The Lawful Good Thief (A Goddess Fish Review)

And here’s a small excerpt, to give you a taste:

The thief’s book was propped in the remaining dress fabric on her lap.

‘Observation at the skilled thief’s level is all about reflections and echoes.  You already know about using all five senses, and know to use them all the time.  You must also learn to use reflections that are present on every surface.  Even a shadow will reflect the color of the objects near it.  Know what every surface looks like and learn what it looks like when something approaches it.  Most thieves know to avoid reflecting on shiny surfaces, but without constant effort and skill, they’ll often overlook other surfaces.  Know your own dagger’s reflection intimately.’

‘Echoes are the other half of minute observation and are not just sound.  Movement causes an echo in the air pressure.  With constant practice, you’ll be able to tell when someone approaches you on a windy day.  The passage of a person or animal will also leave a faint scent for hours, in addition to footprints in the dust.  Sorting that from a more recent perfume or strong odor is difficult but can be done.  Sit quietly and observe and when you have mastered that, learn to do it when going about your activities.  Observation must be constantly tested and you must not become complacent or think that you already know what is around you.’

My thoughts:

From the outset, Lawful Good Thief has a fairytale-esque cadence and quality. There are lots of nice nods to D&D, which the nerd in me enjoyed. The characters are likable, and there are nice turns of phrase in the descriptions. I also appreciated the link at the end for bonus content, such a great idea.

For me as a reader, there were lots and lots of chunks of narration, which is not uncommon for the genre, but it would have been nice to have more advancement of plot through action and dialogue. Less telling and more showing.

In the beginning there are many small chunks of the tale, and though they do give a bit of a backstory, these could have been told in other ways throughout the tale. Such short sections made the opening chapter feel rather choppy. I think, too, there was a missed opportunity for revealing character through dialogue. I sometimes mixed up who characters were because they had no verbal distinguishing in the dialogue/line attribution combination. I don’t necessarily mean accent, but that’s a possibility. Matthew is described as having a lisp caused by missing teeth, but that isn’t seen in later bits of dialogue.

Overall, this. is an easy read and a good rainy afternoon read.

You can buy the book here:

https://cattail.nu/books/lawful_good_thief/

https://www.Cattail.Nu

https://www.facebook.com/theresa.ford.52

https://www.instagram.com/theresa.ford/https://www.amazon.com/T.-L.-Ford/e/B0034Q6Q2S

There is a contest, and her is the Rafflecopter link:

a Rafflecopter giveaway https://widget-prime.rafflecopter.com/launch.js