Four teenagers don't know it, but their paths will cross. Tash is a smoke thief, running from demons as bait and helping to trap and kill them for their intoxicating smoke. Catherine is a princess set to marry a prince she's never met and holds affections for her guard, Ambrose. Ambrose is loyal to a fault, reciprocates Catherine's feelings, and becomes the target of her cruel family so her match won't be ruined. Lastly, March is one of the last of the Abask people, obliterated in a war between two kingdoms, Brigant and Calidor. He serves Prince Thelonius of Calidor until he quits to make him pay for refusing to help his people in their time of need. They all find themselves in danger and face hard decisions that decide the fate of Brigant and Calidor.
The Smoke Thieves is a lengthy fantasy novel with a large cast of characters. Once the story gets going, I was drawn in, but it took a while to get there. The four main characters are all interesting and have different perspectives. Tasha is by far my favorite and I felt like she was shown the least. She's younger than the rest and has a fiery personality and love for gorgeous footwear. Her relationship with Gravell cracks me up. He's kind of a gruff, reluctant father to her while she can be a bit annoying when she doesn't get her way. March has the biggest journey throughout the book and starts out from an understandably hateful place. His whole world has been destroyed and people ooh and ahh at him like a circus animal. He's the only character that brings in the negative side of Calidor as a nation that stood by while the Abask people suffered because of their rivalry. Unfortunately, these two characters were not as focused on as the other two characters.
Some aspects of the book took away from the experience for me. Catherine has to marry someone she doesn't love and Ambrose is hunted for loving her. The drama between Catherine and Ambrose take up most of the book. I liked them and their romance, but there's only so many times I can read that they looked meaningfully at each other or thought about each other. Plus Catherine's plight as a very privileged woman pales in comparison to Tash or March. The misogyny of Brigant society was laid on thick and I felt for her, but other characters were much more interesting. Ambrose read as flatly good and rather uninteresting. I would have personally loved to see more depth in the relationship between March and Edyon. This style of story telling that splits the book into 5 different perspectives takes a long time for anything to come together. I also found some plot developments stretching my sense of disbelief.
The Smoke Thieves is an enjoyable novel that could have been more so in a more straight forward format. It took me quite a while to read and I grew impatient with the story. I would probably read the next book to see what happens. The ending is a mix of happy and frustrating that's perfect to set up for the second installment. If you like high fantasy and don't mind a lengthy book and a long list of characters, I would recommend this.
My rating: 3.5/5 fishmuffins
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