus's history lessons to Gen about the Medes foreshadows the events of Conspiracy), depicts the shifting dynamics of the group, and establishes their personalities. Readers will recall that Teleus, who sees the two Sounis prisoners to their cell, also escorted the captured thief in The Queen of Attolia to his. Sophos's dreams of a woman in white peplos here echo Gen's in The Thief. Whatever the reader's entry point, these books will appeal to a wide audience--boys who like battle strategies; girls who like a hint of romance; those who like strong characters and action-packed scenes; lovers of the mot juste. There is something enjoyable here for everyone.