A Conspiracy of Kings

Last updated
A Conspiracy of Kings
Conspiracy of kings cover.jpg
First edition cover [1]
Author Megan Whalen Turner
Cover artistVince Natale [1]
CountryUnited States
SeriesQueen's Thief [1]
Genre Young-adult fantasy, political fiction
PublisherGreenwillow Books/ HarperCollins [1]
Publication date
March 2010
Media typePrint (hardcover), e-book
Pages316 (print) [1] [2]
ISBN 0-06-187095-1
OCLC 419854908
LC Class PZ7.T85565 Co 2010 [2]
Preceded by The King of Attolia  
Followed by Thick as Thieves  

A Conspiracy of Kings is a young adult fantasy novel by Megan Whalen Turner, published by the Greenwillow Books imprint of HarperCollins in 2010. It is the fourth novel in the Queen's Thief series that Turner inaugurated with The Thief in 1996. [1]

Contents

The first five chapters were released on the HarperCollins Children's Books site for previewing purposes. [3]

The trade paper edition of August 2011 appends to the novel an original Queen's Thief short story, "Destruction", and several nonfiction items. [1]

Setting

The books are set in a Byzantine-like imaginary landscape, reminiscent of ancient Greece and other territories around the Mediterranean. The action takes place in the countries of Eddis, Attolia, and Sounis. The characters' names are Greek, and references are made to actual Greek authors, but this is fantasy, not historical fiction. The gods of Turner's pantheon, ruled by the Great Goddess Hephestia, are her own, and her world possesses such items as guns and pocket watches. [4]

Plot

Sophos, the Magus's once studious young protégé, finds himself out of his element as his family is ambushed in their villa in Sounis. Sophos at first succeeds in evading capture and hiding his mother and sisters, but is betrayed by the servants. Mistakenly sold into slavery, he finds himself content with manual labor and forms a camaraderie with the other slaves. However, when faced with a choice between a life of contentment or influence, he chooses the latter.

After a harrowing escape from the Baron who owned him, Sophos inherits the throne of Sounis. Not only is his country deadlocked in war with Attolia, it is also torn by a civil war. With neither the monetary resources nor manpower to secure his throne, Sophos is faced with several options, each with heavy consequences. Aided by the Magus, he turns to his old friend Eugenides, the former Thief of Eddis, with whom Sophos traveled years before and who is now the King of Attolia. [4]

Queen's Thief series

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Diana Wynne Jones</span> British childrens fantasy writer (1934–2011)

Diana Wynne Jones was a British novelist, poet, academic, literary critic, and short story writer. She principally wrote fantasy and speculative fiction novels for children and young adults. Although usually described as fantasy, some of her work also incorporates science fiction themes and elements of realism. Jones's work often explores themes of time travel and parallel or multiple universes. Some of her better-known works are the Chrestomanci series, the Dalemark series, the three Moving Castle novels, Dark Lord of Derkholm, and The Tough Guide to Fantasyland.

Stephen Hunt is a Canadian writer known for his fantasy novels including the Jackelian series, which contains elements of steampunk and whose central setting is a nation resembling Victorian England, named the Kingdom of Jackals. Influences on his work include: Jack Williamson, Stephen Goldin, David Gemmell, Bruce Sterling, Larry Niven and Michael Moorcock.

<i>A Clash of Kings</i> 1998 fantasy novel by George R. R. Martin

A Clash of Kings is the second of seven planned novels in A Song of Ice and Fire, an epic fantasy series by American author George R. R. Martin. It was first published on November 16, 1998 in the United Kingdom; the first United States edition followed on February 2, 1999. Like its predecessor, A Game of Thrones, it won the Locus Award for best novel and was nominated for the Nebula Award for best novel. In May 2005, Meisha Merlin released a limited edition of the novel, fully illustrated by John Howe.

Sean Thomas Russell is a Canadian writer of fantasy, and of historical novels featuring the Royal Navy. His work has been published under the names Sean Russell and S. Thomas Russell as well as his full name, and he has collaborated with Ian Dennis under the joint pseudonym T.F. Banks.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Megan Whalen Turner</span> American childrens writer

Megan Whalen Turner is an American writer of fantasy fiction for young adults. She is best known for her novel The Thief and its five sequels. In 1997, The Thief was named a Newbery Honor book.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Firebird Books</span> Imprint of the Penguin Group USA since 2002

Firebird Books is an imprint of Penguin Group (USA) Inc., publishing mainly paperback reprint editions of science fiction and fantasy for teenagers and adults.

Gillian Marucha Bradshaw is an American writer of historical fiction, historical fantasy, children's literature, science fiction, and contemporary science-based novels, who lives in Britain. Her serious historical novels are often set in classical antiquity — Ancient Egypt, Ancient Greece, the Byzantine Empire, Saka and the Greco-Bactrian Kingdom, Imperial Rome, Sub-Roman Britain and Roman Britain. She has also written two novels set in the English Civil War.

<i>The Merlin Conspiracy</i> 2003 novel by Diana Wynne Jones

The Merlin Conspiracy is a children's fantasy novel by Diana Wynne Jones, published by HarperCollins in April 2003, simultaneously in Britain and America. It is a sequel to Deep Secret (1997).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert Holdstock</span> British fantasy and science fiction author (1948–2009)

Robert Paul Holdstock was an English novelist and author best known for his works of Celtic, Nordic, Gothic and Pictish fantasy literature, predominantly in the fantasy subgenre of mythic fiction.

<i>The Thief</i> (Turner novel)

The Thief is a young adult fantasy novel by Megan Whalen Turner published in 1996 by Greenwillow Books, an imprint of William Morrow. It is the first in the Queen's Thief series, the sixth book of which was published in 2020.

<i>The Road of Kings</i> 1979 novel by Karl Edward Wagner

The Road of Kings is a fantasy novel by American writer Karl Edward Wagner, featuring Robert E. Howard's sword and sorcery hero Conan the Barbarian. It was first published in paperback by Bantam Books in October 1979. Later paperback editions were issued by Ace Books (1987) and Tor Books 2001. The first trade paperback edition was published by Warner Books in 1989. The first British edition was published by Sphere Books. Aside from the Bantam and Tor editions all other editions were issued under the variant title Conan: The Road of Kings.

<i>Conan the Destroyer</i> (novel) Book by Robert Jordan

Conan the Destroyer is a fantasy novel written by Robert Jordan featuring Robert E. Howard's seminal sword and sorcery hero Conan the Barbarian, a novelization of the feature film of the same name. It was first published in paperback by Tor Books in 1984.

<i>The Queen of Attolia</i> 2000 young-adult historical fantasy novel

The Queen of Attolia is a young adult fantasy novel by Megan Whalen Turner, published by the Greenwillow Books imprint of William Morrow in 2000. It is the second novel in the Queen's Thief series that Turner inaugurated with The Thief in 1996.

<i>The King of Attolia</i> 2006 young adult fantasy novel by Megan Whalen Turner

The King of Attolia is a young adult fantasy novel by Megan Whalen Turner, published by the Greenwillow Books imprint of HarperCollins in 2006. It is the third novel in The Queen's Thief series that Turner inaugurated with The Thief in 1996.

Sarah Prineas is an American fantasy author who lives in Iowa and once worked for the honors program at the University of Iowa. She is married to John Prineas, a Professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy and the Optical Science and Technology Center at the University of Iowa. They have two children. Prineas is originally from Lyme, Connecticut. She went to college in Minnesota. She has lived in Germany.

<i>The New Policeman</i> 2005 childrens fantasy novel by Kate Thompson

The New Policeman is a children's fantasy novel by Kate Thompson, published by Bodley Head in 2005. Set in Kinvara, Ireland, it features a teenage boy, J. J. Liddy, who learns that "time is leaking from his world into Tir na nOg, the land of the fairies". It inaugurated a series that is sometimes called Liddy.

The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to George R. R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire media franchise:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alec Nevala-Lee</span> American novelist

Alec Nevala-Lee is an American biographer, novelist, and science fiction writer. He was a Hugo and Locus Award finalist for the group biography Astounding: John W. Campbell, Isaac Asimov, Robert A. Heinlein, L. Ron Hubbard, and the Golden Age of Science Fiction. His most recent book is Inventor of the Future, a biography of the architectural designer and futurist Buckminster Fuller, which was selected by Esquire as one of the fifty best biographies of all time. He is currently at work on a biography of the physicist Luis W. Alvarez.

<i>Thick as Thieves</i> (Turner novel) Book by Megan Whalen Turner

Thick as Thieves is a 2017 young adult fantasy novel by Megan Whalen Turner, published by Greenwillow Books. It is the fifth novel in the Queen's Thief series that Turner began with The Thief in 1996.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 A Conspiracy of Kings title listing at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database. Retrieved 2015-11-02. Select a particular edition (title) for more data at that level, such as a front cover image or linked contents.
  2. 1 2 " (first edition). LC Online Catalog. Library of Congress (lccn.loc.gov). Retrieved 2015-11-02.
  3. A Conspiracy of Kings (preview, chapters 1-5). Harper Collins Children's Books.
  4. 1 2 Turner, Megan Whalen (23 March 2010). A Conspiracy of Kings. New York, NY, USA: Greenwillow Books (HarperCollins). ISBN   978-0-06-187095-8.