Author Appreciation Week - Day 5

Author Appreciation Week is the brain child of debut author Heidi Kling.

If you would like to participate simply, write a blog post each day of next week about the authors you appreciate and why! The best part, there are no rules. Be as creative as you want. Looking for more information? Check out Heidi’s blog.

My goal for Author Appreciation Week is to highlight authors whose books I love reading and who have impacted how I choose which I’ll read next. There is no particular order. These are authors who, in my opinion, write excellent books.

Today's Author is Megan Whalen Turner

Books by Megan Whalen Turner

Instead of Three Wishes (Greenwillow Books, 2006, originally published 1995)

The Thief (Greenwillow Books, 1996)

The Queen of Attolia (Greenwillow Books, 2000)

The King of Attolia (Greenwillow Books, 2006)

A Conspiracy of Kings (Greenwillow Books, March 23, 2010)

Author Appreciation Week wouldn’t be complete without paying tribute to Megan Whalen Turner (for me at least). The Queen’s Thief series (or Attolia series, there really isn’t an official series title) has quickly become my favorite book series ever. They were introduced to me by a work colleague while I was working on a final project for a Children’s Lit class. I read the first three one right after the other and was sad that there weren’t any more to read. The series is hard to describe because it really doesn’t fall under one genre. It is part fantasy, part political thriller with a historical fiction feel. The setting is reminiscent of both the Medieval and Byzantine periods, with a distinctive Greekness to the landscape. The world is so complete and intricate that it is easy to get lost in it while reading. There are so many twists and turns in the plot that telling you about any of them would constitute a spoiler. The characters are very complex; you think you know them until they do something that changes your entire opinion of them.

I love books that you can read over and over and still find new bits and details that you haven’t found before. These books are exactly like that, I find something new - a connection I didn’t see the first 3 times, a detail that sheds light on a character’s action, a little snippet of dialog that can be interpreted in lots of different ways - every time I read them. So I would like to say Thank You to Megan Whalen Turner for creating books with intricate plots, lovable characters, and complex relationships; books that get people excited about reading, discussing and theorizing about what Gen or Attolia or Sophos or the Magus might do next.


For more information take a look at Megan Whalen Turner's website and the fan community at http://community.livejournal.com/sounis/.