I really love heist stories — heists, capers, feats of daring-do and espionage — and I’m realizing that I need to explore more of them, since my overall experience is limited to things like Ocean’s Eleven and The Italian Job. I especially love when I can get these types of stories in with my fantasy. Mixing in different genres like mystery, romance, and thriller is one of the best things about fantasy, I think. Familiar tropes become so much more interesting and unique once there’s magic involved.
And since Cate Glass is Carol Berg’s new pen name, I was interested to see this new format she’s trying. The Chimera series is supposed to be more serial with a new caper every book. Since I’m kind of getting burned out on long series with long books, it seemed like the right time to check it out.
An Illusion of Thieves (2019)
Written By: Cate Glass
Genre: Fantasy
Pages: 334 pages (Trade Paperback)
Series: Chimera Book 1
Publisher: Tor Books
The Premise:
A ragtag crew with forbidden magic must pull off an elaborate heist and stop a civil war in An Illusion of Thieves, a fantasy adventure from Cate Glass.
In Cantagna, being a sorcerer is a death sentence.
Romy escapes her hardscrabble upbringing when she becomes courtesan to the Shadow Lord, a revolutionary noble who brings laws and comforts once reserved for the wealthy to all. When her brother, Neri, is caught thieving with the aid of magic, Romy’s aristocratic influence is the only thing that can spare his life — and the price is her banishment.
Now back in Beggar’s Ring, she has just her wits and her own long-hidden sorcery to help her and Neri survive. But when a plot to overthrow the Shadow Lord and incite civil war is uncovered, only Romy knows how to stop it. To do so, she’ll have to rely on newfound allies — a swordmaster, a silversmith, and her own thieving brother. And they’ll need the very thing that could condemn them all: magic.
This is a book club discussion, so it will therefore contain spoilers. If you haven’t yet read the book and want to remain unspoiled, please come back after reading!
Discussion
I’ve been a Carol Berg fan for almost ten years. Which means I was not unbiased when I started this book. I had Expectations. With a capital E. Some of which were fulfilled — wonderful, beautiful writing as always with complex, interesting characters. And some of them weren’t — this ended up being a very different book than I’d assumed, but in a good way. So, I did have to sit with my feelings for a bit after I’d finished, trying to decide what was actually a result of the book itself and what was just the history I was bringing to it.
Overall, I loved it but not in quite the same way I’ve loved Berg’s past books. It started both faster and slower than I expected. I really thought there would have been more build up with Sandro and Romy at the beginning. More relationship to give the politics some weight. And to make Romy’s decision to break that relationship more meaningful. But Romy’s decision and Sandro’s reaction to utterly cut her out of his life happened almost immediately, and I found it a little abrupt. I didn’t yet have a grasp of Sandro’s character and what exactly he meant to Romy.
Instead that relationship was built throughout the rest of the book in flashbacks and memories and thoughts as Romy is struggling through her new life. It made it more…bittersweet. We didn’t really feel the instant cut of betrayal alongside Romy, but we did get it more as the slow slide of the knife between the ribs. We already knew how their relationship was going to end, so every sweet moment came with a dull ache.
And this held true for a lot of the book, I felt. I know already that some people will have a problem with the first half being full of everyday minutiae. How will they live? How will they eat? But you know what? I have a lot of patience for everyday minutiae when it’s well-written and it’s full of underlying tension like it was with Romy and Neri.
In fact, I felt like their relationship and Neri’s growth was a lot of what kept this book going. I didn’t even notice the slower bits because I was so worried about Romy’s brother and whether or not he’d turn out all right. I’ll tell you, I really hate brats, but there is nothing more rewarding than a brat turning into a responsible young adult. And Romy realizing about halfway through the book that even if she died at that moment, Neri would be all right. She’d taught him how to survive in a world that would use stupidity against him.
And how awesome is it that so much of Romy’s drive came from her curiosity and her desire to learn? Without Sandro, she’s lost the opportunity to use her intelligence and it irks her. Enough so that she actually considers using the magic she so despises. There’s a couple other reasons, things that show her maybe it’s not so evil, but I felt like curiosity and learning were a huge driving force in that. Romy’s heroic quality isn’t just that she believes in Sandro’s vision and wants to protect it by any means necessary, it’s that she needs a challenge.
It kind of makes me wonder if that’s an innate aspect of the magic in this world. Dumond, who is solid and steady and knows his abilities so well, also was waiting for a just cause. A reason to use what he was born with for something more than just molding metal. He’d already decided to live as he wanted without fear. Challenging himself would only be a step further. Placidio is also well-practiced in magic. He’s proven he can lay low and keep himself out of trouble, but instead, he uses his particular powers to remain in the dueling ring. And he’s quick enough to volunteer when Romy and Neri need help. And Neri himself talks about how badly he wants to use magic. Maybe magic goads and prods and challenges a sorcerer until they can’t help but use their abilities.
Now, I will say, this book isn’t exactly structured like a heist story. We didn’t even get to the planning and plotting stage until halfway through. Which was when I realized “oh, this whole book is setup.” The whole story is the “how they get together” episode. And the origin story for at least two of the crew. I hope a future installment includes Placidio’s origin story because I want to solve that mystery so badly.
I was hoping for a few more clever, magical tricks. Things that only sorcerers could do that would end up stumping the authorities (and Sandro, I was waiting for that moment the whole book). I did really love the idea of staging a theft of the fake statue in order to get it into place in Boscetti’s hands. But I wanted just a few more set pieces like that to round out the crew’s involvement. I’m not sure why, but the fake scholar and his sister ploy to deliver the correct statue didn’t sit quite right with me. Even now, I can’t quite put my finger on it. Maybe I didn’t want Romy to come face to face with Sandro until the moment he realized the truth. Even tucked under her alter ego, I felt like it took some of the umph out of the moment.
But, with that being said, I loved how the book ended. I loved the whole dancing around the subject, can’t really acknowledge it, but yes, I know what you did for me, moment. And the immediate, I have another job for you. I wanted to start the next book right then and there. Because I felt like the whole book was leading up to that offer. And now the real work begins.
In Conclusion
This felt like the start of something. Something big — with the world-building and politics simmering in the background — but also something fun. This isn’t a really deep book. But it was incredibly entertaining with some really complex characters that I’m ready and willing to spend multiple books with. I don’t know about you but I need a little pure entertainment in my life right now. And I’m excited to see Romy embrace her talents and find new ways to use magic in subterfuge and espionage. I have the feeling that while each book is going to be a complete story, beginning, middle, and end, I think they’re also going to start building on each other, each adding pieces to the world. Is there really a dragon living under the surface of the world spitting out sorcerers? Maybe one day there will be a heist into a dragon’s lair. Wouldn’t that be cool?
Recommended Reading
A Conjuring of Assassins by Cate Glass (2020): It might be a little glib to put this here, but if you enjoyed An Illusion of Thieves, why wouldn’t you read this next? I guess, I can’t actually recommend it for real since I haven’t gotten to read it yet. I wanted to wait until I got all the thoughts for the first one out of my head. But I can promise you I’m picking it up now that I’ve written this.
The Spirit Lens by Carol Berg (2009): If you like Cate Glass’s writing, you should definitely check out her alter ego, Carol Berg. And I’m going to recommend the first in her Collegia Magica trilogy because it has that same blending of genres, fantasy and mystery this time.
Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo (2015): I really can’t recommend this book enough. If you read An Illusion of Thieves for the fantasy heist, then you will love Six of Crows. It’s intense and incredible with a crew of unforgettable characters doing unforgettable things. So wonderful.
Heist Society by Ally Carter (2010): Bear with me, this book is not speculative fiction and it’s also young adult, but it is one of my favorite heist stories ever. A bunch of teenage thieves and con artists get together to return paintings stolen by Nazis during World War II. What’s not to like?
Participation Poll
Loading ...April’s Book Club Selection: Steel Crow Saga by Paul Krueger, hosted by Nancy O’Toole Meservier on Friday, April 24th!
Like you, I came to this with expectations. Normally I don’t mind leisurely paced domestic dramas, especially when they’re from Berg, but the blurb promised me a heist. And I just got really impatient with Neri. So I tapped out at about 150 pages in. But hey we’re all mostly stuck home, so maybe I’ll give it another chance and finish it. I did like Dumond’s introduction. And I liked Romy’s competence and confidence. I think I just wanted something to temper the feeling of a smart woman being dragged down by an unappreciative brother.
Oh, that’s too bad. He actually turns a corner pretty soon after that. And I really liked him once he got through his selfish arrogance phase. I will say, I thought the blurb was a little misleading on this one too.
I’ve not ever read Carol Berg, so I was excited to try something new. For the most part, I was able to read at a good pace, though setting up to the heist did take a while (though to be fair, I didn’t come to this wanting a heist story; I read it because you picked it!).
Regarding your thoughts on Sandro, I’m kind of glad Glass handled it that way: we didn’t need this book to be about us wanting Romy and Sandro to get back together, so not getting their relationship beforehand was good: we experienced it as we should, as bitter sweet, with perhaps a sense of distaste depending on our own personal biases about men in power and how they relate to women. So yeah, I’m okay with that. I’ll be curious to see how — if — that relationship develops over the course of the series.
Recommended reading: I just remembered THE LIES OF LOCKE LAMORA by Scott Lynch and MISTBORN by Brandon Sanderson (wait, I think MISTBORN is a heist book; I never finished it, so I legit don’t know).
Thanks for leading us in discussion! I hope you’ll review the next book for the blog!
I agree. I think the arc with Sandro wouldn’t have worked as well if we’d been hoping they got back together. But with a clean break we could be looking ahead with Romy.
I haven’t read The Lies of Locke Lamora but yeah, I think I remember Mistborn being mostly a heist. I also remember it being excellent.
I read this back in January, which unfortunately now feels like a million years ago. I think I probably would have put this book down if I hadn’t been reading it for a book club, because it really takes a long time to get going. I am glad that I did finish because it did pick up towards the end. I wanted to see more of Romy’s background and her life before. I was more interested in Romy’s life as the courtesan of the Shadow Lord than I was in the events that actually take place in the book. Neri’s bratty behavior in the beginning got on my nerves. I liked the minor characters of Dumond the metalsmith and his wife Vashti more than I did Romy, Neri, or Placidio. I think this would have been a more interesting, unique book if they had been the main characters. I hope that Romy and the fighter Placidio don’t wind up getting into a romantic relationship in later books because that feels so expected and cliche to me. I’ve read Six of Crows and liked it better than this book.