A Conspiracy of Kings

Megan Whalen Turner

Mar 2010 · Queen's Thief Book 4 · Sold by Harper Collins

About this eBook

Discover and rediscover the world of the Queen's Thief, from the acclaimed novel The Thief to the thrilling, twenty-years-in-the-making conclusion, The Return of the Thief. The epic novels set in the world of the Queen’s Thief can be read in any order.

New York Times-bestselling author Megan Whalen Turner’s entrancing and award-winning Queen’s Thief novels bring to life the world of the epics and feature one of the most charismatic and incorrigible characters of fiction, Eugenides the thief. The Queen’s Thief series is rich with political machinations and intrigue, battles lost and won, dangerous journeys, divine intervention, power, passion, revenge, and deception. The New York Times bestseller A Conspiracy of Kings won the Los Angeles Times Book Award and is perfect for fans of Leigh Bardugo, Marie Lu, Patrick Rothfuss, and George R. R. Martin.

After an attempted assassination and kidnapping, Sophos, heir to the throne of Sounis, disappears. Those who care for him—including the thief Eugenides and the Queen of Eddis—are left to wonder if he is alive and if they will ever see him again. The Queen’s Thief novels have been praised by writers, critics, reviewers, and fans and have been honored with glowing reviews and numerous awards, including the Los Angeles Times Book Prize, a Newbery Honor, the Andre Norton Award shortlist, and the Mythopoeic Fantasy Award. 

This edition of A Conspiracy of Kings includes a conversation between bestselling author Leigh Bardugo and Megan Whalen Turner, an introduction to the characters from the world of the Queen’s Thief, and a map of the world of the Queen’s Thief.

Winner of the LA Times Book Award

A New York Times Bestseller

A Boston Globe-Horn Book Honor Book

A School Library Journal Best Book

“The Queen’s Thief books awe and inspire me. They have the feel of a secret, discovered history of real but forgotten lands. The plot-craft is peerless, the revelations stunning, and the characters flawed, cunning, heartbreaking, exceptional. Megan Whalen Turner’s books have a permanent spot on my favorites shelf, with space waiting for more books to come.”—Laini Taylor, New York Times-bestselling author of the Daughter of Smoke and Bone novels and Strange the Dreamer

"Unforgettable characters, plot twists that will make your head spin, a world rendered in elegant detail—you will fall in love with every page of these stories. Megan Whalen Turner writes vivid, immersive, heartbreaking fantasy that will leave you desperate to return to Attolia again and again."—Leigh Bardugo, New York Times-bestselling author of The Grisha Trilogy and Six of Crows

“Megan Whalen Turner is one of my all-time favorite writers . . . impossible to put down.”—Holly Black, award-winning and New York Times-bestselling author of the Modern Faerie Tale series and The Darkest Part of the Forest

“Romance, intrigue, mystery, surprises, and sheer beautiful writing.”—Cassandra Clare, award-winning and New York Times-bestselling author of The Mortal Instruments and Lady Midnight

“The world Turner creates is so tangible that not only do I believe in its characters, I almost believe in its gods.”—Kristin Cashore, award-winning and New York Times-bestselling author of the Graceling Realm series

“A Conspiracy of Kings brings the sweetest, sharpest kind of reading pleasure. Megan Whalen Turner’s books are pure joy.”—Rebecca Stead, Newbery Medalist and New York Times-bestselling author of When You Reach Me and Goodbye Stranger

Ratings and reviews

Megan Whalen Turner has a way with words: this reader, engaged! The Queen's Thief series has hidden plot secrets that, besides being an an enjoyable read without, make one look for clues for whatever reveal is coming. It's almost like real life where you don't know everyone's motives or what may happen next, but with a twist of further mystery thrown in. Besides that, the characters are real and a pleasure to get to know. I had initially been surprised that this book focused on a previously-side character, but then found myself glad to get to know another person in this world and see their perspective. I'm definitely recommending this book and series to others.

I've picked this book up twice before I actually finished it and dropped it both times before. If you've read my review of the three previous books in this series, The Thief and The Queen of Attolia you'll know that it was quite a journey for me to begin to understand Eugenides and get used to him, and then in the King of Attolia, the person who was telling the story changed. At least in book three, the story was still about Eugenides (Gen) but with A Conspiracy of Kings, we're told the story of a boy we met all the way back in The Thief, and I honestly wasn't ready for it. This was obviously, my very long way of saying that this series managed to throw me, yet again, with a change in the basic "WHO IS TELLING THE STORY" Even within the book, the first part is told from Sophos' 1st POV and the latter half in 3rd person. Talk about confusing. Even if I treated this book like a standalone, I didn't like the character of Sophos. He seemed like such a naive person even in the first book and it felt like his character was so vanilla throughout the course of the book. He sort of... bored me? Though is character made progress on what kind of a ruler he wanted to be, and what kind of a person he should be from the book in Book One, I struggled to connect with him on what was supposed to be a re-defining journey. Even though I didn't like Sophos, the one thing I've NEVER been able to fault this series with is it's BRILLIANT world building. Whether we've been in Eddis, Attolia or absolutely anywhere else, I could feel the places being described and the people in it come to life as if they were sitting right next to me. There is no doubt in my mind that the world, the customs, the tradition and the religion that are in these books are some of the best that have ever been created in YA Fantasy books - and I've read a LOT of them! Another things I really loved about this book was the Romance! I didn't think too much of it at first, as this series hasn't given the most importance to that particular aspect of books and life but there was just this minute when the ship in this book hit me and, well, I loved it. I'm not entirely sure if I will be picking up Thick as Thieves, but it has been a wonderful experience reading this series.

Worst book in the series but still an amazing book. Loved it even though it wasn't as good as the others which are easily my favorite books :) would strongly recommend because it's really good and the author is amazing...

About the author

Megan Whalen Turner is the New York Times–bestselling and award-winning author of five stand-alone novels set in the world of the Queen’s Thief. Return of the Thief marks her long-awaited conclusion to the epic and unforgettable story of the thief Eugenides—a story more than twenty years in the making. She has been awarded a Newbery Honor and a Boston Globe–Horn Book Honor and won the Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Young Adult Literature. She has twice been a finalist for the Andre Norton Award and won the Mythopoeic Fantasy Award for Children’s Literature.