At the end of last year, I participated in a 12 days of Christmas book buying event, in support of Indie authors. The gist is that you commit to buying a book by an independent author on each of the 12 days leading up to Christmas.
One of the participating authors (along with myself) was Claire Buss. It’s funny, but her humorous fantasy book, The Rose Thief, didn’t catch my attention right away, but after I read the blurb, I decided to make it my first pick.
And I’m glad I did.
At the beginning of the book, there’s a quote from a review that mentions Sir Terry Prachett, and you soon start to see where that’s coming from in the slightly irreverent take on the story.
The main character, Ned Spinks, is the Chief Thief Catcher, and he just wants to get on with things with the help of his employees – a very puckish sprite, a wayward nymph, a seemingly gormless git, and a firefly. But, of course, things don’t go to plan – where’s the fun in that – and he keeps getting caught up trying to save the world. Or at least his corner of it.
The characters, especially Ned, are the real strong point of this book. Going along with them for the ride while they try to figure out what’s going on, and stop whoever is threatening the kingdom, was thoroughly enjoyable. I really hope the author writes more stories with these characters in this world – I want to join them for another adventure!