Liberty Hardy is an unrepentant velocireader, writer, bitey mad lady, and tattoo canvas. Turn-ons include books, books and books. Her favorite exclamation is “Holy cats!” Liberty reads more than should be legal, sleeps very little, frequently writes on her belly with Sharpie markers, and when she dies, she’s leaving her body to library science. Until then, she lives with her three cats, Millay, Farrokh, and Zevon, in Maine. She is also right behind you. Just kidding! She’s too busy reading.
Twitter: @MissLiberty
Today, friends, I am going to talk about thieves in great sci-fi and fantasy books. This was inspired by my recent acquisition of Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson. Despite the fact that he has like eleventy thousand books, I have never read a book by Sanderson. But a friend was going on and on about how great this series is, so I thought I would give it a try.
That got me thinking about other SFF books that feature thieves. There are several well-known ones, like Six of Crows, The Lies of Locke Lamora, Gilded Wolves, The Thief, and Theft of Swords. I started making a list of all the books I love, and faster than you can say, “We’re here to burgle your turts,” I had a post idea.
So, below, you’ll find five fun SFF books featuring thieves that I think will be perfect additions to your fall reading. (Just don’t steal them, please.)
The Blacktongue Thief by Christopher Buehlman
Kinch Na Shannack is a trained thief, but apparently not a very good one, as he owes the guild that trained him a lot of money for his schooling. (But seriously, what do they expect from criminals?) To avoid being punished for his debt, Kinch resorts to robbing travelers. Unfortunately, his first attempt goes horribly wrong when he tries to steal from Galva, handmaiden of the goddess of death. D’oh! Now he is bound to help her search for her missing queen as they dodge danger and run from common enemies.
Foundryside (The Founders Trilogy) by Robert Jackson Bennett
Sancia Grado is a thief-for-hire, sent to burgle a heavily guarded warehouse. But what she doesn’t know is that the object she is supposed to steal contains incredible magic, with a power to literally alter their world. Sancia steals the object, because she’s the best thief in the world, duh. But instead of payment, she now has a target on her back. In order to survive, she may have to figure out a way to steal the object’s power for herself.
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The Stardust Grail by Yume Kitasei
This fun sci-fi heist story has one of my favorite crime tropes: one last job! Maya Hoshimoto used to steal artifacts from around the galaxy and return them to their rightful owners. But after a job gone wrong, she stopped stealing and became an anthropology student. That is, until an old friend shows up and tells her that her skills are needed: there’s an extremely important object out there in space, one that may not even still exist. But if she can find it, it will save an entire alien species from extinction. How can Maya say no to that?
Among Thieves by M. J. Kuhn
The dangerous, skilled anti-hero of this story, Ryia, has been in hiding for years. Six years ago, she crossed the Guildmaster, ruler of the five kingdoms of Thamorr, and his guards have been chasing her ever since. To escape her situation, she joins up with a motley crew of criminals to pull off a job. But this isn’t an “all for one and one for all” kinda deal. There’s no honor among these thieves, and Ryia will have to watch her back if she wants their plan to work.
Hammajang Luck by Makana Yamamoto
This is another fun “one last job” story, but this time, the protagonist will have to rely on the person who already got them in trouble before. Edie and Angel had a plan to rob a ridiculously wealthy tech mogul, until Angel turned on Edie. Now free after eight years on a prison planet, Edie can’t believe who is waiting for them when they get out: Angel. She wants Edie to help her finish the job they were going to pull. The nerve! But Edie’s prospects as an ex-con are not good, and despite everything telling them not to trust Angel, the job seems too good to pass up.
Okay, star bits, now take the knowledge you have learned here today and use it for good, not evil. If you want to know more about books, I talk about books pretty much nonstop (when I’m not reading them), and you can hear me say lots of adjectives about them on the BR podcast All the Books! and on Instagram.
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